White film on top sandbed

[rawrpk]

No skimmer 20 long 15 sump 24 3w LEDs

Stared dosing 5 ml vit c for passed 4 days and tonight I notice the while film.. And then as I got real close a rotten egg smell.. I'm readin sulfide caused by anaerobic bacteria....

Is that what vitamin c promotes, anaerobic bacteria growth?

I've discontinued it's use

 

[skunkmere]

stop dosing and get a skimmer. your going to crash your tank. you need to skim out if your dosing a carbon source like vinegar, sugar, and vit c

 

[rawrpk]

i took out the skimmer i had and replaced the space with rock.. i had read tanks >50 g dont really need them?

so its worth it to dose c with a skimmer?

 

[Breadman03]

The carbon source provides food for bacteria that consume nitrates. A skimmer is necessary when carbon dosing. I don't know tons about it because my skimmer isn't that great and I have a very low bio load with no nitrates. I'll eventually do more research.

One issue any small tank will have when dosing is that it is very difficult to measure what you are dosing with (proportionally) as good precision as with a large tank. .1 ml makes a much greater difference in a 20 gallon tank than a 100 gallon tank.

As far as skimming or not, someone with more experience will surely have more info than me. I have been running one just to make sure that I have maximum gas exchange.

 

[rekcahdab]

stop dosing and get a skimmer. your going to crash your tank. you need to skim out if your dosing a carbon source like vinegar, sugar, and vit c

This is hilarious all I can do is imagine a guy trying to light a BBQ grill with a hand dripping lighter fluid holding news paper and me telling him. Dude wash your hands your going to crash and burn!

Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante

 

[skunkmere]

i would have a skimmer if you can. its the best thing if something dies or if you arent doing water changes as much as you should. i got a 20g tank with a 20g sump and im running a skimmer with biopellets.

 

[Deleted member 7065]

When you dose a carbon source your skimmer reacts and produces more "goop"

If you don't have a way to remove the extra nastiness it remains and pollutes.

Was that technical enough?