film on water surface (1 Viewer)

[decimal]

I am a little perturbed. I obviously have a surface skimmer in the tank. Filtration is currently running
surface skimmer to weir to filter socks..
main chamber of sump after the socks is BK 200 skimmer
heater
avaste marine ozone reactor
then secondary chamber that is holding bio bricks
another surface skimmer to return pump chamber. Pump is running 1057gph (-head pressure maybe 5 ft) system volume is 200g

the skimmer stopped producing skimmate after i installed the Ozone.. which is odd since ozone is supposed to make the skimmer more efficient. It could be that there is not enough organic matter to skim, but there is the surface film and that should be getting skimmed out. plenty of flow in the DT with 3-4 reefwave 45 pumps. some of them angled towards surface for agitation. i have a film on the DT surface that is not going away. my house is not particularly dusty and the AC is set to meat locker mode. the nano i have running is in the same room as the large tank does not have surface film. its almost like a powder is floating ontop of the surface. like the bio brick dust but everything was rinsed prior to introduction and even if there was a little dust, it would have dissapeared as the surface gets skimmed. no live stock yet so its not a burning issue, but i am perplexed. Any ideas as to what other things i can try?

 

[decimal]

So just for the sake of posterity, here is what was going on. The tank I have is a neptunian cube M180. Looks great and build quality looks good too. The problem that was going on is that the tank overflow is based on a herbie design.

I don’t like to have to mess with a designed solution… this design, for whatever reason, was not working properly though. My return pump is a maxspect dc10. At the lowest setting it is supposed to kick out 1057g -head pressure (max 16ft and return is 1.5 > 1” plumbing from tank) At that setting, it was possible to eliminate water noise from the overflow and from the weir return in the sump. The return nozzles at tank level where barely putting out water though. The interior of the overflow has, on the sides, a double wall and water was coming up those channels.

I don’t know if it was the pump channel that was not properly set up, or whatever. Any higher gpm setting on the pump would cause too much water noise. For some unexplained reason, there is a double wall on the inside of the tank overflow. It looks like there are 2 inlet ports on the bottom sides of the overflow so the water coming up must have been from the bottom of the tank?

Anyways, it was impossible to tune properly since if you got the flow right up top and the surface water was skimming from the top overflow, through the overflow teeth, it was cavitating the pump. Adding more water volume or adjusting to meet pump demands, would cause the top to stop skimming properly. So I did what any pro would NOT do and stuffed some poly into that double wall so it stopped any water from exiting and then, rolled and stuffed some poly into those socks. Presto, the overflow started skimming water through teeth. I was able to increase pump speed because, no more water noise from the socks and improve return flow through nozzles allowing me to sync drain with return pump. I expect this delicate balance to remain intact for at least 24 hrs when it will presumable all fall apart and flood my office. Wish me luck.

 

[RR-MAN]

These tanks are not made for high flow reef set up mostly planted tanks.

I used to have an elos tank and the overflow design was horrible. I drilled it and installed a ghost overflow box. The drilling process was scary.

 

[R-BallJunkie]

.....there is the surface film and that should be getting skimmed out.

I have a peninsula setup, pumps and overflow on one side only. i have a film that gathers at the far end. i chalk it up to circulation pattern plus the auto-feeder with smaller type foods such as coral frenzy. I break up whats near the edge with the cleaner magnet and it seems to eventually subside.. Doesn't seem to harm anything. I tried to point the return nozzles higher towards the surface but it was breaking over the top of the tank at times with the flow randomizers. Shameless FTS showing this.

 

[decimal]

Nice tank. That scape will a pretty cool. On closer inspection, it looks pretty much the same as the film I had on mine. But there was no food (or fish or anything) in the tank. Since I changed the setup, and the water levels are right, it is gone. The water level inside the overflow should be just below the water line of the tank so the top layer of 1/2” - 1” of the water is what is going to the sump so you have to get there by adjusting flow, water level in the tank and water level in the over flow. With me, the water level inside the overflow was the same as the tank. Once I changed and made sure water was coming from the water surface and running into the overflow, it all cleared up. As a bonus, the surface tension of the water seems to have improved and I see a lot more smaller ripples without having changed any powerhead settings.

Seems the plumbing should be the next size up on my tank. normally 3-5 times per hours turn over is plenty since flow should really come from power heads. My return nozzles where not putting out anything even close to that. before I yank everything apart I’m going to have to check a dry setup of a display in case anything is threaded or whatever. No one like to crack a bulkhead on a full tank. One thing this tank has that I will never do another build without is a clear 1 way valve on the return pump.

I have drilled tanks before but never a 3/4 plate glass lmao.. that would some nerve wracking stuff.

 

[decimal]

Tried load a few quick vids but doesn’t seem like it’s gonna go

 

[Cody]

Tried load a few quick vids but doesn’t seem like it’s gonna go

Load them to YouTube then post the link.

Sounds like y’all are suffering from a combination of not enough flow and an overflow box that isn’t pulling enough from the surface.

 

[soymilk]

is it possible just to put a sticker over the bottom weir holes.

 

[decimal]

Yep. I think there are even some 3D printed solutions. It’s all worked out now but for what it’s worth, the system was running quietly for some time before I became aware that of problem. Someone else might have not checked that since it seemed to be performing well otherwise. The overflow design is not the greatest. I have had durso and that requires a top to bottom box but the newer (bean style or herbie I guess) overflows like Fiji cube are pretty cool and I would opt for that if I had my choice.

 

[decimal]

Load them to YouTube then post the link.

Sounds like y’all are suffering from a combination of not enough flow and an overflow box that isn’t pulling enough from the surface.

I doubt that’s 1000gph coming out that nozzle lol.

 

[RR-MAN]

Drill it!!!