Film on top of the water????

[kniquy]

I have had my fish only saltwater tank for ~2 years and have been sucessful with it so far. In the next couple months I will be upgrading to a larger tank with the appropriate lighting to maintain coral. I have been curious about this very light film which I see on the top of the water (it has been there for quite some time and hasn't seem to have bothered the fish). I have a protein skimmer and hang on filter running but it still remains. I notice it the most when I feed the fish the food disperses the film. I would really like to know what it could be and how to rid the tank of it before I upgrade. Any input would be appreciated!!!!

 

[mlm]

you could aim a powerhead at the surface to break it up but the best way is to get an overflow to skim the surface into some sort of sump.

 

[beefcake]

Could it be some type of oil based material that got in there ? Perhaps your hands may have had some amount of oily substance on them and you put your hand in the tank ? I only ask because I've done it.

 

[reefpotato]

I experienced it with my last tank. One way I found that works to resolve it is to place a power head upside down with the suction side an inch or so under the surface. The water drains from the surface, rather than through the bottom of the tank. It works pretty well, but be careful to place a screening cap on the water intake.

 

[kniquy]

These are all great ideas! Thanks so much for the advice. My new tank will have the overflows so I presume that I shouldn't have the same problem in the future.

 

[danrw84]

yes..overflows would be the best..because that stuff would get sucked into the sump and pumped back up and circulated, skimmed and filtered.
ocasionaly i have seen a bit of this on my tank, but i do have a tiny 80gph powerhead right at the surface that stirs it up.
i am adding an overflow as soon as capt pete is finished making it for me.