Arrgghh!!! What now with my tank!!

[serob]

Just went to do my afternoon feed on my tank and the top of the water looks like an oil slick (slimy but clear.) There is a ton of "O" sized bubbles in the slime on the surface water. Everything else looks good. It looked fine last night around 6pm. Flow is the same and lighting hasn't changed. Filter is the same as last night. Why is this happening?

Thank for any help,
Sean

 

[calvin415]

What kind of surface skimming do you have? That is do you have an overflow? Sounds like typical surface scum unless it's actually oil from a blown powerhead...

 

[serob]

It is a 16 gal Nano. with a filter system in the back that I have changed to a fuge Here is a pic.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/82204Reef_001.JPG


I have been feeding the same and haven't changed anything in the last two months.

Help

 

[calvin415]

But how does the water get into this filter? Does it pull water from the surface? I'm just trying to confirm if you are currently pulling water off the surface in your filtration...

 

[ktani]

Sean,

what kind of pump are you using? Sometimes a slick can also be caused by a pump leaking.

Kip

 

[serob]

It is an over flow system, teeth cut into the chamber in the back. The pump is a veryu weak one, submersible that came with the tank. Should I do a water change and skim the surface water?

Sean

 

[serob]

I cleaned the overflow and the pump and it made no difference. I dont know what to do!!!!

Sean

 

[calvin415]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6858381#post6858381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by serob
It is an over flow system, teeth cut into the chamber in the back. The pump is a veryu weak one, submersible that came with the tank. Should I do a water change and skim the surface water?

Sean

If you have an over flow system then you should already be skimming the suface water... You need to find the source, I'd start with your return pump, replace it and see if that makes a difference... Do you have any other pumps, or powerheads?

 

[roguemonk]

Try aiming a powerhead up toward the surface (not high enough to break the surface but to cause turbulence) and in the direction of the overflow. What's happening is that the surface is too still and the water isn't turning over at the top level. If you agitate it with a powerhead or two that should break it loose and get the scum to go down the drain as it were. Protein skimming might be necessary to cut it down permanently.

Brad

 

[serob]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6858654#post6858654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by roguemonk
Try aiming a powerhead up toward the surface (not high enough to break the surface but to cause turbulence) and in the direction of the overflow. What's happening is that the surface is too still and the water isn't turning over at the top level. If you agitate it with a powerhead or two that should break it loose and get the scum to go down the drain as it were. Protein skimming might be necessary to cut it down permanently.

Brad

Okay, I agree, but why did this happen out of the blue? Everything was fine and then went to S.......poop. Pump is clean and aimed to stir the top water.

Will check in with you guys to let you know!!!
Sean

 

[wetWolger]

not sure why it happened out of the blue but i can think of a couple occassions when my tank has suddenly gotten a surface film. I usally have excellent surface flow, and very VERY rarely have a problem. But I can think of a couple times I have come home to a little surface film. I just take one of my powerheads that points more towards the surface off the wavemaker and run it stright for 24hr. Seems to have always cleared it up. Been at least a couple months since I have had it film up again. Tanks sorta have cycles (more than just the ammonia cycle), could be that some coral was releasing something in the water. Or maybe a snail blocked one of your pumps so it was not getting enough surface movment. But if it goes away with a little surface arreation I would not worry about it.

 

[serob]

I did just have an alveiapora (spelling) die. Would the waste cause this?

Sean

 

[ktani]

Sean,

I had a rio fail and initially it looked fine and I too searched but then it completely collapsed and made an even bigger mess. What kind of pump is it?

It is possible it created an issue for the alveopora, you might want to consider a new pump till you can determine if that is it or something else dripping leaching or otherwise into the system.

Kip

 

[roguemonk]

I would think if something just died that could produce a spike in organics that would cause a film to form more quickly than otherwise.

Did the alveopora death cause the film, or vice versa? Which came first (the chicken or the egg, sorry I couldn't resist)...

Brad