BangkokMatt
New member
What causes it and what can get rid of it.
Film on surface water.
- Thread starter BangkokMatt
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Southern Boy
New member
Surface skiming gets rid of it.Also you can aim a powerhead at the surface to help break it up.
BangkokMatt
New member
Unfortunately I have an in sump skimmer - also, I am really happy with my flow at the moment. It took a long time to get it right and don't want to change anything or add another powerhead. If thats the easiest solution though, I will try it.
Southern Boy
New member
What I mean by surface skimming is the way your water gets to your sump.Do you have n overflow box?HOB or overflow towers?That is surface skimming.
BangkokMatt
New member
I see. I used to have a hang on protein skimmer with a surface skimming attachment. Thats what I thought you meant.
Anyway - I don't have any of the devices you mentioned. Just the standard overflow to sump. I will look into it. Thanks Southern Boy
Anyway - I don't have any of the devices you mentioned. Just the standard overflow to sump. I will look into it. Thanks Southern Boy
jeweldamsel
New member
Make sure the water level in the overflow towers is lower than the display tank.
Shorten the durso by an inch , although you will have to listen to slightly more noise you will have more "pull" due to the differance between heights or the tank and the corner overflow.
for the noise you could fabricate a cover for the overflow chamber to dampen the sound just dont block the airflow to the durso. perhaps pack some sponge aroud the durso pipes.
cant thinkof a better way thats cheap.
for the noise you could fabricate a cover for the overflow chamber to dampen the sound just dont block the airflow to the durso. perhaps pack some sponge aroud the durso pipes.
cant thinkof a better way thats cheap.
Frick-n-Frags
New member
You are set up to surface skim equipmentwise. It is down to a flow issue.
Picture the direction the scum would have to move to collect at the overflow and exit.
The game is to direct flows so that there is a net upwelling at the end/side(sides
however you are setup) of the tank OPPOSITE the overflow. this upwelling causes current to flow back away from the opposite side, toward the overflow, pushing all the scum with it.
I can quickly explain my setup, and surface skimming is exactly why I did this:
I have a standard 4' 55gal or whatever. I put the overflow box in one end. I also put the main powerhead at that end basically right near the overflow(but closer to the bottom). The PH is aimed all the way down the tank to the far end.
D my jet stream) at like 4-5" off the bottom and an inch or two in from the front glass.
the jetstream hits the far wall and you can see the water roiling a little all the way across the surface above. This scours out the far corners 100%. Then the return flow is all at the top/along the back and everything gets driven towards the overflow.
Bottom line:
a) very simple setup (1 overflow +1 gigunda PH)
b) entire water colum in serious motion, including lots of random swirls off the jetstream and the deflections motion
c) 100% surface skimming, even if main return pump volume isn't all that spectacular because the internal PH is what is doing the work of stacking it up by the overflow
edit: the only caveat to this is, I sort of had to visualize this cylinder of raging water wrapping around the tank inside and it has to be kept clear to make it all the way around. I also added a "feng shui"* rock in the corner where the jetstream hits at a 45º to help it get around the bend vs totally exploding in turbulence from smacking the wall at 90º
*ever see those japanese sandboxes with one lone rock way away from the main ones? well since I have a BB box, it must be the chinese version heh.
Picture the direction the scum would have to move to collect at the overflow and exit.
The game is to direct flows so that there is a net upwelling at the end/side(sides
however you are setup) of the tank OPPOSITE the overflow. this upwelling causes current to flow back away from the opposite side, toward the overflow, pushing all the scum with it.I can quickly explain my setup, and surface skimming is exactly why I did this:
I have a standard 4' 55gal or whatever. I put the overflow box in one end. I also put the main powerhead at that end basically right near the overflow(but closer to the bottom). The PH is aimed all the way down the tank to the far end.
D my jet stream) at like 4-5" off the bottom and an inch or two in from the front glass.the jetstream hits the far wall and you can see the water roiling a little all the way across the surface above. This scours out the far corners 100%. Then the return flow is all at the top/along the back and everything gets driven towards the overflow.
Bottom line:
a) very simple setup (1 overflow +1 gigunda PH)
b) entire water colum in serious motion, including lots of random swirls off the jetstream and the deflections motion
c) 100% surface skimming, even if main return pump volume isn't all that spectacular because the internal PH is what is doing the work of stacking it up by the overflow
edit: the only caveat to this is, I sort of had to visualize this cylinder of raging water wrapping around the tank inside and it has to be kept clear to make it all the way around. I also added a "feng shui"* rock in the corner where the jetstream hits at a 45º to help it get around the bend vs totally exploding in turbulence from smacking the wall at 90º
*ever see those japanese sandboxes with one lone rock way away from the main ones?
well since I have a BB box, it must be the chinese version heh.
Last edited:
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