Surface scum

[Frederick]

Hi all....I have tried all the cures from an earlier topic and am now fed up .I am also getting trouble with the CO2 content... the checker will not go less than medium green so either the checker is US or the DD cylinder is not delivering CO2.If I increased the CO2 input it would not be possible to see the fish for bubbles which now due to the surface stuff is just collecting on the surface ... that is trapped under the surface deposit. So in order to go the whole way I am going to install an air pump and stone with a timer that will bring the air on after the CO2 is off. I am also reducing the light time and CO2 to 7 hours instead of 8 hours in order to try and control the algie.
Any comments will be VERY usefull.I must add, the CO2 comes on one hour before lights onn and goes off 30 mins. before lights off..I feed the plants with..APF food and Easy CO2..all the plants are going very well (to my mind the tank is over planted but the fish seem to enjoy it)...I do not check the water quality as I think that can lead to dangerous areas like going mad on adjustments. I just let the habbits of the inmates tell me if all is well.
Please let me have your comments....Frederick

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

Surface scum can be a very annoying problem. I was plagued with this on my last aquarium, a 50 gallon community tank. I think the real answer is to try and find the cause of the problem. I concluded that it was either the food (most likely) I was using or perhaps somehow the large lump of bogwood was leaching something. I was not prepared to remove the bogwood and the fish were quite happy with their diet. In hindsight I should have done more water changes and tried a different type of food. I used all the techniques suggested in other posts but none were truly effective. The Eheim surface skimmer I had really struggled to deal with the problem so I supplemented with kitchen towel floated on the surface. If I'd kept the tank I planned to use a wier type external overflow which I'm sure (hoped!) would have done the trick. Good luck with finding a solution to the problem, let us know if you find something that works!

 

[John S]

Hi Frederick, As far as the CO2 goes you might need to switch it on more than one hour before lights on. One hour is just a guide, mine comes on 3 hours before lights on to get to the desired lime green level. I'd suggest incrementing it in half hours over a few days to see if it improves. If it does you can then turn your CO2 off earlier. How are you diffusing your CO2?

 

[Ady34]

Hi,

I am also getting trouble with the CO2 content... the checker will not go less than medium green so either the checker is US or the DD cylinder is not delivering CO2.If I increased the CO2 input it would not be possible to see the fish for bubbles

Hi Federick, you could try renewing the dc solution to ensure that your dc is not contaminated. I would also monitor your fish, if your fish arnt showing any signs of c02 distress you may be able to increase your injection rate a little (v. small increments) which may get the desired lime green colour... be prepared to back off if you get any negative reaction from the fish.
Also second what Davem says:

As far as the CO2 goes you might need to switch it on more than one hour before lights on. One hour is just a guide, mine comes on 3 hours before lights on to get to the desired lime green level. I'd suggest incrementing it in half hours over a few days to see if it improves.

I turn my c02 on 3hrs pre photoperiod too to allow a steady build up to attain lime green dc for lights on. I have favoured this method as i can maintain a lime green dc throughout the photoperiod without distressing the fish
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Alastair]

you could also be getting a thin layer of this surface scum under your drop checker which will also affect the readings its showing. i only ever managed to overcome this on my high tech by having the spray bars agitate slightly but increase co2 more and also have it come on earlier.
this seemed to help along with some floating plants

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

It's only a thought but would Purigen help to get rid of it?

 

[hotweldfire]

It's a good thought but I've tried to remove with Purigen and no joy. I say it's a good thought because I'm convinced surface scum is the result of poor plant health. I now treat it as an early warning system. Plants might look ok but if you get scum this is likely to mean deficiencies. Have you tried floating plants? I found that, for some reason, frogbit helps.

Re: the DC, I'd invest in a PH pen. There is a significant delayed reaction with a DC. Mine changes colour quite dramatically over the first hour of the photoperiod. But I know, thanks to the PH pen, that co2 levels are at their highest as the lights come on. This is because PH levels are lowest at this point. If I trusted my DC I'd be turning my co2 on earlier (already on 2 and a half hours before lights on) and would probably gas my fish. Bog standard PH test will do the same job but being able to test the PH every half an hour to monitor how co2 levels change over the day is a lot easier with a PH pen.