Ugh... protein film woes.

[spoot]

Any tips/tricks to minimize this? I would like to avoid agitating the surface as much as possible, but since swapping from tetra pro flakes/crisps to Omega1, the protein film in my 55 and 75 is horrible. I kind of work against myself as I go for a balanced tank with minimum water changes, but even after a change the film is back within 2 or 3 days. The fish are fed once a day and devour all their food in literally 2 minutes or less, but apparently that's enough time for it to develope. I also realize it's not harming the fish, but it's detrimental to the appearance of the tank.

[angel]

Yes! If you can safely have them in there, add mystery/apple snails! They keep the film down to nothing in my tanks.

[bunnie1978]

I had the film when I first went high tech in my 75. It's a balancing act because you don't want CO2 to evaporate out, but the film can cause problems too...

I had just put in a custom made outlet for my filters. I have 2 canisters, so what I did was make a big PVC U that ran along the sides and accross the bottom... I connected both canisters to it. I started getting thefilm immediately. I let it go for a while and pretty soon it interrupted the lighting and my p[lants started suffering. I even lost a few fish... when the plants stopped getting the light they needed, the CO2 was just building up.

What I did was drill a small hole on each side of the U just above the desired water line. That sent a small stream of water out along the water line creating a small disturbance. I didn't have to use more CO2 to keep my levels good. No problems since.

[mruble]

The film is detrimental as it stops air exchange (which happens almost totally at the surface, could be an issue if your tanks are overpopulated). I use "Surface Skimmers" made by Tom or Fluval. I run cannister filters and hooking up the surface skimmers to the filter intakes is fairly easy, but would be more difficult for H.O.B. filters. I feed Ziegler's and the film is back in less than 12 hours if I am not skimming.

[vladsbtch]

As Tina said the mystery or apple snails are great, but they are also plant eaters. The best I have found, I do not have the problem except sometimes in my fry tanks, is the trap door snail. They are safe for plants and keep a tank free of the film. On that note if anyone wants to get some trapdoors pm me I am thinking of trying to get probably 50 of them. It will be a better price but I do not need that many.

[spoot]

I'll check into the FluVal surface skimmer. Thanks for the info. Trapdoor Snails sound neat, but I'm sure my assassin snails would just find them tastey.

[davidtcb1]

I think it's certainly got a lot to do with surface agitation. The only time I've had a problem with it is with taller/skinnier tanks. My 65 tall had it for a while, but once I added a HOB along with the Xp3 spray bar that was already on there, it went away. I assume it's got a lot to do with the air exchange like Mark said, and on a tall slender tank like that, it's limited unless you break the surface up well.

[bunnie1978]

A very slight suface agitation is enough to keep it away, at least that's what I've found, and slight agitation does not let out too much co2. You could also add an airstone that comes on at night when the CO2 SHOULD be evaporated out.

[brio]

If you do not have shrimp in this tank, you might want to add a nice colony of RCS. They will take care of the film. It's worked for me in planted tanks with protein films.