I have recentley set up a marine tank in the last 4 weeks and i have noticed that their is a grayish film on the surface of the water my tank is 215 ltrs with 2 clownfish a regal tang, 30 kg of live rock, a deltec mce600, 2 x maxijet mp1200's, fluval 305 with no media except the sponges and an ehiem 2224 complete with all the media and i am also in the process of adding a UV sterilizer to the 2224. Anyone have any ideas what it is.
surface scum
- Thread starter derek681
- Start date
derek681 said:
whats the square size of your tank, i cant visualize 215 ltrs
34X34X34" type thing
how often do you replace/ clean your 'sponges' what are you using for nutrient export ?
what is the flow throught the 2224, as a uv light needs SLOW flow to be effective against parasites
i'm more of a ' remove the problem " type instead of ' hide the problem with pointing your power heads at the surface to hide the problem ' type
IMHO you would be better off sellfing the two canister filters and buying a skimmer
do you have a sump
can you post a picture of your system, explain it better
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i agree i would prefer to solve the problem i do have a skimmer its a deltec and my tank is 48x18x16 whick is 215ltrs or 47g the uv is hooked up to the eheim which has a flow through of 500lph and the uv is rated upto 680lph. I don't have a sump as i am only new and the initial outlay has cost me a fortune. The canister filters are only really their for the uv and extra water turnover.
This organic waste from fish and LR. Your protein skimmer shoudl remove this film. If it doesn't, try twaeking the protein skimmer, i.e. make sure there is a greater venturi effect by increasing the air flow. If all else fails take the skimmer apart and clean it.
A sump is needed for trickle wet/.dry filter. It is not an absolute must. The cnanister filters are more than enough for good mech, bio and chem filteration.
Rohn
A sump is needed for trickle wet/.dry filter. It is not an absolute must. The cnanister filters are more than enough for good mech, bio and chem filteration.
Rohn
The Deltec is a butt kickin' skimmer on North America in part because of the Aquabee pump. However, the pump used on Deltec HOBs in Europe is sometimes different and of lower quality. Check what brand the your Deltec's pump is and consider an upgrade if possible.
Secondly, the surface scum is organics that the skimmer should be dealing with. It seems that it's not getting into the skimmer. Where's your skimmer initial intake? Try to move it more towards the surface where oily substances tend to migrate towards so that it can be sucked into the skimmer.
I don't think that creating more surface agitation is necessarily "hiding" the problem. Creating more agitation will break up the film on top causing the stuff to be mixed back into the water column where hopefully the skimmer pump can draw it into the skimmer.
I believe that Anthony Calfo (a well-known reef guru) suggests drawing water from at or near the surface of the water for optimal skimmer performance.
From personal experience, I used to have the same surface scum in my tank. After modifying my Remora skimmer with a Hagen surface skimmer attachment so that the water is drawn from the water's surface and repositioning my powerheads higher in the tank to cause more water disturbance, there was no more surface scum and I started getting a lot more skimmate out of the skimmer.
You don't have to point the powerhead directly upwards. Just put them high enough in the tank and facing each other (or the same point) in order to cause surface ripples.
Secondly, the surface scum is organics that the skimmer should be dealing with. It seems that it's not getting into the skimmer. Where's your skimmer initial intake? Try to move it more towards the surface where oily substances tend to migrate towards so that it can be sucked into the skimmer.
I don't think that creating more surface agitation is necessarily "hiding" the problem. Creating more agitation will break up the film on top causing the stuff to be mixed back into the water column where hopefully the skimmer pump can draw it into the skimmer.
I believe that Anthony Calfo (a well-known reef guru) suggests drawing water from at or near the surface of the water for optimal skimmer performance.
From personal experience, I used to have the same surface scum in my tank. After modifying my Remora skimmer with a Hagen surface skimmer attachment so that the water is drawn from the water's surface and repositioning my powerheads higher in the tank to cause more water disturbance, there was no more surface scum and I started getting a lot more skimmate out of the skimmer.
You don't have to point the powerhead directly upwards. Just put them high enough in the tank and facing each other (or the same point) in order to cause surface ripples.