Ick on top of water...

[jwsmartin]

How do you remove the build up on the surface of the water? I have a 30 gallon nanopod set up. The filter system is built in. There are about 5 slats I can take out for the water to enter the filtration system. Right now I only have the top removed, but I have experimented with removing all of them and it doesn't help.

The water seems very still on the top of the tank unless I aim a head at it. Then it just seems to swirl it around and break up the ick a bit, but it never completely goes away.

Aside from the daily build up on the glass (green) and the build up on the sand (brown), my tank is pretty clean through out. I just can't solve the ick on top problem.

 

[melosu58]

That is not ick. That`s a protein sheen. It will disapear by pointing a PH to the surface. Ick is a parasite that looks like sugar or salt crystals on the fish.

 

[ccCapt]

As Mike said, it's proteins coating the surface. Do you have a protein skimmer?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Pointing a powerhead at the surface will drive them back into the water column, this will help if you have a protein skimmer, but if you don't have one and are using mechanical filtration, then perhaps something like a fluval skimmer would help ( Fluval Aquaclear )

Both are designed to float on the surface and remove the organics that accumulate there.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that a skimmer would be ideal. As Wiz alluded to it will either be in the water of on top of the water.

 

[lando]

Check out the nano-skimmer by Oceanic. I have one in my 12gal nanocube and it works great. You can also get "surface skimmers" for most of these nano tanks. They simply break up the surface of the water at the intake to help reduce the film on top of the water. A skimmer is a much better route to go.

 

[roka64]

All good suggestions, I think the OP mean icky stuff on the surface (of course ick is a whole different issue).

 

[s10469]

I found that when i put my arm down in my tank i was either putting the white film back into the water, or when i took my arm back out of my tank it was sticking to my arm, but it almost takes care of all of it. Pretty sick huh...lol

 

[waterfaller1]

No offense but you do not need a protein skimmer in a nano if you are doing weekly/bi weekly water changes as you should be. And you should always have surface movement and lots of it in a marine tank. It helps to oxygenate the water and keep PH up. The green film on the glass{use a mag-float for this} and diatoms{the brown stuff, it will go away} is normal in a new set up. How many fish do you have, how much and what are you feeding them, and how big and what do you have for a clean-up crew? You can lay a white paper towel over it quickly to remove some of it. It should go away once the tank establishes. You might want to consider placing 1/2 a cassette tape case against the slats, or you can purchase a surface skimmer{same thing, just looks nicer} JBJ makes them, and they are inexpensive. Running a piece of pura=pad in the back chamber will help as well. But this MUST be rinsed out frequently, and changed often. They come in a large size and you just cut a small piece to fit back there where the water flows through. If you have sufficient LR in the tank, and are using sponges, ceramic rings, or bio-balls in the back chambers, I would suggest you consider removing them. Just use the pad, it's all you need. The LR and live sand will do the filtration for you. With all that stuff back there you just block the flow, it's a place for detritus and leftover food to get caught, and a potential for high NO3 and PO4 eventually.