film on tank glass

J

jimbow

New member
My tank has been running about 5 months. I've started getting a white film on the glass. When I clean it comes off in white strings. I clogs my 7" filter socks in a few days and the inside of the sock feels slimy. It seems the filter sock is not really dirty but that something slimy is blocking it up so the water can't get through. The skimmer seems to be working pretty hard too. I have a leather that also seems to have strings of the same stuff on it.

The water parameters are all within the OK range.
SG 1.025
MG 1200
PO .1
CA 325
AK 10.5
PH 7.9
NO 0 (on both)

Any thoughts?
 
film algae on glass is normal. leathers also shed skin from time to time. phosphate is a little bit high. you could run gfo to bring it down. there're also other methods like ats, chaeto, etc. calcium is low and you could raise magnesium a little as well.
 
are you carbon dosing? milky looking stuffs are usually bacteria growth. carbon dosing or dosing something similar to increase the bacteria population could also lead to this. i'd just run carbon and gfo and keep up with the general husbandry.
 
Cool Fish I don't drink Vodka, I'm more of a Scotch man.

I dose vodka (the cheap stuff) as a way of adding carbon to the tank. In theory it helps keep the PO4 down as I understand it. I was having problems with high PO4 so I started it. I am also running Phosban (or something like that).
 
The reason your phosphate isn't coming down even though you're dosing vodka is because you're nitrate limited. Once you hit zero on nitrate when carbon dosing phosphate will no longer be pulled from the water. I see you stated that you use GFO. I would start changing it out every week until your po4 levels are under control.
 
Is GFO better than the Phosban? I tried GFO and it didn't seem to work. I am not sure I did the GFO correctly. The Phosban (or whatever it is called) works fast and takes it to near zero. I was out of town for 3 weeks and the GF might have overfed. Plus the Phosban was in for about 6 weeks so it needed changed.

I've changed it and cut the vodka in half I was dosing 23ML per day. Should I stop the vodka completely. I thought I understood it is best not to stop.
 
23ml seems like an awful lot. What size tank do you have. Phosban is gfo.

Here is a dosing chart for vodka. All amounts are in ml.

Table1-40Proof.jpg
 
Stop vodka depends on whether your aquarium is able to assimilate all the nutrients, but will have to continue dosing and find the amount for nitrate is not zero and will remain so continue to consume phosphate. That movie is seen in crystals, is bacterial overpopulation by vodka.
 
I have a 150 Gal. By this chart I am over dosing for sure. I have a printed chart at home I'll need to look at it but maybe I miss-read something.

I have had zero Nitrates for a while and my Phosphates hang around .16. I am trying to get them down to a more acceptable level. Looks like I should lower or stop the Vodka for a bit and let things settle out.
 
whosurcaddie said:
23ml seems like an awful lot. What size tank do you have. Phosban is gfo.

Here is a dosing chart for vodka. All amounts are in ml.

Table1-40Proof.jpg
Click to expand...

That table is for 40 proof vodka. I have no idea where you would get 40 proof. Most vodka is 80 proof (40%) and some 100 proof. Therefore you would cut those recomendations in half.
 
If you have 0 nitrates, would do two things, one remove the cup of skimmer few days so that they rise or leave it but make kick less, and two vodka also reduce nitrates to rise slightly.
 
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