# oily surface film



## heliwilly (23 Oct 2012)

I have had a 150 ltr planted tank running for a couple of months. It is dosed with EI ferts, and CO2. in recent weeks it has developed an oily surface film, and more re3cently, thread algae. How do I get rid  of both. I do a 20% water change for 3 wks, and the fourth week I do a 50%. The oily film returns after a few hours. Bill W


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## Iain Sutherland (23 Oct 2012)

Sure sign you need to increase co2 and distrubution. Surface film is caused by organic waste from the plants which there is more of when the plants are struggling a bit. This is confirmed by the presence of algae. I would guess that your plant mass has gone up significantly in the 2 months the tank has been running so co2 also needs to increase along with checking your flow.


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## John S (23 Oct 2012)

I've also read before that it is a sign of unhealthy plants. 

Not wishing to hijack but I have a tank with this but the plants look the healthiest I've got. almost eveything pearls about an hour after co2 goes off, there is no algae and I'm trimming the plants every two weeks. Snails feed off the oil / scum.

Is there anything else that may cause it?


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## heliwilly (23 Oct 2012)

Thanks for that, I will up the flow rate tomorrow. With ref to CO2, I have a ladder diffuser and the bubble count is about 60 bubbles per min, and the bubbles are almost completely absorbed by the time they reach the top of the ladder.
The tank is a 165 ltr AquaOne aquastyle 850
Flitration is via an Eheim  2231
Heated to 25DegC
Pressurised CO2 with solenoid on from 8am 'til 8pm
Lights areT8 Atman 2 x 8,000K Super Light, and 1 x 15,000K Tri Power Light .On 9am  Off 9pm.  Too long?????????????

This is a planted tank with no fish
ph = 7.0
ammonia = 0
nitrite = <0.25
nitrate = 20
kh = 7
gh = 26.
Bill W


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Oct 2012)

Can your GH even be 26?


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## John S (23 Oct 2012)

Hi Bill, that is a long lighting period. I have the same tank and run 7 hours light on mine. Is that the original lighting set up?


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## ceg4048 (23 Oct 2012)

davem said:
			
		

> Is there anything else that may cause it?


No there isn't.



			
				Whitey89 said:
			
		

> Can your GH even be 26?


Yes it can.

Cheers,


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Oct 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Whitey89 said:
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Liquid Calc?


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## ceg4048 (23 Oct 2012)

Well you'd be surprised how many homes in the south have water this hard. London, Kent and many other places have municipal water aquifers that are ported through limestone beds, so the water picks up the chalk and later deposits it in the kettle, water heater and faucets in peoples homes. Do you see the images in the EI Tutorial? That tank had GH 26+. The only reason I don't know the actual number is because I ran out of reagent at 26 and adamantly refused to buy any more...  

Cheers,


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Oct 2012)

Wow, thanks Clive. I need to read into water solids in general. I find it quite interesting, but haven't had the time.

That tank is amazing, adds even more to it knowing the water was that hard. How do fish Fare in such water? Do you get into your African cichlids?


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## Ady34 (23 Oct 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Do you see the images in the EI Tutorial? That tank had GH 26+. The only reason I don't know the actual number is because I ran out of reagent at 26 and adamantly refused to buy any more...
> 
> Cheers,



Holy S**t Clive....does that mean youve used a test kit????


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## Alastair (23 Oct 2012)

Ady34 said:
			
		

> ceg4048 said:
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Lmao 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Oct 2012)




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## Ian Holdich (24 Oct 2012)

My Gh is 27...word.


This is why I mix with Ro now.


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## nry (24 Oct 2012)

As above, drop the lighting period and if you're running full EI dosing, you need to consider upping the water change frequency to 50% each week ideally.


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## ian_m (24 Oct 2012)

Put air on via air stone/air curtain for a short period every day, and bingo no oily film.

Mind you oily film eventually stops forming, when the plants start growing rather than dieing.


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## nry (24 Oct 2012)

Mine is doing this at the moment too, however I did realise on the water change night that a filter hose hand kinked, therefor reducing flow and not moving the surface around much.  Sorted that one, then noticed last night another one was also kinked - sorted that one and the difference is immense, I suspect the surface will now stay that bit clearer.


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## ceg4048 (24 Oct 2012)

Whitey89 said:
			
		

> ...That tank is amazing, adds even more to it knowing the water was that hard. How do fish Fare in such water? Do you get into your African cichlids?


Well I had Rams breeding in it but you know how Rams are, they would eat eggs or abandon the nest. If you check the tutorial you'll see the image at the top is of Nanochromis transvestitus, that's the only Africans I can remember. I think I might have had garden variety Kribs in there as well. I just mostly stuck to tetras and barbs. The biggest problem was not with the hardness, but with the CO2 levels, which were massively high due to the fact that the lighting was 1/2 kilowatt T5, plus that the tank was sitting in a sunlit conservatory. This is the basis from which I try to tell people to stop worrying about GH/KH/PH and instead to worry about the things that count the most - keeping the tank scrupulously clean and well nourished. All these issues of oily film, decaying plant tissue and poor growth performance can be traced directly to poor application of these fundamental parameters.



			
				Ady34 said:
			
		

> ..Holy S**t Clive....does that mean youve used a test kit????


Yeah, I had those sitting around from prior to being rescued from The Matrix. You know, people think I just came up with these zany ideas in a dream or something, but I didn't. I had to suffer for years, going round and round on the same hamster wheel that ensnares everyone, getting algae and oily film and all that. It was only when I converted to Vulcanism that I could analyze the mistakes using logic (instead of emotions) and to thereby understand the truth more clearly. It's precisely because I went through the same experiences that I know exactly how folks think, because I used to think the same things. In any case, GH/KH/PH test kits are the least offensive, and the things that they measure are the most innocuous, plus, I still had to use these just so that I could compare directly to what others were measuring. So yes, I used the kits, for you.   
The more pertinent measurement was the TDS which typically was around 850 microsiemens.

Live long, and prosper.

Cheers,


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## Ady34 (24 Oct 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> [If you check the tutorial you'll see the image at the top is of Nanochromis transvestitus, [



What sex was that then???  



			
				ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Ady34 said:
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good to know youve been there and done that too, its easy to forget were all beginners at some point


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## Antipofish (24 Oct 2012)

ianho said:
			
		

> My Gh is 27...word.
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> This is why I mix with Ro now.



What mix do you make up Ian and what does it bring it down to ? Do you estimate your gH using a TDS meter or do you use a gH test kit out of interest ?


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## Antipofish (24 Oct 2012)

Ady34 said:
			
		

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Which tank and which tutorial are we talking about  ? I feel like Ive missed something lol


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## ceg4048 (24 Oct 2012)

Err...the EI Tutorial...in the Tutorial section?   

Cheers,


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## Antipofish (24 Oct 2012)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Err...the EI Tutorial...in the Tutorial section?
> 
> Cheers,



Oh that one    I read that one already   Im already hooked on EI.


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