Help: Surface Skimming Problems!

[tangale]

Help pls. Been having problems skimming the surface of my water. Unfortunately, tank is not drilled, but I do have 2 overflow boxes, one on each side of the 55 gallon. But even w/both of these, the surface is covered w/fatty film. How can I improve the skimming in my main tank? My pump pushes water out of the sump at about 700 gph, but is adjustable since I have a ball valve in place. Any ideas would be appreciated!!!! Thanks!

 

[jackson6745]

Increasing flow in the tank will help get rid of a surface slick

 

[alrha]

push the current TOWARDS the overflow boxes.

 

[DevIouS]

If your return is 700gph for (2) external overflows, on a 55 gal.....you might have to upgrade pumps.

 

[ulmo]

Perhaps you can put additional powers heads near the surface to break up the fatty film.

 

[tangale]

Thanks for the reply. Powerhead breaking up the film is currently what I'm doing, but only to limited effect. It's opened up some no film'ed space. As for the pump, when I max the pump out...the overflow doesn't seem to keep up. The water level in the box is the same as in the tank, which leads me to think that it's not skimming off the surface. Any other ideas? Thanks again!

 

[alrha]

drop the water level in the box to below the tank level.