The Puffer Forum

I forgot to mention that there are a few places where I use airstone. In my discus tank the temperature is higher than in my other tanks. At higher temperature, the water takes up less oxygen. As I don't have the chance to use a diffusor on the filter outlet in that tank, I had to put in an airstone. I see my fishes are a lot happier when I have that. I also use airstone when i hatch and raise cory fry. This is a little off the topic, as this is done in ice cream boxes, and not in proper tanks. It's without filter, because of the size of the fry. So they need air supply and daily 95 % water changes. It''s easier than it sounds.

After noticing a slight film on the water in my 30 high, I simply let the water level drop some, and now the return from the Fluval aerates the water very nicely and there's no film. I was about ready to install a skimmer thinking that would be the only cure for it.

Here is what I do for more surface agitation/aeraton. It's a piece of canopy back filler that I have manipulated to give some of the filter discharge some more lift. I have 2 AQ70s on a 46g and it always has a bit of film on the water surface from feeding Omega 1 color flakes. I only have this on one filter and it is enough to keep things clean.

http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk16 ... CI0632.jpg

I think airstones are too messy and they kinda take up tank space. I do remember watching my neon tetras "ride the lightning" from the bottom of the tank to the top when I had a bubble wand. It was pretty funny, they love to play in it.

LOL!! Last night, my wife and I went to the LFS at closing time to get the owner (old friend) to repair a Coralife Luft pump for me (folks with severe visual problems do not DIY anymore). While he and I were at the counter, herself roamed the store - and nearly fell apart giggling at some of the tank decor...the Mount Rushmore just about did her in.... She expected the castles and the Greek/Roman ruins, but she did not expect the American monuments.

For years I have threatened to do a junk tank with a plastic skeleton or a full-sized skull on glossy black gravel, with blind cave fish and lighted by red LEDs.

But she knows me too well to believe that I would do it. Or the moderately obscene tank that I have also threatened - that one she dared to do.

RTR wrote:The surface biofilm is from inadequate turnover and/or possibly inappropriate filtration. I have had one tank in the circulating range which developed a visible surface film routinely when the system was first established, even though the entire system had similar of identical fish in all of the tanks - that is not a diet issue, it is and was a water handling or water management issue. I learned a lot about current management in "curing" that tank.

Thank you! I had not had a surface film until I received the puffers. At first I thought it was the "juice" from the blood worms, but feeding snails didn't help either.

I added a VERY powerful surface agitator and it just seems to "push" that film to the other side of the tank. I installed a skimmer and that worked wonders for a while. Now it is back again. I was told that it is a direct result of the high protein foods, but this may be misinformation, and the "cure" is experimenting with filter placement.

At the moment I am going to play with the skimmer a bit. I don't think it is drawing enough water, or there is a bad connection somewhere (or last resort is to swap out the pump).

Undigested fats from an unbalanced or hard to digest diet causes a particularly nasty surface film (Oscars eating mostly feeder goldfish can have an almost gulf-like oil slick going), but depending on flow, they can appear without that. RTR feeds very reasonably, I know I am not quite as disciplined as he with that, and overfeeding can make it much worse. Rinsing all frozen foods after thawing helps a lot.

LOL at Nick! If you overfeed worse than I do, you have a real problem! I'm still working on feeding myself - 50-plus years is not enough for slow learners....

Oscars are a special case on several points. They are second only to Scats IME. And I did not use goldfish.

Skimmers - a.k.a. surface scum extractors, not foam fractionartors - are special cases also, and can be quite "fiddly" - you spend a lot of time adjusting and/or cleaning and find that water levels are critical, and that snails can totally disrupt their function. A CPR overflow and feeding rings solves all such issues, plus you get a sump out of the deal.

Sometimes I think that I will end up with every tank either in a vertical circulating range, or at least with a sump.... That is no joke. I have nearly been there before, and the planed tank room changes coming soon will be going back to more of that. Some things are more setup issues,and I get lazier all the time - setup is only every 10 years after all. Low maintenance gets more attractive all the time.