film on water

[ninny]

I have a 12 gallon nano cube and it gets a brown film on top of the water, what is it? How to get rid of it? I have a 130 gal. reef and a 75 gal aggressive and I don't have this problem with either one of them.

 

[bigarn]

It's probably excess nutrients in the water. Good filtration and a powerhead aimed at the surface should help. Are you overfeeding? How often and what percent waterchanges do you do?

 

[rbaby]

I have an overflow mod that gets rid of my film on my nano cube...and once a month I also "vacuum" the tank by putting a HOT magnum on it for 30 minutes to clean out all the debris build up.
A great way to temporarily get rid of it is taking a piece of clean computer paper and putting it on the surface...

 

[rkmartin3]

Another quick fix that I do about 1x a week, is to use a papertowel with no dye in it and sweep it across the top. I use 3-4 papertowels and it cleans up the film. Seems to work great, have had the tank for over a year.

 

[scubanoah]

Ive got the same tank and had the same problem. Like bigarn said it is excess nutrients. I added a PH and pointed it at the surface, and do a 10% water change weekly and, no more film.

 

[rkmartin3]

Hey there ScubaNoah - how do you add a PH to a nano cube? Is it tricky?

 

[scubanoah]

No not at all. Just get a small one like the aquaclear 20. Put it under the nozzle of your stock PH and point it so it runs along the back wall and point the nozzle towards the surface. works great for me.

 

[rbaby]

I use the maxijet 1200 that's padded a little because you can't use the suction cups...great flow to the tank.

 

[clarkiiclo]

I have an Eheim 600 that works great for me. Variable flow from 70 something to 160. Super small size and I get great water movement.