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film on water
- Thread starter jaynduke
- Start date
yes i have a protein skimmer running and there are multiple power heads running also. it isn't dust because it acts more like a type of oil to me. i was able to get it out last night with a net, just not sure how much it helped or if it is back today. I am new to saltwater, but tank was adopted and running for a long time before i got it.
what is DOC??
a surface skimmer is different from a protein skimmer would be a safe assumption huh?
what is DOC??
a surface skimmer is different from a protein skimmer would be a safe assumption huh?
Dissolved Organic Compounds
Yes, A surface skimmer is an overflow box or anything that will pull the water directly off the surface of the tank.
I am assuming you are running a Hang On Skimmer then?
If you have a fluval or an Aqua Clear filter running on the tank, you can buy a surface skimming adapter for them.
Yes, A surface skimmer is an overflow box or anything that will pull the water directly off the surface of the tank.
I am assuming you are running a Hang On Skimmer then?
If you have a fluval or an Aqua Clear filter running on the tank, you can buy a surface skimming adapter for them.
It could be cyanobacteria feeding of nutrients that are floating on the surface. If you don't have a overflow, try to get one, or direct water movements (powerhead, returns) in such way to disturb that film and allow submersed intakes to capture it. If you have overflow, make sure that it is getting water from the surface and not from below. Make sure that intake grill is not completely submersed. Also make sure that intake grill is not covered with algae. I had mine covered with hair algae a week ago. The in-the-tank was clean because of my tang, but inside-the-overflow was completely overgrown. At the time, I didn't think that was the problem since the water was moving. Only when I connected the reduced skimmate with the increase in microbubbles did I figure out that the covered overflow intake is not such a smart idea 
, no matter how much my tang liked nibling on it.
, no matter how much my tang liked nibling on it.no i have an overflow box and i also do not have a hang on skimmer. protein skimmer is sitting next to my sump.
i did add some power heads to move the surface water some more last night like reefdrumz suggested. not sure if it has cleared up yet. just trying to get prepared to deal with it if i have to when i get home today.
i do seem to have a bit of a buildup of it inside the overflow box in the corners and such.
i did add some power heads to move the surface water some more last night like reefdrumz suggested. not sure if it has cleared up yet. just trying to get prepared to deal with it if i have to when i get home today.
i do seem to have a bit of a buildup of it inside the overflow box in the corners and such.
As long as your disturbing the surface it should pull that junk into the water to be disposed of by your skimmer. My concern is that if you've got an overflow to a sump (RR tank, I assume?) then it should be pulling the water from the surface to get to the sump. What does the feed to the sump (overflow) look like? Is it possible that it isn't pulling water from the surface?
Is the water level in your overflow a bit lower than the level in the tank? If not I have noticed that the surface water will not or barely be pulled into the box. If this is the case try raisng your overflow a little bit at a time until the level in it is about 1/8" below that of the tank.
Seems to be lots of good questions and suggestions here so far. Just for clarification (correct me if I'm wrong).
You have an overflow box in the tank with siphon tubes
The overflow box feeds your sump
You have a skimmer sitting in your sump
A pump sits in the sump and pushes the water back into the tank
If this is the case it would seem that as long as the pump is pushing water the overflow would have to more or less be working correctly but maybe the tweak Hitman described will help.
One thing I can think of but not likely to be the cause. Check the overflow to see if anything is clogging the top portion of the overflows. It's possible if clogged that you are pulling in water from under the surface of the water and the oily proteins you see aren't making it into the overflow and getting exported by the protein skimmer.
Do you have the overflow in one corner of the tank while having the sump return in the other corner? If possible you want to do this so the "clean" water has to make it's way across the tank to get processed again (helps a little).
Next I'd suggest checking the skimmer to make sure it is working correctly and is in fact pulling stuff from the water. What does the collection cup look like? How often is it getting filled up?
If both the overflow and skimmer seem to be working correctly can you tell us what pump you have for a return and what skimmer and skimmer pump you have?
Is the oily substance you see completely covering the top layer of water or only a part of the water? If only part of the water, is it touching the overflow box or is it away from the overflow? Any chance you could have a powerhead positioned so that it's pushing the surface water away from the overflow box by mistake?
Carlo
You have an overflow box in the tank with siphon tubes
The overflow box feeds your sump
You have a skimmer sitting in your sump
A pump sits in the sump and pushes the water back into the tank
If this is the case it would seem that as long as the pump is pushing water the overflow would have to more or less be working correctly but maybe the tweak Hitman described will help.
One thing I can think of but not likely to be the cause. Check the overflow to see if anything is clogging the top portion of the overflows. It's possible if clogged that you are pulling in water from under the surface of the water and the oily proteins you see aren't making it into the overflow and getting exported by the protein skimmer.
Do you have the overflow in one corner of the tank while having the sump return in the other corner? If possible you want to do this so the "clean" water has to make it's way across the tank to get processed again (helps a little).
Next I'd suggest checking the skimmer to make sure it is working correctly and is in fact pulling stuff from the water. What does the collection cup look like? How often is it getting filled up?
If both the overflow and skimmer seem to be working correctly can you tell us what pump you have for a return and what skimmer and skimmer pump you have?
Is the oily substance you see completely covering the top layer of water or only a part of the water? If only part of the water, is it touching the overflow box or is it away from the overflow? Any chance you could have a powerhead positioned so that it's pushing the surface water away from the overflow box by mistake?
Carlo
This pic might help. The Green arrow is the level of the tank, the Orange arrow is the level in the OFB. You should make sure your tank is topped off when you make your adjustment, otherwise it might not get enough flow through the OFB after evaporation. In this pic the water level is right after a top-off, during the day, due to evaporation the level in the OFB drops about 2".
