Surface film

whyzee429 · Jan 31, 2012

Hey guys/gals, I was wondering what some of you have done to remove surface film. Obviously, I don't have an overflow and my skimmer pulls water from about 4 inches below the water line.

Any tips? Tricks? Ideas? I know that any kind of "film" has got to block some light so I want to find a remedy, fast.

ultramafic · Jan 31, 2012

Having some type of overflow is probably the most obvious best choice. If you point a powerhead towards the surface it should create surface agitation, but then thats going to put whatever you had up there back into your water column. Even then something things will just stay on top of the water. Wow i'm no help.

Glenn · Jan 31, 2012

ultramafic said:
... but then thats going to put whatever you had up there back into your water column. ...

But putting it back into the water column would be a good thing - that makes it available for the protein skimmer to pick it up

whyzee429 · Jan 31, 2012

Lol. I have a couple powerheads agitating the surface. All they do is create an opening for clear water and push the film to the side.

ReeferEric · Jan 31, 2012

You could see if there is anyone who works with acrylic and have them build an overflow box but specifically for the skimmer pump. If dome correctly it should work.

SteezySPS · Jan 31, 2012

flow is not strong enough increase water flow especially near the top. more flow helps break down waste and the surface film will be in the water column for skimmer or your skimmer isn't pulling out as much as needed

whyzee429 · Feb 1, 2012

Hey steezy, I moved a koralia up top. It created some nice microbubbles in the tank lol. HOWEVER, it worked. I've since moved it back down, but it was definitely a quick fix. Thank you!

bucksfan1976 · Feb 2, 2012

I had a issue like this as well, basically i aggitated the top of the water alot once it displaced I moved the powerhead back down.

Reefing8EZ · Feb 2, 2012

What skimmer and pump do you run?
You need something like this, I ran one on my remora and maxijet when I was sumpless. HTH.

SteezySPS · Feb 2, 2012

glad it worked for you. when my vortech reaches its peak in flow it draws in lots of micro bubbles. remember that you can always use more flow as long as the water doesn't spill over and your corals aren't being blasted off the plugs. my fish get knocked back and forth from the power heads and they like it. I was worried at first if the flow was too strong for my sps but they are thriving. I ran sump less for the first few years and wasn't quite successful with corals until i purchased a reef ready tank with overflow and sump and dosing pump and then my corals then took off in color.

whyzee429 said:
Hey steezy, I moved a koralia up top. It created some nice microbubbles in the tank lol. HOWEVER, it worked. I've since moved it back down, but it was definitely a quick fix. Thank you!

whyzee429 · Feb 2, 2012

Im running two opposing Evo 1400s and two Koralia 2's. I'm thinking about swapping for two more 1400s, 4 total. That should help out if I have those closer to the surface.

I have an Eshopps pks100 skimmer.