Brown layer on top of my water

[Trevor Robertson]

I don't have a sump but I do have two different filters and one 802 powerhead (I am getting a 2nd one right away). I don't have an overflow so that will not work.

I will try moving my powerhead up to the top of the water and see how that works, if it moves the crap to the corners that is okay I can just wipe it away.

Thanks for the help I will let you know how it works.

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Trevor Robertson

I am in week two of my cycle, I have a 135 galon tank and 100lbs of live rock in it to help the cycle move along. I have noticed that a brown layer of dirt? has formed on the top of the tank,
Thanks

Surface scum was a problem in our old well-cycled 75 and the 180 (both had a skimmer), and in our 110 gallon indoor goldifsh pond. It can be cured by agitating the water surface more. Just move your powerheads up so they're almost making the water splash. If you have only one powerhead on your 135, another would certainly help, making sure they both agitate the surface as much as possible. In the 180, we had 802s (with prefilters filled with foam) in both corners and had them pointed at 45 degree angles so they agitated as much water as possible. I weekly cleaned the foams as they got pretty dirty.

The same scum's now a bit of a problem in our 42. Because of the length of the glass cover on the 42, I can't raise the big 802 powerhead any higher. But I've been experimenting with trying to get the right upward tilt on it so more or the surface is agitated, but not so much that it splashes onto the glass cover. Come to think of it, I should see how the last tilting experiment is doing. And I'll be water testing today too to see if any ammonia or nitrite has appeared in the 42 :-)

[Dresden]

i pointed my power head towards the surfaceenough that the water raises athen goes back under, pull that stuff back into the water which is probably some of the smallest particles

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Beverly

And I'll be water testing today too to see if any ammonia or nitrite has appeared in the 42 :-)

Tests for the 42 gal hex:

Sunday night (the day after adding all livestock with well-cured rock):
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm

Wednesday afternoon:
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite barely registering a colour change which I judge to be .01 ppm
(This must be the beginning of the spike!!!! Egads!!)

Still some scum on the 42's surface. Tilted the 802 a little more upward, and added a second source of surface agitation at the other end of the back panel of the tank - a Whisper that came with our 2.5 nano - and filled the media chamber with a Mini foam. This puny thing just barely moves any water compared to the 802, but it moves it right at the surface, so it may end up being useful afterall :-)

[Diomedes]

A skimmer won't help here at all unless you feed its chamber via an overflow (the most effective use of it anyhow), but since you don't have one (thats cool too) use a fine mesh net (blue handle, white net) and scoop it out. I think it is a collection of oils, detritus and brown algae. All it takes is a small clear film of oil to develop and that can provide a medium for algae growth on the surface. Look through your tank and up when netting it out to make sure you get most of it. It will lose intensity as your tank matures and you maintain your tank at scheduled intervals. Some parts of your rock might be uncured, or too much oily food additions (Mysis IMO and exp.) may cause it.

Good Luck

Stephen

[Trevor Robertson]

Thought that I would update everyone as to how this is going.

Well I finaly got out and purchased a second 802 powerhead with a filter on it and when I got down stairs to put it into the tank I noticed that the brown layer was...gone!

Well I guess the sit back and do nothing worked just fine in this situation. Well I put the 802 in any way as I think that I will need a 2nd powerhead in a tank this size.

Thanks for all your help, I am sure I will need it again I think that I am getting a clown or two this weekend.

PS does it affect you bio load when adding clean up crew's like snails and hermit crabs?