This girl needs some help.

[clarknaddison]

I have five 1" fish in my 10gal aquarium. Changed and cleaned everything but the rocks 45 days ago. I have 1 live plant and recently got rid of it b/c i thought it may be causeing the problem. Im not sure that was the case. For the past 5 days, I noticed a clear film that has taken over the surface of the water. Its odd and when i put food in the water, it basically sticks to the film. What the heck is this and what can i do to get rid of it? I took my net and catched some of it but it builds back up pretty fast....

ANY feedback would be appreciated.

 

[rmiller]

It's likely from a lack of maintenance and surface agitation. What type of filter do you have? How often are you doing water changes? How much do you do each time? What are your numbers for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? What types of fish do you have?

 

[kitty2234]

Hi Clark,

One of the main things that I also would ask, is what type of fish is in that tank. If you have a bunch of goldfish or baby common plecos, than that will tell us that you have an over abundance of fish output (poo) in the tank.

My first suspicion might be that you are overfeeding the fish.

** Note to all the fish lovers - I DO overfeed my fish. This is to try to discourage them from eating the fry. There fry and everyone elses.

kitty2234

 

[Rivercats]

You have a protein film which occurs when there isn't enough surface agitation of the water. If you have an HOB filter lower the water level enough so that the water flows into the tank like a waterfall. You can also add a bubbler that will cause more agitation of the surface water. To help it along you can lay paper towels flat at one end of the tank and slowly pull them to the other end. This may have to be done several times but it will help remove much of the protein layer. Then do the above to keep it from reforming.