[snakedoc]

Hi,
I have a central/south american tank and over the last few months I have noticed a whitish film on the water surface. I have been removing it with a cup but have noticed that I have to remove it more often, seems like whatever it is, it is getting worse. I don't know what this is but if you know, please clue me in.

Rich

 

[CiChLiD LoVeR128]

I am not sure what it is. But I would say do some water changes and see if it helps or not. Just my thought on the matter!

 

[Bettacreek]

Do you have a filter going? I only ever see that on betta setups here. Best you can do is water changes IME.

 

[MidNightCowBoy]

You can also get a surface skimmer that attaches to your filter intake. They are pretty cheap, like 15 bucks. Everyone who has one seems to like 'em.

 

[blakeM]

how big is your tank? Is there alot of hiding places? I had that happen to me whenever a fish died in a hiding spot...

 

[Big Den]

What are you feeding?

 

[snakedoc]

So, I did a water change yestyerday. I am using an undergravel filter right now (although I don't like it much, I am trying something different, maybe this is a sign :-? ). It looks the same today. I'm worried because it seems to be getting worse, the film comes back quicker each time I clean it out. Could this be some type of fungus? I had some plants in there that the fish were chewing up so I took those out. I thought it could be the plants responding to the stress. The fish are still acting normal, eating, and seem to be doing good. I don't have any dead fish, only four in the tank and they are all there. I also have a blue lobster in there, he's doing good too.
I feed them two different foods, Tetra Color Tropical flakes most days and some pellets I got from the LFS about once a week, a color enhancing food, Hai Feng Fast Color.

Its a 30 gallon tank (soon to be moved to a 60 gallon).
Oh and my stock: a 3 inch Green Terror, 3 inch Texas Cichlid, 2.5 inch Jack dempsey, 2.5 inch buttikoferi

Thanks for the comments.

 

[dwarfpike]

Crank the air pump for your UG if you can, or get a small HOB filter. The film is disolved proteins, surface skimming is the best way to get rid of it, but lots and lots of surface aggitation would work too.

 

[snakedoc]

Thanks for the reply. So am I feeding too much, or where are the proteins coming from? I really don't feed them much but the protein has to come from somewhere. Maybe I will try using a different type of food.

Rich

 

[dwarfpike]

Combination food/fish waste. Any tank without enough surface aggitation can get it, but cichlids tend to be the most common in freshwater becuase of their size and how much they eat. Lots of water changes will help as well of course with the cause but not so much the effect of seeing the film.

 

[MidNightCowBoy]

You don't have enough filtration. And if you are planning on keeping those fish in a 60 gallon it won't be nearly big enough for that disaster of a combo. You would need a very large tank (over 100 gallons) to keep the peace with those fish when they are full grown. Even then the success would be dependant on the personality of the more aggressive fish such as the butti.

 

[LJ]

surface aggitation would work too.

I placed a bubble wand in my 55, and it eliminated the surface scum that I was experiencing.

For your situation this would be a temporary solution at best. You have too many messy ass fish for a 30 gallon, even at their current sizes. As mentioned, increasing filtration would help, but even then the waste load will be too heavy for this tank to be sustainable.

And as mentioned, don't expect the 60 gallon to solve your problems. The only fish on your list I'd keep in a 60 would be the dempsey.