oil slick???

[Calqless]

I have a 75G that i have setup for just under a month now. the top of the water has a sheen to it almost like runoff water that has motor oil floating on top. atm, i only have 4 cardinal Tetras and 3 Bristlenose plecos in the tank. with some limestone rocks, plants, and 1 ornament from petsmart. I have a marineland emperor 400 hob filter and a External 5 Stage Canister Filter Pump Fish Tank Aquarium I got off amazon. Is this natural am i doing something wrong? do i need to change something in the aquarium?

 

[Samzter]

Have you got enough surface agitation? Has anything got into the tank? Eg soap?

 

[Calqless]

i got the hob filter for agitation, i dont want too much as i run Co2 also
(correct?) I could see soap from washing my arms before puttin in plants, or just skin oil from my arms.

 

[mikem691]

What substrate did you use?

 

[Calqless]

AquaDurt.com: Freshwater Planted Aquarium Substrate, 6gallons of it, followed by 40# of caribsea African Cichlid Mix. (because im doing what everyone says cant be done planted cichlid tank)

 

[mikem691]

AquaDurt.com: Freshwater Planted Aquarium Substrate, 6gallons of it, followed by 40# of caribsea African Cichlid Mix. (because im doing what everyone says cant be done planted cichlid tank)

Ok just wondered if you used blasting sand. Ive seen this have oils in it.

 

[bmarine]

I'm following along because it seems i have the same trouble as you have on 2 of my tanks and hope to find a solution.

 

[mikem691]

I've only seen this with tanks I've used meds in

 

[jtez]

I'm not 100% sure, but I have read before that it is a protein layer/film, especially common in planted tanks. I get it in my tank occasionally when the surface isn't agitated enough.

 

[Rivercats]

In larger tanks (my biggest is a 220g planted) you have to bite the bullet and have enough surface movement and just up the CO2 higher. I also put a Fluval overflow intake on the Fluval canister which takes care of it great in that tank. In my 55g I have to keep the water flow almost an inch low and have a small HOB along with my canister to keep a protein layer from forming. Again I just run the bps higher to make up for any CO2 loss.

 

[candymancan]

I have the same problem in my 55g and 27g hex.. When I got my 55g not too long ago which is using a 350 penguin filter and a 24 inch bubble wall.. I noticed the side the filter wasn't on had this film on the water and looked stagnant... I bought a Power head and positioned the thing so it blew a little water up top to make the water move and I haven't had that film since.

My 27g hex has the same problem.. the top if I turn my airstone off gets a layer of film on top and it looks nasty... The only way I can keep the top from getting this is by keeping my airstone on... But I just recently started DIY CO2 and I turned my airstone off and again the top started getting that film... so I think what im going to do is keep the airstone on but get a valve for it to turn the bubbles down to where it still agitates the top and keeps the film from developing but also doesn't remove all my CO2. I'll have to monitor my PH and KH and see how much itll affect co2 levels

 

[Calqless]

I have dilters on each sidenod my 36 bf i guess thats why i didnt see it there. I added one on my 75 and it seems to be dissapating. Il check it later tjo to be sure

 

[summitxho]

I know this thread is a few weeks old, however I thought I would mention a potential cause which was not addressed, did you have your hands in the water and have anything on your hands? lotion of some sort, anything of the such will also sometimes leave behind what appears to be an oil slick if you put your hands in the tank.

 

[candymancan]

Its oils from the foods like flake food and stuff..

 

[Calqless]

I added a second hob filter and it seems to have gone away

 

[Abiduwhabi]

I'm not 100% sure, but I have read before that it is a protein layer/film, especially common in planted tanks. I get it in my tank occasionally when the surface isn't agitated enough.

This is most likely the cause. See it a lot in betta tanks because people just insist that they don't need filtration so the water just sits. You must of had the tank filled up pretty high for the HOB to not cause enough agitation though.

My mother-in-law had a poor betta that she wouldn't filter and it would get this film on top. She would take a paper towel lay it on top and let the towel soak up the film, then remove it. Actually I think that fish is still alive. Atleast she had it in a 10 gallon tank by its self.

 

[Aqualady40]

my 5g shrimp tank was doing the same thing until I added a simple air-stone and whahlah....gone...yay