Newbie, Sump pump scum advice

[StewHawke]

Hi all this is my first post here. I couldn't find the intro forum.

See the red and bold if you just want to cut to the chase.

But OK I know a bit about fish but tanks have changed in the 25 yrs since I last had a couple of fish. A big Oscar and a big Pictus

My wife bought a 4ft tank on EBay. She does that sort of thing. It's quite good, only $200 Australian. I havn't decided what fish to get yet. I guess I'll see one that likes me. Or maybe 2000 Guppies. Not really ;0) Hey I'm just kidding.

Anyway the tank came with a sump filter. Also a slipway and Biobals etc. I had to do a bit of extra plumbing on it which required some silicone. I put some Nutrafin Cycle through it and a few plants in while I was ageing the water. I assume you know what I mean Tank --> over slipway --> though Bioballs --> into more bioballs and glass rings--> into sump and pump. There is a bit more to that with glass wool etc and I have another small filter for carbon.

Anyway There is a pale scum on top of the water in the sump.

Is that normal? If it's part of the bacteria from the Cycle I probably should leave it in.

But I haven't done this before. In the past I just used a big Ehiem (SP?) canister. Could it be from the freshish silicon in the plumbing? I doubt it but well, tell me anyway.

So it's the pump surface scum that I am asking about. I will look over the site and see if my question has alresdy been answered. But It too me a while to get here. emali is stewhawke(at)yahooo.comm. You know what to do with that.

Oh also WHAT FISH SHOULD I BUY )

I'll try another forum for that. Please suggest one.

I like Africans, Oscars, Jack Dempseys and Discus.

But I can't put them in together. Well I suppose I could. With the 2000 guppies and a stack of various tetras. ) Should be interesting for an hour or so. Very expensive and cruel mayhem. Not my plan.

Please tell me about the scum on the sump surface and I'll become a happy member and figure what is where eventually.

Big site. Oh yeah I can splell I just can't type.

Stew Hawke

 

[cr8on]

to MFK mate.

Does the surface scum look like an oily residue? It could be from your media / tank not being washed through properly.

It is also possible that it is from the Cycle, the tank water usually goes a bit cloudy from the bacteria, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Oh yeah - when you add Cycle, you should wait a few hours after you have added water ager to your new water, or it doesn't work.

 

[Pharaoh]

I would say the scum is most likely from not have surface agitation. Impurities in the water floating to the top. My sump does that also. Even though the water is flowing through the rest of the sump, there might not be enough current to stir the surface. To fix this, I just put an air line in there to break the surface tension of the water. Presto, problem solved.

 

[StewHawke]

Thanks for the tips.

Yes it could well be from the tank / gravel / media it came with the tank and had NOT been washed I spent two weeks washing the damed stuff. It was a mix of some nice small stone black gravel some mixed larger stone mostly quartz and very small river pebble both of which I liked and wanted to keep. But, it also had well mixed in a total crap fineish brown gravel. That stuff was very sandy and took ages to clean and remove. Luckily it was lighter than the other two so now I have about three buckets full of the crap to throw away with minimum good stuff mixed in. Obviously the water feeds into the sump from the top and no there is no surface agitation yet. The other filter that I will use for carbon will do that but it's in the tank filtering fine sand at the moment. So I guess the really fine stuff that I didn't wash out is just sitting on the suface tension in the sump. The crap practically floats.

I'll take it out. It will skim off easily. I just thought if it was part of the Cycle cycle I should leave it. It seems not so off it goes.

Thanks for the tip about the water ager as well. I haven't used any. I'm just aging with time. Half the water for a couple of weeks while I sorted out the gravel rocks and plants. The tank is deep and I have short arms. I climb a ladder to reach to the bottom of it. The other half of the water for a week now. Plenty of time. I haven't decided on the fish yet.

And just before you tell me. I know there is no point in trying to keep plants with Africans or Oscars. Which are on my list to choose between. I just got a few cheap plants when I was in the shop to see how they would look. Obviously if I decide on a planted tank that will limit my choice of fish. But I need to keep my wife happy so she has to have some input into my choice. Then I will buy what I feel like on the day I go shopping, when the tank is ready. I have plenty of rocks left over that I can arrange nicely if I like.

Another possibilty for the scum has just occured to me. I smoke. The tank isn't covered yet. I'm short and I still need to get into it all the time via the ladder. As yet the top of the tank is about chin height to me. With the top on it would be much higher. To hard to get into. I live in Austalia and it's mid spring here so the evaporation doesn't bother me. The tank at 25c is about the same as the air temp. I'll warm it up a bit when I put the lid on.

Any more tips on Bioballs, sump filters, Cycle etc would be welcome. I am new to that sort of filter system. I do understand how it is supposed to work and I know what to test for. However knowing the theory is all very well. It's the practice that can bite you on the backside.

Thanks again

Stuart Hawke

 

[Pharaoh]

Smoking wouldn't cause that kind of build up. It might after while with no water changes, but I doubt it.

There is wealth of knowledge in the DIY section about sumps, biological filtration and more just waiting to be read. I couldn't even begin to get into it. Besides, why give all away when you can have the fun of reading all of the great threads. Happy reading!

 

[Dr Joe]

Welcome to the flock.

What are you feeding the filter while you are "aging" the water?

Read up on the "nitrogen cycle".

And by the way tell your wife she has a nice aquarium!

Dr Joe

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