# Strange film on water. Bad tap water?



## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

I've noticed something is strange with my tap water. My saulosi have been gulping air at the surface of the water. No nitrite, no ammonia, pH 7.8 nitrates 10ppm. So something must be up. I think it's the water. I have a rainbow colored film on the water but it does not look like any protein slick I have ever seen. There are also bubbles along the edges of the water's surface.

My tap water has tones of microbubbles in it (nitrogen gas?) and when I do a 33% water change the tank is filled with these tiny bubbles.

In my aquaclears there was also a strange film on the surface. I moved my finger through it, and when I did, the film congealed into these white streaks (see photo above).

What the heck is going on?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

A rainbow colored slick on the water surface could be due to the oils in the fish food which is a very common occurence.

The bubbles on the other hand could be due a contaminant in the air or any aerosol products being used in your household or if you have had any guests or children over that may have put something in the tank.

I just read over your other thread to see some of your concerns with this tank. Prior to setting up the saulosi tank, was this tank in use or is it a brand new or used tank?

What other chemicals, additives or products do you use in this, this info may help troubleshoot your problems. Also, are you experiencing similar issues with any of your other tank(s)?


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

This is the only tank I have set up atm. I only use Seachem Prime water conditioner. That's it. I also added a bit of Seachem stability when I was setting the tank up. 
Somebody in the house uses aerosols but very rarely and they're used in another room 40 ft away from this one, and the door to the room where the fish are is usually closed.

Tank and all equipment were purchased brand new.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

What is the white pad in your Aquaclear filter?


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

What colour is the film? If you scoop some into a white cup..

I had a green film, but it looked like yours from below, but when scooped into a cup it was green even the bubbles. I think in my case it was something like an algae bloom. I have plants, and adopted a daily dose of exel and added carbon, its gone away. Going to remove the carbon this weekend and see what happens.

The bubbles after a water change are nothing, I just started using a python and get a ton of em (I do 50% weekly), its the aerating of the water.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

Deeda said:


> What is the white pad in your Aquaclear filter?


Filter floss pad.

Today the water in the aquaclear has a new layer of gunky film on it.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Is that filter floss pad meant for aquarium use or is it a non-aquarium use product? The reason I ask is that sometimes products not meant for aquarium use can have mildewcides, glue/bonding agents, etc. on them and they can cause problems in our aquariums. This is not always the case as we do use a lot of different products without any issues.

The water in the filter compartment does look a bit scummy which seems a bit unusual because the water should be flowing quite easily out of the filter. Does the water flow out of the filter seem normal to you or does it seem to be reduced from its full flow?


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

The flow out of the filter is totally normal. It just has this scum on top of it. It's being held in place by the filter pad. The pad was purchased from an aquarium store.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

Are you running any activated carbon in your filter? It could help get rid of chemicals in your tap water.

Check each tap in your house to see if each gives the same bubbles and film.

Do you have well water or municipal supply?


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

Municipal supply. Comes from Lake Ontario. No Activated carbon. I don't really believe in it.


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

pablo111 said:


> Municipal supply. Comes from Lake Ontario. No Activated carbon. I don't really believe in it.


I don't use activated carbon either because it's useless 99% of the time. This might be one of those 1% - It can bind up lots of different chemicals and toxins.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

My water comes from the same lake. Though likely different processing plants. I doubt its your water. I have had tanks up and running for close to 3 years now, and only had a film like you describe once. Now when it did happen I had added plants to my tank a month or so before, and reduced the amount of surface agitation from my return, perhaps that was it I don't know.. maybe there was a lot of plant die off.. I don't know.. but either way it wasn't the water it was something going on in the tank that caused the film or at least caused it to be more obvious.

For kicks.. if you have a powerhead in the tank aim it so it causes some rippling on the surface.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

I don't have a powerhead. I know from experience that an airstone with decent flow would break up the scum and dissolve it back into the water I can't add an airpump due to noise. This tank is where I sleep.
Even then, an airpump would do nothing for the scummy film on the surface of the water in the aquaclears.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Some film is normal due to quality food. The bubbles are the only odd thing I see.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

During the winter months, the colder water from rivers and lakes hold more dissolved gases and the water does not have a chance to "gas off" as it travels to the treatment plant and then through distribution pipes until it reaches our warm aquariums. So the bubbles may be the dissolved gasses attempting to escape, but being held just below the surface by the oily film.
I recently had this problem, I would have a lot of bubbles after water changes and experienced a lot of fry deaths. A fellow fish keeper told me the above theory, so I have been aerating the water prior to doing a water change and no more fry deaths! I have also read certain gases (blanking on the name name) are used to temporarily increase the pH of our tap water so the water will not erode the pipes. The high amount of dissolved gases can harm young fish.

As far as the film is concerned, are you positive its not for lack of surface friction? I would imagine the fish are gulping because:
A)The oily film is preventing much gas exchange
B) With your water already being high in dissolved gasses (as evident by the micro bubbles) the water may not have high o2 levels to begin with.

So my 2 cents is to add surface agitation and try and aerate the water prior to putting it into the tank. I picked up a sprayer to attach to my fill up hose and that helped somewhat with the bubbles, that may work for you if you are not dealing with fry. You can usually take a net and get that film off to some extent.

Hope that helps you,
Aaron


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

ahud said:


> B) With your water already being high in dissolved gasses (as evident by the micro bubbles) the water may not have high o2 levels to begin with.


That would explain them gulping right after a water change, but not five days after a water change. The bubbles from the W/C are all gone within an hour.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

What size tank and do you have just the one HOB filter? I'm assuming the film does not form under the HOB output?


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

The tank is 29 gallon. 2 AC70s on either end of the tank. The film doesn't form in the tank it forms in the filters. The tank has a standard protein slick and the filters have the whiteish film. The only thing that concerns me is the fish gulping air from the surface. It's not normal.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Is it simply the sponge is not allowing surface agitation in the filter so the scum is building up? I'm at a blank as to why the fish are gulping.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

I added carbon today. We shall wait and see... Fish seem healthy other than gulping air from the surface and some have doubled in size...


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## testeve (Sep 17, 2012)

pablo111 said:


> I don't have a powerhead. I know from experience that an airstone with decent flow would break up the scum and dissolve it back into the water I can't add an airpump due to noise. This tank is where I sleep.
> Even then, an airpump would do nothing for the scummy film on the surface of the water in the aquaclears.


Try the air pump but only run it during the day while you are at work? Turn it off at night when you sleep?

The gulping for air seems like a lack of oxygen.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

That's not a bad idea.


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