Its back!

[Frogspawn]

hello,
about 3 weeks ago or so i posted a thread on on a film had laying on top of my tank. i was advised to do a PWC and cut the the feedings a little. so i did. i did not notice a change so i took my fish net and tryed to scop out as much as i could. that seems to work wonders and i gor rid of it for a few days. then i noticed it coming back again, so i did another 10% PWC and... nothing it has not effected the film at all.

what is this and what could cause such a nasty film?
thanks for your help

 

[Hara]

you need to aim a powerhead toward the surface to give good surface agitation.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree...point a power head towards the surface. If you aren't using an overflow to pull water out of the tank then you will get that lovely film ontop unless you have it agitated with water flow.

 

[Frogspawn]

its has 1 maxijet-900 pointed to the top 24hr a day . it works but it pushes all the film to the sides and makes a circle in the middle of the tank. in the middle is clear clean water and on the out side of the circle is the nasty dirty film. should i mabey point 2 PH's at the top? and also i wanted to bring up i have not noticed any more of those little white bugs crawling all over my tank any more. i use to look in my tanks and find millions of them now i dont see any. where could that have went?

also can some one show me a picture of a flat worm? vs a snail?

 

[Hara]

there needs to be enough current at the surface for the water to be a tad rough..and it will take awhile to break down the film.

 

[roka64]

I agree with the rest. That's how I solved my gunky film problem.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...and also i wanted to bring up i have not noticed any more of those little white bugs crawling all over my tank any more. i use to look in my tanks and find millions of them now i dont see any. where could that have went?

Inside your fishes tummies?

I noticed mine drastically decreased as my fish population went up.

 

[Frogspawn]

i only have a single clown fish! i dont know if he eats them or not?
i do see alot of snails at night come out. but they dont have a shell. they are all over the side's of my tank (LOL) i think the snails had babies but i dont think the babies had any freash shells to crawl into. now they just rome around with out a shell to protect them. theres nothing in the tank to cause them harm. so i dont think they mind. well at least i dont belive my clown eats that kinds stuff. mabey he does but i have never see him do it.
thnks for your time
frogspawn

 

[MT79]

I always notice an increase in surface scum when I don't run GAC. You may want to use some, at least until things clear up. Then keep water flow/surface aggitation high, monitor feedings, etc.

wanted to bring up i have not noticed any more of those little white bugs crawling all over my tank any more.

Their numbers will naturally fluctuate as food becomes scarce/available. Newly cycled tanks have lots of nutrients. I think your water is just "cleaner".

 

[fishyfoofoo]

I dunno if this is correct. I am relatively new to this hobby and I feel silly giving advice, but maybe this will help. I had surface scum on my tank and I just got a second siphon "U" tube (I don't know the name for it, hope everyone understands me) for my overflow. This cleared the problem up instantly as the water flowed much faster from the surface of my tank. Hope this helps.

 

[Frogspawn]

thats a smart idea i would think. but i dont have a wet dry filter or in fact any filter on my setup but my protine skimmer. i should have enough LR to do the filtering for me. or at least i hope..
i have went out and bought new GAC.. i hope it works. i will keep it posted. thanks

another question i have is; i have large amounts of hair alage growing on 2 of my rocks. and when i mean large i mean LARGE.. it doubles in size every few days and it sways in the current like crazy. i pick it out as much as i can but it seem the alage i miss or the little peices that float in the water and land seeds new growth. how can i combat this and get this problem under control..

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I you're having a surface scum issue AND a big time hair algae issue, then it seems like it all points to water quality. Gotta get those excessive nutrients down, or cut down on lighting, or both. The other thought is that if your surface scum layer is really really bad, you're effectively shifting the spectrum of the light going into your tank - kind of like if your lights were old. That, I suppose, could snowball and cause other algae issues within your tank itself.

Regarding another idea about the surface skimming, check out my other thread in the DIY section...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=100911

I was having a surface scum issue also, and this has totally taken care of the problem. You might be able to adapt it to your specific skimmer or filter setup?

Regarding the clownfish and the little white bugs... yes, they do eat them - at least mine does. He'll swim along, stop, orient himself completely vertical just above the sand or rock, then pluck them right off.

Oh... and those baby snails don't need extra shells. They build/grow their own. If they're truly snails you're seeing, they do have a shell already. Perhaps they're not snails?

 

[Frogspawn]

COOL IDEA!..
thanks so much i will get to the LFS asap.. but my intake pump on my Skimmer dont have the same intake like yours.. so i guess i need to buy new pump.. no biggie.. i will buy a little bigger on to make up for the llost in water flow. lets say a maxijet 1200.

as for my lighting..
i just got my HQI light about 7-8 months ago. do you think it needs replaced?

and for the snails.. they look so much like the larger snails.. if they are not man i will crap my pants! lol.. my camra is broke so i cant get any pics ATM

i will write back soon with update
thnaks again

 

[Frogspawn]

ok guys, i am starting to do my water changes every week now and i am going to buy a new bulb this coming up friday.

as for my hair alage can i just pull most of it off and cut the lighting back? will it go away?

and also i just noticed in a spot i never looked befor up on the very top of my pile of rock i see this very dark stuff i dont even know what it is. its very curly and dark. mabey some type of alage but also it has these bubbles ( brown looking ) and they are getter biger these past few days. i will look online to see if i can find out what it is.

my tank has been doing great. but these past few months i been in summer classes and i have not had a great deal of time to do the dailys as needed.. so i need to get back on track here and fix every thing!

good thing is my fish is healthy and loves to eat.. no signs of stress from what i see and loves my HUGE mushroom coral. my pulsing exzina have split into 3 and now i have them growing also in my tank. my clam looks great and is also gaining in size.

what steps should i take to get my tank perfect again?