top of the water column

whodeydan76

New member
The top of my 75 gal tank is pretty nasty. The top of the water has some brown algae floating on it. I am slowly changing from tap water to ro water. (Wish I would have just done ro in the beginning) I tried netting the stuff but it didn't work grrrr.
My protein Skimmer cleans pretty much everything but the top..how do I fix this problem?


Lost a diamonds goby tonight. He flopped out of the tank to the floor while I was at work:( kinda bummed that lil guy was so cool and fun to watch.
 
Do you have a HOB skimmer? If you have a sump then the top layer of dirt should flow down to the sump where it can be skimmed out.
 
Sounds like you don't have a sump, in that case you need more surface agitation to break the organics floating on the surface. That in turn will mix with the rest of the tank water and the skimmer will skim it out. They sell other stuff that acts like an overflow buti don't have much knowledge on that stuff.
 
If you have an overflow connected to a sump, it should surface skim for you as the water gets moved from tank to overflow to sump if you have it set correctly. You just need to adjust the return pump so that the display tank's water level is slightly higher than the overflow's water level.

If you are using some type of HOB filter for filtration and water movement, like ek9vboi said you need more surface agitation. You can accomplish this by pointing your powerheads towards the top of the water. It should help break some of the water's surface tension and allow the junk to mix freely into the water column and hopefully get filtered out. But it may not completely remove everything from the top of the water depending on how bad it is.

edit: I just read some of your old threads, and it seems you do not use a sump because you do not have a drilled tank. You can buy plenty of HOB overflows so you do not have to drill. I currently use a HOB overflow on my 40 breeder and it works perfectly fine. Eshopps makes some pretty decent and low priced overflows for your tank. It will take care of your organics floating on the top of your tank in a heartbeat.
 
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Ok thanks guys. I do have a skimmer but it is hanging on the side of my tank. I am buying a 40 gal long this fri when I get paid and a buddy is selling me a hob overflow so I can start to set up my overflow. I am just wondering what kind of plumbing and sump pump ill need to purchase to make that dream a reality. I am trying to slowly compensate for newbie stupidness of not getting a predrilled tank, not using ro water when its only .89 a gallon at jacks (my part time employer), and my not having nets on the tank becuase my ati is sitting on 2x4s until I can get it hung above the tank. I had a diamond goby jump out of my tank while I was working last night:( He was crusty on the floor when my daughter found him.
 
lol, the carpet surfing happens more then you think. I wouldn't take it so hard, the other day one of my clowns did it but met the hard tile. My brother saw her and was like, did you take your fish out? I was like nooooo and screamed toss her back in!

As for all the noobie stuff, it's normal. Your not the first and won't be the last. All we can do is try to help and guide you to the light.
 
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