film on top of water

[MikeyZO]

I woke up yesterday and noticed a film on the top of the water in my tank. It wasnt all over, there were areas of clear. Today though its the total surface. Its not a colored film, more like a... almost like a soapy residue film. But it definately isnt soap as I do not wash anything with soap that I use (water change equip, etc) nor have I put my hands in the tank in weeks. the only thing different that I have noticed is that one of my powerheads moved a bit and started blowing sand around so I shut it off, I havent had the chance to fix it yet. That powerhead used to aggitate the water surface a bit. None of the others do that. Could that be the problem? I added carbon yesterday just to be on the safe side. Nothing seems effected, fish look fine, corals are ok, inverts are good, nothing has died or looks like it is dying. Any ideas short of a decent water chance? And if I do a water change, how do you get the top? Just scoop it out?

 

[skene]

Probably the best thing right now... remove the film by skimming and using a cup of sorts to get the film out. Then do a water change to be certain.
When I do my WC I skim out the top to get any crap residue out, since I leave my top wide open it is prone to getting a lot of dust and other garbage floating on the surface.

 

[Jpergamo]

I get this sometimes when my overflow is a little clogged, it will go away if your overflow/skimmer pulls from the top like it should, sometimes aiming a power head a little up helps too. (the film is organics rising to the surface and should be pulled out by a skimmer)

 

[KathyC]

Hey Mikey ...I just went through this recently myself. Since my desk is right next to my tank I have a constant view of the surface of my water and also noticed a film. The only place I didn't see it was where the 2 P/H's pointed upwards intentionally to break the surface of the water for oxygen exchange.
To get rid of it I took 1/2 sheets of paper towels and quickly 'dragged' them across just the surface of the water. It took quite a few over the course of a number of days to get it all out. (whole paper towels weren't as effective as they caused some of it remix with the tank water). The residue was a brownish color on the towels.
During the same time I also noticed I didn't have near the usual amount of bubbles in my skimmer and I attribute that to whatever was on the surface of the water. I broke it down and cleaned it but it still couldn't keep up until the film was manually removed.
As far as where it came from, not 100% sure but I'd changed 2 things shortly before it formed. I'd run out of my usual Cyclopeeze food and started using the store bought 'cyclops' instead, and I'd opened a new container of Marine One pellets (which always feel 'greasy' to me). I have since stopped feeding both (and yes, I had this stuff form on all 3 of my tanks though to a lesser degree in them). In the past I'd rarely fed pellets, so I am leaning towards them as the source, but could be wrong...

Best to get that P/H fixed/replaced ASAP and aimed back at the surface as you may not have damage yet, but I bet there is way less oxygen in your tank right now due to that film ( and way too much carbon dioxide)and remember that sometimes it takes a couple of weeks before a coral will show signs of stress

 

[MikeyZO]

will do. Also, and I dont know if this has anything to do with it, the water level in my tank is higher then normal... actually hitting the top rim of the tank. This never happened before, and I have a mark in the sump where I keep the water level so I know its always the same amount of water. anyway, not sure what is causing that.

 

[Paul B]

That waxy film is normal in many tanks. I get it almost every day but the surface skimmer removes it and sends it to the protein skimmer.
You can remove it as Kathy said or by just submersing a container very slightly, only the depth of the film and it will all go into the container.

 

[KathyC]

Is the tank drilled or does it have an OFB?

 

[MikeyZO]

has an OFB. I decided to do a wc now and skim the crap off the top. I started by using the paper towels like you said Kathy, then I shut the entire system down and skimmed the 5 gallons off the top, very slowly. Then I removed the OFB and gave it a good cleaning and such, topped off with 5 gallons of fresh salt water and started her up again. The doubley good news is that the film seems to be gone AND the water is no where near the top edge anymore. The other news is that the level in my sump rose significantly. So apparently that film, along with a dirty OFB actually seemed to cause the flow to the sump to diminish, resulting in the return pump raising the level in the tank. Very interesting indeed.

 

[mcnuggget]

that film is mostly oil. its from corals,food,fish,etc. its normal in all tanks. thats y surface skimming is invented. overflows should also reduce this unless it's not strong enough. other tricks are airstone n ripple the surface. using towel is a short term solution. the film will come back.

 

[MikeyZO]

Well I also fixed the PH and repositioned it so it ripples the surface moreso then it used to before it stopped working right.

 

[Jabis96]

i have the same prob but it comes and goes