Water Quality

[Adler]

First thing first: is there a topic just for water quality or can i post this anywhere on this forum?

second:
for some time i've seen an oily film in my fish tank, now i have seen a video (BigAl's) about the possible causes for this and the 2 that come into mind from that causes listed in the video are: fish food and/or hands. I'm not sure about fish food but i do know my hands sweat a lot so this might be it.

Anyhow is there a way I can get rid of this oily film? I've tried water changes with a siphon (why would that work, the film is on top of the water not under it ?‍) and with a small ice cream bucket tried to remove the top water and there the film with it but to no avail.

now BigAl's video does promote a sump but i don't want to add more stuff to my already small 20G, so i ask if there is a way to get rid of the oil without having to buy anything (something like a certain method of water change and such)

 

[dudley]

Oily film on the water surface can be caused by a few things including fish food, what are you feeding?

What can help is agitating the water surface with your filter output though that may depend on the type of filter you are using? You can always use a paper towel, lay it on the water surface to collect the oily substance.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

Try dropping your water level. You could also try to lay a paper towel on top of the water to soak up some of the oil. It really isn't harmful. I have it on mine. I like my water level to be as high as possible so I don't bother with it. Oh, and I've had it for 7 month with out a problem.

 

[Adler]

Oily film on the water surface can be caused by a few things including fish food, what are you feeding?

What can help is agitating the water surface with your filter output though that may depend on the type of filter you are using? You can always use a paper towel, lay it on the water surface to collect the oily substance.

this is what i feed my fish:
Seachem NutriDiet® Shrimp Flakes
Tetra BloodWorms Freeze Dried Food

this is the filter i have:
Aqueon Quietflow LED 10

Try dropping your water level. You could also try to lay a paper towel on top of the water to soak up some of the oil. It really isn't harmful. I have it on mine. I like my water level to be as high as possible so I don't bother with it. Oh, and I've had it for 7 month with out a problem.

I also like my water level high but i also like the waterfall from the filter when the water level is not high

Thank you both for your help

 

[fishorama]

What size is your tank? Anything with a 10 is likely barely enough for a 10g tank most of the time...lightly stocked at that. That's just my opinion of manufacturer's filter "load".

What fish do you have now? What do you hope to keep? Tell us more!

 

[Adler]

What size is your tank? Anything with a 10 is likely barely enough for a 10g tank most of the time...lightly stocked at that. That's just my opinion of manufacturer's filter "load".

What fish do you have now? What do you hope to keep? Tell us more!

I have an Aqueon 20G high tank, the Quietflow 10 came with the tank along with a heater and other accesories.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Try running carbon in the filter.

 

[Adler]

completely unrelated to the original topic, but because the title of this thread is water quality i am going to use this thread for anything water related.

in another post i said that my tank water is acidic and my tap is neutral, so i decided to use baking soda to try and raise pH. My tank is a 20G so i took a 0.5G bucket put tank water there and added 1 spoon of baking soda.



do i add this treated water little by little and see how it goes ?

 

[Lalo J.]

Any situation of changes in the water chemistry that you want to carry out in your tank must be done progressively or it is possible that it will cause a disaster within it.

 

[Adler]

Any situation of changes in the water chemistry that you want to carry out in your tank must be done progressively or it is possible that it will cause a disaster within it.

my objective is to raise ph to neutral as i believe it has become even more acidic because my snails shell are turning white even more than usual