Surface scum just wont go away!

[doug96]

Hi guys, i have been cycling my tank for about 11 days now.. And the surface scum is just so irritating even when i have my IOS! :headwalls: anyone with a remedy for this? Thanks in advance

here's a picture of the scum

and here's the water level in the IOS

 

[Rockys_Pride]

Try more surface agitation. It's probably excess nutrients, but since you're still cycling...I'd sick with aiming a powerhead or two at the surface.

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[TripleT]

You sticking your arm in there a lot?

I think I've heard of using a flat paper towel on the surface. I might not do that in a stocked tank, but you say you're still cycling, so no livestock, right?

 

[geo]

You could try dropping the water level in your overflow a tad.

 

[doug96]

You sticking your arm in there a lot?

I think I've heard of using a flat paper towel on the surface. I might not do that in a stocked tank, but you say you're still cycling, so no livestock, right?

So I just place the paper towel flat out on the surface and let it absorb the scum?

 

[BurntOutReefer]

^correct....however, it returns everytime you stick you bare hands in.....try more surfact movement also....

 

[jhentr]

I suggest a power head pointing up to the surface opposite of your overflow. Basically you want the flow from the power head to push the surface scum into the overflow.

 

[BeanAnimal]

You can use a paper towel to remove oil from the top of a pot of spaghetti sauce. The scum in the aquarium is due to poor surface skimming. As geo pointed out, the water in your overflow box is too high, and therefore the box is not surface skimming. Secondly, the flow rate into the box in relation to its width may not be enough to keep the water surface skimmed. You may want to look into a wider overflow box.

Using paper towels to manually remove the scum is insane, as it will just keep coming back. Do YOU and want to be the filter or do you want the filtration system to be the filter? Using powerheads to keep the "scum" mixed back into the water column is not a good idea either, those are the organics that are going to cause nuisance algae growth. The surface of the water is great at binding organics, take advantage of that fact and get them into the overflow box and then to the skimmer where they can be removed.

 

[coralnut99]

+1 to what Bean said. Especially the part about being a human surface skimming tool.

The water level is def. too high for the overflows to work properly. Water should flow through the teeth, not over them. But to really help, pass along some specifics, like return pump, how the overflows are set up and how much flow they are rated for, etc. Surface agitation facilitates the exchange of gasses at the water's surface, and it's definitely a good thing. But it isn't intended as a blender to mix pollutants accumulating there back into the water column.

 

[BigRick]

+1 lower the water in your overflow and get to skimming