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View Full Version : Tank looks like oil spill

pramberg
03-16-2008, 11:13 PM
The top of my 75 gallon looks like an oil spill. The surface has visible clear parts, but most of it looks like some sort of oily mess. I can temporarily fix this by turning the return pump to full strength and moving massive amounts of water for a while, but it doesn't seem to be a long term solution.

I have a tidepool II sump, with 2 prefilters and a new carbon pillow. I run a large protein skimmer (not sure of the brand but it has to be way bigger than what I should need). The only thing I can think of is that some of the calcium I add is too old. I bought the tank from a person leaving the hobby, and I don't know how old the chemicals are. I just wanted to use them up, but maybe that's the cause of my problems.

Anyone had this problem before?
74oldsguy
03-16-2008, 11:15 PM
Need flow at the top of the water to break the surface
pramberg
03-16-2008, 11:19 PM
Do I need a powerhead, or just to redirect the return to break the surface of the water?
74oldsguy
03-16-2008, 11:23 PM
Which ever is easier for you. Usually the returns break the surface and power heads give direction current for corals needing high flow.
gogregerson
03-17-2008, 09:11 AM
The "oil slick" is proteins. This is what your protein skimmer needs to be skimming out. I'm going to assume that you have an overflow, right? So aim some water flow up to break the surface tension to mix those proteins back into the water to be skimmed out.
hypoxia
03-17-2008, 11:10 AM
I occasionally get this, and it's protein buildup on the surface. I have a surface skimmer attachment that I put on my powerhead (I just have a HOB refugium) so that it can pull water from the surface. Clears it up in about fifteen minutes.
pramberg
03-18-2008, 08:59 PM
OK, thanks all
KJoFan
03-18-2008, 09:10 PM
I occasionally get this, and it's protein buildup on the surface. I have a surface skimmer attachment that I put on my powerhead (I just have a HOB refugium) so that it can pull water from the surface. Clears it up in about fifteen minutes.

Do you mind sharing what skimmer attachment you are using and what powerhead you attach it to? I might need to look into something like this.

Thanks.