Film on top of water

[Bfragale]

in my frag tank which is a rimless open top tank- I have a film on top of the water. It’s not slimy, and also has no “rainbow” effects like it’s oily. Seems more like very fine dust. The air conditioner intake is near by, but it’s sucking air, not blowing air. I have three other tanks in same room also with open tops and none of the others have this issue. Other then this film or dust on the surface the tank is otherwise going well.

the power head hits surface and I have a over the back over flow that should be skimming the water surface, but no matter what I can’t seem to get this film to go away.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this film?

 

[rhostam]

I get a similar film when there is not enough water moving through to the AIO sump/filter chambers. I use a coarse filter floss so I just replace it and it goes away. Have you checked to see if flow rate has decreased?

 

[Bfragale]

Thought I might add- It is a slightly low flow tank- but I have three current USA 660gph wave makers going plus the return.

 

[Bfragale]

It’s running a old RIO pump as return. That’s a good question lol. Maybe I’m due for a pump cleaning.

and now that you mention it- I recently removed the filter floss completely from the sump.

I think cleaning pump and maybe adding new floss is a good start! Thank you

 

[Jekyl]

More surface agitation / filtering.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Film on the surface is a sign that there is not enough surface agitation. You need to agitate the water surface to put that stuff in the water so your skimmer can pull it out.

 

[ReeferLou]

If your water level is too high the inlet will not take the top level of water and leave the film. This can happen if algae or debris clogs up the return overflow - so I would check this first. I used to try and scoop water in a container to get that film. I started using vibrant and it really removed a lot of the nuisance growth that was impeding the flow and got rid of it for me.

 

[Bfragale]

There is some surface agitation, but I’ll turn all three power heads to surface. I’m running 200 micron filter sock. I have filter floss in the bubble catcher section in the sump between skimmer section and return pump section. But pulled it out because I thought it was redundant with the filter socks. Maybe it was catching smaller particles?

 

[rhostam]

It’s running a old RIO pump as return. That’s a good question lol. Maybe I’m due for a pump cleaning.

and now that you mention it- I recently removed the filter floss completely from the sump.

I think cleaning pump and maybe adding new floss is a good start! Thank you

Yeah, I forgot to replace my floss once (distraction called work) and the foam pad used as a bubble trap ended up super clogged. Took a while to figure out why my flow was so messed up.

 

[Bfragale]

If your water level is too high the inlet will not take the top level of water and leave the film. This can happen if algae or debris clogs up the return overflow - so I would check this first. I used to try and scoop water in a container to get that film. I started using vibrant and it really removed a lot of the nuisance growth that was impeding the flow and got rid of it for me.

I love this forum! These little things I should have noticed and didn’t until you awesome people pointed it out!
I have noticed the tank is slightly higher water level- like over flow is going slower?
You all have given me some good and easy fixes to try. I’m going to do all of this and see how it’s goes. Thank you everyone!
Happy reefing!

 

[LardLad]

Go to the spa/hot tub store and get a SCUMBUG.

 

[Ghost25]

If your water level is too high the inlet will not take the top level of water and leave the film. This can happen if algae or debris clogs up the return overflow - so I would check this first. I used to try and scoop water in a container to get that film. I started using vibrant and it really removed a lot of the nuisance growth that was impeding the flow and got rid of it for me.

This is the cause in my experience. High surface agitation doesn't do anything if the water level isn't correct at the inlet.