What's that fine whitish film on aquarium glass?

[ClaptonsGhost]

Every day a fine film, whitish rather than brown or green, appears on the inside of my tank. When you view the tank from the front it's really hardly noticeable, although I do clean it off daily. After a week I imagine it might cloud the tank's appearance. I thought from my previous experience with aquariums that it is fish slime, in which case there's nothing to do but clean it, but could it be something else? All parameters are fine so it's not high nitrates or phosphates or anything.

Any ideas? I don't mind cleaning the glass every day but with my bursitis, it is a bit painful a task.

 

[Bryce E]

Are you carbon dosing at all?

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Chemi-pure Elite. Just put in a new 46 oz. bag just today.

Are you saying that would be the cause, or the cure? If the cure, maybe because my previous bag of chemi-pure was at the end of it's life cycle? I cleaned the glass, so I'll check tomorrow to see if it stays clean, but let me know why you asked. Thanks.

 

[Bryce E]

I was wondering because carbon dosing... like vodka dosing can cause what you're talking about. But my friend uses Chemi pure and said that he changes his out every two months, so if your last bag was ready for a change then switching the bag out may just do the trick. If your nitrates and phosphates are in line I wouldn't think it would be a bacterial bloom.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

No, it's not a bacterial bloom, it's just a very thin slime, and even that makes it sound worse than it appears.

I don't vodka dose but I have been adding Reef Bio Fuel which is supposedly a substitute for vodka dosing, and which my filter feeders seem to enjoy, but other than that it's not necessary.

I'll report back later tomorrow whether it came back again.

 

[Bryce E]

Yeah I've never used Reef bio fuel before but if it is a carbon source and is supposed to do the same thing then perhaps that's the cause??

if it's already cleared up tomorrow then cool.. problem solved. if not then I can't help but wonder if it's the Reef bio fuel. Maybe stop that temporarily as your next step just to see... if your chemi-pure swap doesn't do the trick.

But yeah let me know.

Good luck

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Will do. Bio Fuel is more like a food for filter feeders, a nitrate reducing bacteria bed booster, with a pleasant alcohol like smell to it, nothing to do with carbon.

If I remember correctly I have always had this filmy buildup on my glass, even with previous aquariums. Just out of curiosity, how long do you go between cleaning the inside glass on your tank? Again, I'm not talking about the occasional brown diatom or green algae bloom on the glass (which I have almost none of), but a cleaning to remove buildup. Hope I'm not getting too convoluted here.

 

[pegasus]

Have you checked your magnesium level? A white, powdery film sounds like calcium carbonate buildup. Low magnesium allows calcium and carbonate to bind, forming a white coating on surfaces. It tends to build up faster on heaters, but will also coat powerheads, glass, rocks, pretty much everything. Magnesium at levels of 1200ppt or greater keeps these molecules from binding, so more of them are available for corals and coralline algae.

PS: I carbon dose (NO3/PO4:X), and I've never had white residue on my glass... just the typical brown/green algae.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

I'm not sure if I'm describing the problem correctly. It's NOT a powdery film, it's just an invisible, extremely thin layer of what I always assumed to be fish body slime. You can only see it if you look through the side of the tank at a very narrow angle.

I don't add magnesium because I don't have corals, only mushrooms and an anemone, besides my fish. I do add Fusion 1 and Fusion 2 for Calcium and PH.

I'll try and take a picture tomorrow when the lights come up. If there's anything there I'll wipe away a row with my magnet cleaner so that you can see the difference between clean and the film.

 

[Bryce E]

Yeah I don't know. The residue I usually get on my glass is the normal algae build up that I only have to clean like once a week. It's definitely odd that your white/slime like film is appearing daily. I've had what Pegasus is talking about happen on my heater before but it's different than you're describing. I Def don't have a handle on your problem and am merely making guesses. Lol. I guess you'll see after a day or two if your chemi-pure replacement did anything. If not hopefully someone else will be able to offer some insight.

 

[pegasus]

I don't add magnesium because I don't have corals, only mushrooms and an anemone, besides my fish. I do add Fusion 1 and Fusion 2 for Calcium and PH.

Oh, okay. Those are supposed to provide appropriate levels of Magnesium. How are your Calcium levels running? Staying consistent? Just out of curiosity... other than feeding coralline algae, why are you dosing Calcium?

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

All levels testing excellent and consistent. I only dose once every two days. I do it because my LFS, which can be extremely friendly and helpful one day, and seemingly out to destroy my tank the next, told me to, for my mushrooms and sponges. Oddly enough you mention feeding coraline algae. I've added quite a few rocks and mushroom covered rocks coated in purple coraline, but even after 7 months I still don't have any growing in the tank other than a spot here or there. Is that normal?

btw, just checked the tank at 7 a.m. I have my LED's set to 0 white and 1 blue overnight because the Moorish Idol never stops swimming and I felt bad seeing him hover by the light coming from the LED Ramp controller. Just started that last night, and I see what appears to be a clean glass right now. Won't know for sure until another hour or so when the lights start turning on.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Yeah I've never used Reef bio fuel before but if it is a carbon source and is supposed to do the same thing then perhaps that's the cause??

Hey Bryce, I just read the bottle and you're right, Reef Bio Fuel is a carbon source, meant to eliminate phosphates and nitrates. Now, I've got almost 200 lbs of live rock in my 180. I have a protein skimmer, enough chemi-pure for 200 gallons, AND a Phosban Reactor running bio-pellets. Do you think Bio Fuel is overkill, and possibly the cause of the film? Which, btw, I checked this morning and it's there again, very light but I cleaned the glass yesterday afternoon so this is just overnight buildup.

I already dosed the tank with bio fuel today, but I will hold off for a few days to see if that takes care of the problem.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Your Biopellets are already a source of carbon. The output of the pipe from the reactor should go in close proximity to the skimmer. What your seeing is a flocculant. It's a bunch of bacteria that's formed a biofilm because of the excess carbon dosing. Quit one source or the other and let your skimmer pull out the bacteria made from the Biopellet reactor.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Right. I have the output going right back to the skimmer. I've stopped bio fuel for now to see what happens. Like I said it never was a necessity, and another example of the LFS screwing with me. I assume I should continue with Fusion 1 and 2 for PH and calcium, right?

 

[snakeblitz33]

You shouldn't dose anything unless you have an accurate test kit. if your parameters are off and your scheduled water change is not around the corner, it would be best to maintain parameters as close to natural seawater as possible.

 

[Bryce E]

Well it sounds like your problem just got figured out. For me it was just a guess. Sounds like snakeblitz has more knowledge in the area. I'd take his advise. If it were me I'd probably do a hefty water change then like he said stop adding the extra carbon to the system.

 

[pegasus]

All levels testing excellent and consistent. I only dose once every two days. I do it because my LFS, which can be extremely friendly and helpful one day, and seemingly out to destroy my tank the next, told me to, for my mushrooms and sponges. Oddly enough you mention feeding coraline algae. I've added quite a few rocks and mushroom covered rocks coated in purple coraline, but even after 7 months I still don't have any growing in the tank other than a spot here or there. Is that normal?

Coralline algae doesn't take a tremendous amount of calcium to form. What it does require is proper lighting. I never had much success getting it to grow under LED's, but I probably didn't have the right spectrum, either (10K, non-adjustable). With T5 HO lighting, I can't scrape it off the glass fast enough. I can't even see through the sides of my acrylic fuge anymore, and it's only lit with a 23W spiral fluorescent daylight bulb in a clip-on reflector. If you have a "decent" Calcium level, have introduced several coralline covered rocks, and only have it in spots after 7 months, then I'd have to suspect lighting. Maybe some of these LED gurus can help you with that part...

Mushrooms and sponges are soft tissue corals. IF they use any calcium, it would be miniscule amounts. Water changes should provide sufficient calcium for your tank without supplement.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Pegasus, I'm going to correct you but don't take it as being mean, I'm just trying to share. Mushrooms belong to the phylum cnidaria and are corralimorpharians, a kin to soft corals. Sponges belong to the phylum Porifera. Technically speaking, the two are completely different in nearly every possible way.

Mushrooms use very little calcium, but some sponges use a lot to build their internal structures. Sponges use more silica to create spicules to force water into and out of their bodies. Sponges tend to use basic nutrient molecules to fuel their cells and their cells live in structured colonies, while mushrooms have a gut that can break down food like phytoplankton and has a distribution system to get nutrients to their cells.

 

[snakeblitz33]

On the subject of coralline algae,... just maintaining proper calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels and proper lighting might also not be enough. Coralline also requires very low phosphate levels at around 0.03 or slightly less.