"Oily" surface water?

Bobears

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2007
337
2
16
Hoovering south of the ham
I have 8 tanks. Only one of my tanks gets this oily looking surface stuff. I know it's probably protein, but why only one tank? The tank in this room now is new and the one I had before is gone, so same room different tank same problem. Here's some specifics: planted, discus tank, 82.5 temp, all parameters good, 56 gall tall, 98 watts lighting, flourish excel every other day, flourite substrate, wood, lace rock. Is it the pants, the rock, the flourish?
 

FSM

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2008
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Georgia
Do you have enough surface agitation? Also, you might be overfeeding.
 

Dr Joe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 8, 2006
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Sixty Miles South of Tampa Florida
Bobears;1609851; said:
I have 8 tanks. Only one of my tanks gets this oily looking surface stuff. I know it's probably protein, but why only one tank? The tank in this room now is new and the one I had before is gone, so same room different tank same problem. Here's some specifics: planted, discus tank, 82.5 temp, all parameters good, 56 gall tall, 98 watts lighting, flourish excel every other day, flourite substrate, wood, lace rock. Is it the pants, the rock, the flourish?

What are you feeding & how much?

Is the wood/rock/plants new?

Old or new pump?

Do you have any aeration in the tank?

How are the discus doing?

How long has this been going on?

Does anyone spray anything in hat room (spay cleaners, oils or waxes)?

Can you absorb it up with a paper towel?

Does it have a scent?

Dr Joe

.
 

Bobears

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2007
337
2
16
Hoovering south of the ham
Dr Joe;1610163; said:
What are you feeding & how much?

Is the wood/rock/plants new?

Old or new pump?

Do you have any aeration in the tank?

How are the discus doing?

How long has this been going on?

Does anyone spray anything in hat room (spay cleaners, oils or waxes)?

Can you absorb it up with a paper towel?

Does it have a scent?

Dr Joe

.
-Feeding bloodworms 3x/day and 1x/day flake.
-Plants and 1 piece of wood are new. Tank is 1 1/2 months old.
-No air pump.
-Discus are great. One did die this weekend, but he was the stunted one I got in a shipment from Great Lakes Discus.
-Been going off and on for the whole 1 1/2 months.
-No sprays or anything that isn't done in any other room in the house w/ tanks.
-Tried to absorb it this morning w/ a paper towel, no luck.
-No odor.
 

Dr Joe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 8, 2006
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Frozen blood worms?

Since the fish are fine, you could remove the new stuff one at a time to find the culprit, be careful changing foods with the Discus.
 

Bobears

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2007
337
2
16
Hoovering south of the ham
I just added a sponge filter from a hold tank and it's 80% better. Do plants and Flourish cause this? I know that disease resides in stuff like that. Looks like I can resolve this issue but I would still like to understand it better.

Yes frozen BW.
 

cassharper

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 16, 2007
1,628
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Mansfield, Texas
Any food that's high in fat/protein (i.e. frozen bloodworms) fed into a tank with little surface agitation (i.e. run by cans) will have a film of this protein gather on the surface. I just got a powerhead, cut out a sponge and shoved it over the strainer. I set it to where the sponge is partially out of the water, but the intake was under water and, bam! No more!
 
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