Oily Film

[Xtasia]

Powerheads work best... but I've also heard some people on Reefcentral use saran wrap. Turn off your power heads, put a sheet on the surface then lift off, the oil should stick to the plastic. Dunno if it works, I've never tried it. Could be whoey

If its only for a short while I'd just use powerheads, any time longer I would just get a used prism off the Buy sell forum or ask a fellow reefer to lend me an old protein skimmer from one of their earlier systems (you know we all have it.. old stuff kicking around from when we didn't know any better.)

[hockey nut]

try using a cheap Aqua Clear hang on filter. It draws air and the surface water back down into the tank where the power heads do the rest. Worked well on my 20gal.

[Myanth]

Had a powersweep on my 10, no venturi, but still got the slime. Also penguin HOB 270 filter with no biowheel. Plenty of surface agitation... just had to manually skim. Of course.... I am a mechanic.... might be gear oil.

Mike

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

May be from feeding PE mysis? I find that is quite fatty & sometimes leaves an "oily" film on top.

[Ruth]

I get it once in while on my 3 Nano tanks (2 X 12g 1 X 24g) On the 24 I will sometimes hook up a Remora Pro for a day or 2 to take it out. Surface agitation is a good idea but you are basically just mixing it back into the water. I do 50% water changes on my nano's once a week which seems to help.

[G1GY]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

May be from feeding PE mysis? I find that is quite fatty & sometimes leaves an "oily" film on top.

I've found this also with mysis.

[Pescador]

I haven't tried Saran wrap but paper towel works great if you lay it flat on the water and pull it out right away.

[kari]

Isn't this just a normal thing that happens in all SW tanks? Some nutrients build up at the surface if they are not skimmed off by mechanical means like surface overflows. If the surface water of the tank is not drawn off or agitated enough you will get an oily film buildup whether you feed mysis or not.

[Bob I]

The Aquaclear idea worked well for me in the past. Right now I have my Fluval return just below the water surface. It breaks up the surface tension just enough to get rid of the film. Just as an aside, in my early fresh water tanks we laid a newspaper page flat on the surface and drew it back to get rid of the film.