white filmy haze?

[ericosuave]

what is this white filmy haze floating on the top of my water? could it be a build of of protein? should i turn my skimmer up a little higher?

TIA

 

[fishfreek]

could it be a build of of protein?

yes, also refered to as an oil slick. This is a buildup of disolved proteins in the water. YOu should try to increase your water flow at the surface. I suspect your skimmer is intaking water below the water line and you dont utilize an overflow. If your skimmer can be rigged up to pull the water from the surface then this will boost the effectivness of the skimmer and at the same time help remove the oil slick from the surface of the water.

 

[Brad]

surface skum..

I had this problem for a while in my earlier setup. I was not able to get the skimmer to pull from the surface, which was the obvious solution. I tried to use a overflow cup mounted just below the surface for the water to fall into, then into the skimmer....but as the water level in the tank wasn't dead stable, the overflow cup would either not work, or run dry.

So....what I did was to route the skimmer return so that it FALLS into the tank, like a waterfall. As it does this, it breaks the surface tension and pulls the oil slick down. It worked OK.

So try to pull the water from the surface first. If that doesn't work try the waterfall.

 

[ericosuave]

ok cool.. thanks guys. i think im gonna invest into an overflow box

 

[Mrbill]

I have the same issue. Just last night I aimed the return from my canister filter at the surface of the water. I also aimed a powerhead at the surface. Finally, I put fresh carbon in the filter.

This morning the oil slick was gone!