Coffee Filters. Are they safe for fish/inverts?

[biggs]

I notice that stuff builds up at the surface of the water in my JBJ Nanocube. Sometimes it's a film but usually it's just tiny particles of stuff.

 

Would it hurt the fish/inverts to take a coffee filter and put it inside a net and skim the surface with it a couple times a week?

 

FYI, I've already redirected some of the water flow to the top and done the rampart mod over the top intake area.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Aiptasia]

Well, good protein skimming would be best, but sure you can do that. Coffee filters, as long as they're the generic paper filters, are safe to use in that manner.

[biggs]

For once, my wallet is not the thing keeping me from buying something.

 

I would add a skimmer in a heartbeat, but it would have to fit into the back of the tank without any mods to the hood. And I've also read here that pretty much any skimmer that could do that wouldn't be worth adding as it's too ineffective.

 

If you know one that would work, and work well, then I'll buy one right now. The back part of my tank has no media in it except for some carbon and scraps of live rock. So I'm ready to go if a good solution presents itself.

[Aiptasia]

As you point out, without modding the hood, there is no good solution. Since contact time between the bubbles and the organics in the water is important, you need a skimmer of sufficient height or design to provide this contact time. That's really hard to do with a nano-cube, so you'll just have to rely on changing the water more often, drawing from the surface.

 

Btw, if you're trying to remove the oily film, you may have to drag the filter across the surface of the water for it to absorb the film. Once it becomes waterlogged, it'll actually bead off the oil. Think dab, not scoop. Paper towels also work.