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Water Surface Scum

1K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  32Bit_Fish 
#1 ·
Should I be concerned about this. It just made water look dirty even I just did a 70% w/c two days ago. The tank has 2.25" Miracle Gro capped with 1.75" of mixed gravels with Eco-complete.

The water change helped a little. But it comes back quickly after the w/c.
 

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#3 ·
It's normal biofilm. Increase surface agitation to keep it in check.
There is one small power head running to move the water at bottom of the tank. Should I add another one to point it to the water surface? I have one SunSun 303b and no HOB because I'm going to put a CO2 on this tank.

I've also noticed large bubbles coming out of the substrate today. More bubbles than usual.
 
#10 ·
I just remember my canister filter (SunSun 303B) comes with a skimmer. Let me try it to see if that works.

I feed my fish lightly once a day and the bows are ferocious eater. They always bumping off others while trying get the food. So the food would only last for seconds in the tank.

The Eheim 350 skimmer seems to be good after I read couple reviews and saw its action on YouTube.
 
#16 ·
I just remember my canister filter (SunSun 303B) comes with a skimmer. Let me try it to see if that works.

I feed my fish lightly once a day and the bows are ferocious eater. They always bumping off others while trying get the food. So the food would only last for seconds in the tank.

The Eheim 350 skimmer seems to be good after I read couple reviews and saw its action on YouTube.[/QUOT

The film is more of an irritant to all of us. Boesemani's are totally crazy when they eat that it must be hard for your Cardinals to get anything. I have Praecox Rainbows with Cardinals and feel it's not a good combination although the Cardinals seems to be healthy enough. I've never had rainbows before and sure was shocked at the speed of their eating.

Let us know how your skimmer performs, I'm sure it will do the job. It takes very little time to clear up the problem. I've called Seachem asking if their iron or any other supplements could cause the problem. It was a definite NO to any of their supplements. They insist it's from over feeding. Maybe it's the waste from the fish. Would you consider the tank to be overstocked at all? There is something causing the problem and getting to the root of the issue and fixing THAT will eliminate the problem. It's easier said than done.
 
#11 ·
Dirty filter and protein from fish food leads to surface Scum. Some say higher level of Fe dosing contributes to this problem, I dont agree. I just installed Eheim 350 skimmer yesterday and to my surprise with in 5 minutes tank is sparkling crystal Clear. I never had the problem with Surface Scum till recently as I started to feed a lot for growing Discus.
 
#12 ·
You could install a small internal overflow box on your tank and put the canister filter intake into it.

It accomplishes the same thing as the overflow leading to a sump, but since you're using the canister there's no real chance of overflowing anything.
 
#15 ·
I was having the same problem. I used a multifunction powerhead and added a diy spray bar towards the surface of my water, helped to circulate the water that is sitting on top.
The spreadbar (outlet of my canister) is currently being positioned facing the tank wall, so the water that coming out of the canister is being spread at the tank glass. I'm doing this because I want to eliminate noise when the water level goes below the spreadbar. I guess I can just turn it around and allow the water spreading towards the water surface to generate agitation.
 
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