What is going on?????????

[KanUCme]

Ok, I went outta town for the weekend like I normally do. I added a little extra top off, like normal to account for evaporation over two days. The lights were off for two days, and when I arrived home today, everything appears healthy, accept for the surface of my water. It is kinda hazy and has air bubbles trapped inside this layer, my powerheads are rippling the surface but it's not helping. My skimmer is working, my overflow box has seemes to slow down a little, but I can't seem to fighure out what thes crap on the top of the water is. It is a hazy clear/white that resembles an oil slick without the rainbow colors. Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

 

[jamesw]

I think that without agressive "rippling" every aquarium will have this scum. It's a mixture of proteins and oils. Believe it or not, many fish excude something like this out of their skin. It's harmless.

That's why many people use an overflow with a prefilter. It will skim off this layer.

I don't know why it would appear there all of a sudden, unless your prefilter stopped working or your surface mixing went down.

HTH
James

 

[KanUCme]

my prefilter box is still in operation and my powerheads are still rippling the surface. I don't get it. Everything looks healthy and all my levels are in check. I guess it's not bad.

 

[Marcosreef]

Maybe having the lights off kept the UV from metabolizing the protein scum layer and synthesis from occurring or ahh, nevermind!

Just Kidding... laugh if you want, but use some paper towels on the surface of the water. The scum sticks pretty good to it. Only a temp solution, but it works!

 

[whusband]

I had the same problem until I started using a protein skimmer. I used the "paper towel method" before that. Your skimmer should be pulling that stuff out. Might wanna turn the air flow up a bit on your skimmer.

 

[KanUCme]

I have a skimmer. My tank has been running for over a year. This is the first time I have ever had the surface skum. My skimmer works great, it pulls the thick green crap outta the water. The skimmer isn't the prob.

 

[Amon]

KanUCme,

I think that the film can be removed much better with a cup. Keep one side of the cup under the waterline so you get only the film to the cup, like an overflow box would do. When you learn to hold the cup correctly, it's quite easy...

 

[Scott E]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by KanUCme:
<strong>Ok, I went outta town for the weekend like I normally do. I added a little extra top off, like normal to account for evaporation over two days. The lights were off for two days, and when I arrived home today, everything appears healthy, accept for the surface of my water. It is kinda hazy and has air bubbles trapped inside this layer, my powerheads are rippling the surface but it's not helping. My skimmer is working, my overflow box has seemes to slow down a little, but I can't seem to fighure out what thes crap on the top of the water is. It is a hazy clear/white that resembles an oil slick without the rainbow colors. Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[Scott E]

I had the same thing in my tank and after checking my skimmer,changing the prefilter, checking the powerheads for surface aggitation,etc and everything was working good.I noticed my CPR overflow box had slowed down due to bubbles getting caught in the top of the siphon (a dirty prefilter in the back of the box could also cause this).I hooked the air bleed port to a powerhead which constantly pulls out the air bubbles and haven't had the problem since.You do have to clean or replace the section of tubing every month or so due to algae build up in the tube.I found that the water has to fall an about 1 1/2" or more from the surface of the water into the overflow box to pull the film off the top of the water.You will have to adjust the flow according to the size of your tank (mine is a 55 gal.).I hope this helps you out. Good luck.

 

[Jawbone]

KanUCme I think maybe Jamesw hit it on the head in guessing that possibly your prefilter stopped working for you. but take it a step further. Ask the neighbors if the power was on the whole weekend or if it had shut down for ½ the day or more.


Just a swag (sophisticated wild ass guess)

 

[KanUCme]

I re-cleaned the overflow tube, and cleaned the skimmer again. This time it seemed to cure the problem. Thanks everyone.