I've got what looks like a little bit of skimmate forming on my tank's water surface

[jepoy]

It's not stinky or colored or anything like that, just a very thin layer of bubbles. And yes I do have a protein skimmer in the sump. Do i need to agitate the water surface more? Turn up my powerheads? Any thoughts?

 

[PizzaOven]

I've had this happen before. Microbubbles and lack of surface agitation was the cause. Fixing both solved my problem!

 

[jepoy]

I've had this happen before. Microbubbles and lack of surface agitation was the cause. Fixing both solved my problem!

Where was the microbubbles coming from and how did you fix it?

 

[PizzaOven]

Where was the microbubbles coming from and how did you fix it?

In my case it was from splashing water in a HOB filter (on my budget pico tank), with very little surface agitation. I dialed back the HOB flow and added a wavemaker near the surface to fix the problem.

Is there a lot of splashing in your sump? Is your skimmer acting normally? Baffles are pretty good bubble traps, but I've found small bubbles can still make it past in my sumped system.

 

[jepoy]

In my case it was from splashing water in a HOB filter (on my budget pico tank), with very little surface agitation. I dialed back the HOB flow and added a wavemaker near the surface to fix the problem.

Is there a lot of splashing in your sump? Is your skimmer acting normally? Baffles are pretty good bubble traps, but I've found small bubbles can still make it past in my sumped system.

It's been a while since I've inspected my sump system, maybe its time to look everything over and find where the bubbles may be coming from. Thanks for the tip!

 

[iani]

Normally this means you have a bacterial bloom.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

video clip or photos?

 

[PjFish]

Surface tension of water actually increases with higher salinity and lower temps. So, the surface tension of water is independent of the area of the water body making it more difficult for air bubble to break that surface/tension. Besides sump bubbles they can also be from nitrogen gas produced by anaerobic bacteria processing nitrates which Ive had running deeper sand beds or any decaying organics on sand or rocks can also produce bubbles. Of course cyano/bacteria blooms can also produce bubbles. Sounds like you just need more surface agitation to break the tension.

 

[jepoy]

video clip or photos?

 

[jepoy]

Surface tension of water actually increases with higher salinity and lower temps. So, the surface tension of water is independent of the area of the water body making it more difficult for air bubble to break that surface/tension. Besides sump bubbles they can also be from nitrogen gas produced by anaerobic bacteria processing nitrates which Ive had running deeper sand beds or any decaying organics on sand or rocks can also produce bubbles. Of course cyano/bacteria blooms can also produce bubbles. Sounds like you just need more surface agitation to break the tension.

I do have one fish that is missing, maybe it’s dead somewhere and causing the bloom. I pointed both my return spouts towards the water surface to create a lot of agitation. We’ll see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!

 

[iani]

I do have one fish that is missing, maybe it’s dead somewhere and causing the bloom. I pointed both my return spouts towards the water surface to create a lot of agitation. We’ll see if that helps. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah a surface film typically means there is a small bacterial bloom. Your missing fish would point to that as well.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Those bubbles in the pic are the result of high surface tension...
They indicate a "dirty" environment...IMHO
I recommend water changes

 

[jepoy]

Those bubbles in the pic are the result of high surface tension...
They indicate a "dirty" environment...IMHO
I recommend water changes

Would make sense, I've been slowly removing crushed coral sand and replacing them with finer sand. I've got a ton of sand dust floating in there. Plan for today 20% water change and clean clean clean. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Would make sense, I've been slowly removing crushed coral sand and replacing them with finer sand. I've got a ton of sand dust floating in there. Plan for today 20% water change and clean clean clean. Thanks for all the advice!

don't over clean