White film in water surface

[jonnyc88]

Hmm, not sure what that is now tbh.

Have you tried soaking up the water surface particles?
Easy to do, just use clean large kitchen paper towel or even sheet of plain A4 paper, lay the sheet of paper flat on top of water surface and let the paper soak up the surface water, it will take in the particles and containments too.

When paper just about to soak through, take paper out, and repeat with clean sheets of paper until satisfied you have taken out as much of this surface particles as possible.

Then see what happens after next water change and see if it returns.

An odd one really, hope the cleaning of water surface with paper does the trick.

Yes strange one this. There are some hits in Google but nothing too helpful.
I can soak the surface film but there are plenty floating around in the water column as well.
The floating particles don’t move or float to top so not Copepods or micro bubbles.
I will try daily water changes to see if this helps.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Looking at your picture, it kind of looks like the polishing pad or filter floss debris, sort of. Very hard to tell tbh.
Did you clean this polishing pad/filter floss by rinsing under the tap before adding to the filter?
As normally this stuff is dusty and full of tiny white plasticy white stuff that floats around in the tank if you don't clean it beforehand. Might be that.

This was my thought too, after seeing the photo but before even seeing @Ch4rlie 's answer. It doesn't look... organic, to me. Not a natural thing, I'd strongly suspect some filter floss is breaking down, or maybe something man made from the substrate or some decor perhaps? Particles are too large to be bacteria, and some of them look like tiny long filiments, like 'hairs' from filter floss, not living creatures, and not at all like biofilm.

If you take the filter floss out of the filter, does it feel bitty or tear small pieces off easily? Id there anything else in the tank that could be shedding tiny bits? What substrate do you have and where was it from/did you rinse it well before adding it?

I would try removing the floss and replacing it with some fine sponge for a while, see if running that for a few days helps clear it and stops more going into the tank. After giving the remaining media and tubes etc a good clean.

 

[jonnyc88]

This was my thought too, after seeing the photo but before even seeing @Ch4rlie 's answer. It doesn't look... organic, to me. Not a natural thing, I'd strongly suspect some filter floss is breaking down, or maybe something man made from the substrate or some decor perhaps? Particles are too large to be bacteria, and some of them look like tiny long filiments, like 'hairs' from filter floss, not living creatures, and not at all like biofilm.

If you take the filter floss out of the filter, does it feel bitty or tear small pieces off easily? Id there anything else in the tank that could be shedding tiny bits? What substrate do you have and where was it from/did you rinse it well before adding it?

I would try removing the floss and replacing it with some fine sponge for a while, see if running that for a few days helps clear it and stops more going into the tank. After giving the remaining media and tubes etc a good clean.

Yes, agreed it doesn’t look organic.

I’ve used Fluval Polishing pad as the floss and not actual poly fill. I don’t think bits should be falling out from it.

However when I put the pad in last week I might have forgot to rinse it. I’ve carried out big maintenance to rinse and add another polishing pad.
However this doesn’t seem to help.

The substrate has been in there for few months so if it’s dirty I would guess it would’ve settled by now? I could be wrong here.

I will carry out another water change but will try to soak some off the surface first.
Hopefully this will slowly clear the particles.

The output pipe is a pain to remove and a shrimp has made his home there so don’t really want to remove the pipe if possible.

 

[denogginizer]

Picture attached.
I think my tank is cycled as ammonia and nitrite are zero.
Media is Fluval 307 3 basket default. 2 foam pre filters, polishing pad, bio noodles, and carbon last. I plan to add another layer of polishing pad in the carbon basket.
There also millions of those white particles in water column making it cloudy.

I have no idea what this, however, I've had success cleaning up surface gunk with DIY surface skimmers. They are made from a power head, a water bottle, and filter floss (or something similar).
If you need a pic of my setup, let me know.

 

[jonnyc88]

I have no idea what this, however, I've had success cleaning up surface gunk with DIY surface skimmers. They are made from a power head, a water bottle, and filter floss (or something similar).
If you need a pic of my setup, let me know.

Cheers buddy. I think I have found the cause but wouldn’t mind having a look at your setup for future reference.

The cause was combination of dirty pipes (lots of plant debris stuck which was cleaned with pipe brush) and I think the Fluval carbon media. I‘ve thoroughly rinsed and soaked the carbon but notice it taint the media basket so I’ve removed them.

Also advice from my experience, do NOT use API AccuClear in a tank with fish. It’s not worth the risk.

I’ve also gave the substrate a good hoover. I have black sand so it’s a bit tricky. I’ve invested in an expensive Fluval ProVac which is ok but my daughter showed me a technique she use with the cheap siphon which works wonders. Just swirl the pipe above the substrate which creates a vortex that will also dislodge any debris from substrate.

 

[denogginizer]

Cheers buddy. I think I have found the cause but wouldn’t mind having a look at your setup for future reference.

You bet. I am using this powerhead as it fits a water bottle opening, but it looks like it is no longer available:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005QRHT88/?tag=ff0d01-20

There are plenty of videos out there to show you how to make this, but this is how I did it.

• Cut the bottom off a water bottle
• Cut some slits so fish don't get sucked in
• Painted it black (to match my black background)
• Attached to powerhead intake
• Filled bottle with floss
• Plugged into a smart plug so it runs for 30 minutes a few times a day

 

[seangee]

I always kept something similar in the garage - cut up water bottle and old powerhead. If you have to buy a powerhead anyway you may look at something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LX152XH/?tag=
Note that its quite ugly and the design is a bit silly (thick power cord coming out of the bottom). I have one on a timer in the big community tank where it is hidden. Another on a timer in a tank that collects muck on the surface. A third one lives in the garage next to my water bottle and powerhead in case I need it somewhere else.