Surface skum - help

CHINABOY1021

CHINABOY1021

experienced newbie
May 2, 2003
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Toronto ON Canada
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:thud:

i have surface skum on the surface of my water. i would like to get rid of it, without putting in a surface skimmer.

there is very little to no water movement at the surface of the tank, and i would like to keep it that way since i am injecting co2.

ive done a search and found that one cause of surface skum is the aquarium being newly established. i have been running this tank for a few months already though. :o

anyways, how can i solve this problem?
 
Without increasing surface agitation, or using a surface skimmer, your best option will be to determine what is causing the scum and address that. Foods are aften the culprit, so you may want to switch to a different food for a few weeks and see if that resolves the problem. Running carbon can also help, but has to be changed at least every over week or so to remain effective. It's not really related to the age of the tank--new and old tanks can get this build up when there is little surface movement.
 
you can also remove it by useing a paper towel and skimming from one side of the tank to the other so no part escapes and lifting the scum off that way.

but as OG said there is a source that might be able to be eliminated and if you make a change and need to see if that solved it that would give you a clean slate to see if it worked.
 
Scum

If you feeding heavily with frozen or even just high protein dry a scum will often form. If the scum has an oily sheen to it it's likely protein based. If when you blow on it it bunches up white its likely lack of water movement at the surface. Short of the above suggestion (paper towel) you could agitate the surface once or twice a day, and do more water change.
 
CHINABOY1021 said:
:thud: ...
there is very little to no water movement at the surface of the tank, and i would like to keep it that way since i am injecting co2.....

anyways, how can i solve this problem?
Click to expand...
Place an air hose with no air stone under a rock or driftwood. Put it on a timer so it comes on at night for about 2 or 3 hours. This will knock apart any "normal" layering on the top. If you have a heavy layer, then be careful with the food as mentioned. With no surface movement a little bit of a 'layer' on top is ok.. And, this method will clean up the suface of the water.

Oh - always use a one way check valve on the air line.

A little bit of water disturbance at the suface will not waste CO2 at night - when the CO2 is not being used by the plants.
 
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