Film on Water surface

[Brian1313]

I have a milky stringy film on the surface of my water.  Is it because it is not getting enough surface agitation.  I never had any problems with my tank until I moved it and now I do not have any water evap and it seems like this film has started to appear.  Any thoughts?  I just find it hard that moving my  tank 20 feet into a different room would have this large of an effect but I could be wrong

[nsousa]

What kind of tank is it?? Does it have a surface skimmer on it? Do you have a power head you can point up to create some agitation?

[dandelion]

Brush the edge of a paper towel across the surface to get rid of that film?

[Brian1313]

Its an 20g AIO peninsula and no skimmer just the return pump and a 600 gph power head

[FLARGUE]

I had this problem and started using an EHEIM surface skimmer. I also defrost frozen foods with tank water, and then suck the water out with a pipette to reduce waste.

[A Little Blue]

Surface agitation is important and you should take some steps to address this issue. Small circulation/wave pump or more powerful return pump with nuzzle pointing towards the surface will help. 

There are few nuzzle options that are designed to randomize the flow pattern that might also work. In general, those nuzzle replacements require higher flow rate than your stock return pump since they do restrict flow. 

[Brian1313]

@FLARGUE I am glad you posted that.  I did just use frozen food for the first time so I wonder if that is what is causing the film.  I will monitor that

[Brian1313]

I have a tunze stream as the return so id does create some surface agitation.  I never had any problem before until now and the tank was up and running for about 8 months prior to moving it into a different room.  Im going to point my small powerhead upwards a little to see if that helps as well

[xthunt]

Do you have the filter chamber water level lower than the main part of the tank? The overflow should help with surface skimming if it is. 

[Clown79]

What tank is it?

 

More surface movement will help

[Brian1313]

Its an IM Fusion 20 peninsula but it seems to he cleared up after taking some water out and moving the powerhead

[Clown79]

I've never had the issue with my IM's but I did with my fluval.

[MainelyReefer]

The only way I have seen an IM tank build up surface scum was if  I was running the fishguards.  It could maybe happen if you weren't running the water in the rear chamber at the proper level(I see a lot of people run it too high)

[Brian1313]

2 hours ago, GraniteReefer said:

The only way I have seen an IM tank build up surface scum was if  I was running the fishguards.  It could maybe happen if you weren't running the water in the rear chamber at the proper level(I see a lot of people run it too high)

I think that was an issue too.  I took some water out and everything seems to be back to normal.  I usually run it a little high because I had a lot of evap but now I have very little and I dont think the water was circulating properly