Anyone elde
- Thread starter Nanolifeuk
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Dburr1014
10K Club member
Are you sump-less?Having a problem with a surface film Powerhead and both return bills pointed at surface, not helping much.
Just agitating won't rid of the film. It needs to be drawn off. Reef ready tanks have this feature built in with the overflow. It will constantly "skim" the surface.
Edit: if you have a sump, try and point the WaveMakers to the point of where you're skimming the surface.
Mr. Mojo Rising
7500 Club Member
The surface film is dissolved organics, which would be pulled out by a protein skimmer. But to be pulled out by the skimmer, surface agitation and strong flow is needed to circulate the water and push as much water as possible into the skimmer.
If you let that surface slick stay there, it blocks the full power of the lights, and also makes gass exchange difficult meaning the tank will have lower oxygen level.
You can even skim it yourself with a spoon or cloth.
If you let that surface slick stay there, it blocks the full power of the lights, and also makes gass exchange difficult meaning the tank will have lower oxygen level.
You can even skim it yourself with a spoon or cloth.
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
It has a built in sump at the back of the tank. This tank is a fluval spec 60l freshwater, not the standard evo everyone use
there is a grid at the bottom (see pic) which I think sucks more water through than the over flow. Do you think it’s worth blocking this up ?
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
Hopefully a Nero 3 power head will help - the one I’m using now is a bit naff
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
Thanks Bert I needed that second opinion I even contacted fluval to question it and they said not to block it. I think they didn’t have too much knowledge themselves.
it flows right under the intank media basket. The water passes through the bottom of the filter but lots of debris gets trapped in there aswell.
Right now I’m just thinking to glue my plastic algae scraper card against it. Should do the job, might not look pretty in the DT. Will cover it with rockwork I suppose.
Dburr1014
10K Club member
The inside of the Overflow should have a wall from the bottom grid to the top grid. It's supposed to be an equal amount of flow between the two. Most overflows are like this, well, the reef ready ones at big box stores are. I don't think blocking it will be a huge difference. I could be wrong, maybe a shot to try it.It has a built in sump at the back of the tank. This tank is a fluval spec 60l freshwater, not the standard evo everyone use
there is a grid at the bottom (see pic) which I think sucks more water through than the over flow. Do you think it’s worth blocking this up ?
Do your power heads point to the overflow. I get a slick on my tank if I don't have the head pointed to the overflow. It's always building up on 1/4 side of the tank opposite of the Overflow. When the water travels down it gets all mixed up for the skimmer to pull out.
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
Yeah I’ll give it a shot. makes sense to have equal flow through each. I’ve just popped to the lfs to get a random flow generator while I wait for my new power head and that’s increased surface agitation a bit. Noticed a lot of build up inside the old nozzle which wouldn’t of helped.
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
Looks dead simple and easy. Will have a look on Amazon, worth a tryThere are surface skimmers specifically made to combat this problem, though I have never used these:
The bottom weir is easily sealed up with some black zip ties cut to fit and some superglue. Once that is done, the water will only flow through the top weir and it will skim the surface sooo much better.
Even a small piece of thin black acrylic will work great. That can be done with the tank running. Just cut to size, place a bead of superglue gel (has to be gel) around the edge of the acrylic, stick in water, and apply to cover the lower weir. Then just hold for a few seconds and done.
Even a small piece of thin black acrylic will work great. That can be done with the tank running. Just cut to size, place a bead of superglue gel (has to be gel) around the edge of the acrylic, stick in water, and apply to cover the lower weir. Then just hold for a few seconds and done.
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Nanolifeuk
Active Member
So to update; I have literally placed an acrylic scraper across the weirs and the suction alone is holding it in place. Overflow is functioning 10 times better than it ever has before. What a daft design…
On the flip, I also found out that I have the fluval evo intank basket, not the spec one (which is an 1 3/4” taller, enough to cover the holes) so as a more permanent fix I might order the correct intank.
Thanks you both
No problem. Honestly if you don’t want to spend the money I have just had that piece of plastic glued on there since last fall at some point and it’s still all good. If I was smart I would have used black and not white plastic.So to update; I have literally placed an acrylic scraper across the weirs and the suction alone is holding it in place. Overflow is functioning 10 times better than it ever has before. What a daft design…
On the flip, I also found out that I have the fluval evo intank basket, not the spec one (which is an 1 3/4” taller, enough to cover the holes) so as a more permanent fix I might order the correct intank.
Thanks you both
