Film of oil on top of aquarium
 

Hi guys,

Need some advise on the following matter -

My aquarium has a film of oil on top of the water, which i believe comes from the plants. I have a skimmer which is suppose to remove the oil. however, it is not working, the plastic which is supposed to be slightly submerged is always floating above.

I suspect that its either the skimmer is spoil (although it hardly seem to work the first time round) or my external filter is not strong enough (supposedly 1000L per hr)

Was wondering if any bro here has ever experienced similar problems, Advise needed. Thanks!

It is a common problem. How I solved it was to direct filter output near the water surface.

http://i322.photobucket.com/albums/n...n/DSCN2906.jpg

use a skimmer to remove it

Thanks guys.

JadeIceGreen: I am afraid I cant adopt your idea, i think all my shrimps will be sucked inside haha.

moscowblue: I already have a skimmer but it doesnt seem to work... :(

Change the skimmer lah

Have you tried adjusting the skimmer? You can twist the top to adjust the amount of water that goes in. The reason why your skimmer is floating is probably because of not enough suction.

Your skimmer should has a little stick jutting out, turn that to shrink the opening at the bottom so that the suction above is stronger.

Are you using the Atman skimmer ( the Eheim look alike type)?

I had the same problem recently with my 1.5ft tank (using Eden 501). What I did was to use air pump and turn it to high with air-stone attached for a day and I noticed that the oil film are gone.

Its not really oil, but plant protein. Get a few nice mollies (any kind will do) and your problem will be solved instantly -- unless of course you are breeding shrimps, in which case you will definitely need a skimmer.

/John