Film on Surface

[fishy all the time]

I have this film on the surface of my water. I just did a water change and it still didnt get rid of it. What causes this film. I have a skimmer but it doesnt seem to work well at all. (It is a skilter) Would a better skimmer get rid of this film? I am assuming that my my phos. are okay...only because I dont have an abundance of algea. My nitrates and nitrites are good. PH is a little low but I am having a hard time keeping it up. Any Ideas?

 

[richard rendos]

Throw the skilter away. Film usually comes from little to no surface agitation. Get some flow up to the top and get a better skimmer. For a 55 gallon, I would say that a CPR bakpak would be good, or an Excalibur. Both of these skimmers have an available pre-skimmer box to skim the surface of the water. That will get rid of the protein buildup on the surface of your water.

 

[jeff903]

I had something like that happen to me a few months ago and I was getting worried also and then all of a sudden it just went away by itself! Little by little it went away every day until the water was crystal clear all over the top. I never changed anything with my filter or anything and I don't even have a skimmer. Then a few weeks ago I changed around my live rock and stirred up the soot and stuff that sits all over the rock and it is back again. I most likely will go away with time and water changes, at least mine did. Jeff

 

[deucey]

What size tank do you have the skilter on and is it a 250 or a 450...have you modified the skilter ......the film is a build up of organics in your water and it is not considered desireable.....it lessens your tanks ability to have gas exchanges into the air! Running a powerhead to agitate the surface will aid in gas exchanges.....i would also recommend that if your tank is over 20g and your using a skilter 250 or even a 450, then i would strongly suggest at least a stand alone skimmer like a prism or seaclone...More info would be helpful

 

[deucey]

BTW.....don't know if this may be the case but if you add Kalk and don't let it sit b/f you add it to the tank it can also cause a hazy film on top of the water!.....

 

[fishy all the time]

I have a 55 gallon and a skilter 450. When I first got the skimmer it didnt work well. After a while all of a sudden it was working really well, I was emptying it every day. I take it apart to clean it every now and then. Now it doesnt seem to work. I was looking into buying a prism, hoping it would work better. I have two power heads, one on each side of the tank. Hope that helps.

 

[deucey]

yeah the skilter is not the best choice of filters for a 55....personally I run a skilter 250 on a 7g bow and it works well for that...but not for a tank much over 20g......if I were you I would go with the CPR Back Pack or the Prism....Seaclone is okay but I wouldn't recommend it for anything over 55g....I think if you get the CPR like Richard said it has an overbox that will help with the film.....but I think either the way the prism or the CPR will get rid of the film over time.....once all the extra organics are filtered out!!