Film on water

meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
OK, today I have noticed a light film on top of water...I thought I had read in an older post that you can lay a piece of newspaper on it...Anyone remember, or know what I can do? I have lots of top flow from both ends, and in the center.
I think I need to cut down on zoe. Maybe only use it a couple of times a week.
 
reefman22

reefman22

Member
I have never heard of newspaper but it seems logical and may be worth a shot. What I have heard and do, and it works pretty well, is that you take a plastic dixie cup (or other wide-rimmed cup) and set it bottom down in the water and pull it down till it's just a TINY bit under the water and all the surface water gets sucked into it. Then you dump it. It's time consuming and you end up dumping a little bit of water out but if you do it during your water change then its not so bad, and it works. JMO
Reefman
 
reefman22

reefman22

Member
haha yea you'd probably have to use a bucket.......actually that might work....naww you probably have alot of rock haha. just typing as i think. sorry I'm not more help :/
Reefman
 
fatcat

fatcat

Member
I have heard to use paper towel, news paper would scare me with the inks and dyes.
I get the film on top of my tank when my skimmer needs cleaning, goes away in a few hours after cleaning.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Hmm..just cleaned the skimmer prefilter foam..I'll see how it looks in the morning. I just thought that somewhere I read something about newspaper....Thanks
 
N

nihoa

Guest
ive newspapered and its pretty slick. turn your powerheads off, lay a piece of newspaper down over the entire surface of your tank and then lift it out from one end. so by pulling and rolling it off one end youll drag the rest across your tank and this will pull the film off the water. be quick about it. you arent looking to soak up the film, the film sticks to the paper and you are skimming it off.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I actually have one powerhead pointing up to "disturb" the surface of the water and that clears mine up. Two point downish.. and two point across... plus I have my overflow -- but I did have a film on the top until I set a powerhead to point up disturbing the water.
I would use papertowels over newspaper if your going to try that route.
 
N

nihoa

Guest
if you do it quick enough the paper pulls the film off the surface without becoming soaked. again, the film sticks to the newspaper and you arent looking to sponge it up. as i understand it the film is oily residue from your hands being in the tank and oil from some of the foods. i havent tried soaking it up with papertowel but you are talking about different mechanisms. water and oil dont mix, i dont know what the papertowel is going to soak up?? try both i guess but there shouldnt be a worry about ink if you dont let the paper become soaked. when you drop it down it will float on the surface for a few seconds without soaking water up.
i have tried the powerhead pointed at the surface method and this does indeed work but i found it only pushed the film around and it still collected in corners. im thinking the real solution to this problem is proper protein skimming but for the meantime some of these other band-ids might help.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Surface agitation and proper surface skimming are not band-aids but a necessary part of keeping the film off of the surface of the water and allowing efficient gas exchange. Surface skimming is done by, for instance, the teeth you see on overflows. When tank water is at the proper height the surface of the water will flow quickly through these teeth, getting the water to the fitration in the sump or the canister or whatever you are using for mechanical filtration.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Depends on how your protein skimmer is set up to work. HOB usually doesn't "pull" off the surface. My overflow takes the top 1" or so... down to the sump.. into the first compartment where my skimmer does all the skimming. Most of your proteins in the water are in the top of the water column.. thus making my skimmer as effecient as it can be as it's really only skimming the top of the water column.
HOB skimmers can pull in water a few inches down.. and really never pull anything from the top few inches IMO
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Well this Saturday my new wet/dry sump with protein skimmer comes in, and I will have an overflow...so the HOB will be a thing of the past...I am guessing that should help.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Yeah -- I wouldn't mess with the newspaper thing or worry about it unless you see a problem after the new sump comes in.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Thanks, I think I'll leave it as you said for a few more days. It's not like it has been like this long though, and my water (YAYYY) is finally clear too.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Just me... but I would think about putting cheato in place of bio balls (if that's the type of sump your getting). Cheato loves extra nutrients and doesn't become a build up for nitrates after awhile -- plus I like the natural control of things as much as possible. Just my .02 on that part though.
 
N

nihoa

Guest
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2928083
Surface agitation and proper surface skimming are not band-aids but a necessary part of keeping the film off of the surface of the water and allowing efficient gas exchange. Surface skimming is done by, for instance, the teeth you see on overflows. When tank water is at the proper height the surface of the water will flow quickly through these teeth, getting the water to the fitration in the sump or the canister or whatever you are using for mechanical filtration.
agreed, you posted while i was writing. i was referring to newspapering or papertowelling as band-aids.
 
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