Modern Angl Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 I had a look in my 2 tanks and I've noticed that there seems to be what I can only describe as a thin oil slick over the surface of the water, this isin both the big tank I'm cycling and my smaller tank. Any ideas what could cause this? is it harmful to the fish? what can I do to remove it and keep it from happening again? (simple water change or something more drastic?) Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staplez Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 A cause of oil on the water surface I know of is from your hands and arms in the water. I've never bothered removing it in the past but if you are concerned I think it would take nothing more then a towel spread on the surface of the water/oil. The oil should cling to the towel. I used to remove oil that way from my old fish pond. The dumb residents of that pond would not eat mosquito larva. So my dads fix for when there were far to many larva and we feared going down the yard. Remove fish, pour in some cooking oil just enough to cover the surface. Then those buggers couldn’t breathe as they can’t swim through oil Muhahaha. It may not have been the most practical way to kill them but that is the type of man my dad is. And it doesn’t harm the fish when you put them back in AFTER removing the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Angl Posted February 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 cheers for that, the towel trick worked nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 towel? As in, a paper towel surely? If anybody quotes Airplane now, I'll be dissappointed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 The oil is normal but stops the air getting into the water, directing your filter outlet to break up the surface normally fixes this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo1 Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 We experienced this recently in a 6ft tank in a cafe. Turned out to be oil from the coffee beans. Added another filter (internal) and problem appears better but still got to go back and check again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnstack Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 Some years ago I had a similar problem. I used the paper towl method but the problem kept recurring. I finally discovered that the silicone was breaking down. Run you finger along the join and if the silicone feels soft and mushy and comes away on your finger it's time to strip it out and re-silicone. This happened to two tanks which I had re-siliconed 6 months previously, when I checked the tube I had used I discovered it was over 2 years old and probably past it's use by date. A new tube solved the problem. Regards Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalare Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Hi There is an other way you can get it to go away by ussing a exstantion on you filter (external that is). It works like a offerflo it goos on the end of the water sukking part of your filter it's a fluval part but it can be uset with some adjustment on any type of filter. scalare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 You can get other bands as well, the fluval ones seem to break plus the floating bit that takes in the surface water keep getting sucked underwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.