Cali Kid Corals

Nano tank DOS and surface oil slicks

Prestondeeply

Prestondeeply

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I occasionally get surface oil slicks on one of my nano tanks, the most mature one actually. I think there are a few options here that I know of, but maybe more I don't know of.
  • Protein skimmers to remove the DOS. Does high DOS result in an oil slick or is that a similar situation but not directly related?
  • More surface turn to break the slick, push back into the water column and have the protein skimmer pull it out?
  • Perhaps significantly increase the AIO sump pump flow rate and change filter floss frequently?
  • Get a surface skimmer like the Eheim skim350 (I notice this is what Neptune does in a few of their 10G nanos.)
Weekly water changes don't really have much of an affect. No Fish, mixed reef, twice a week light feeding. I think the corals would like to be fed more, but it certainly puts more into the water column that I have to deal with later. I'd like to find a good balance between the nutrient removal and feeding, but nutrient removal is proving hard in the AIO nanos, for me.

This feels more like a Nano problem because I just don't have much space in an AIO to install a fuge, filter socks, rollers, etc.

I'm currently running floss, carbon, and PO4, no sock.

I plan on running a Reef Glass in one, Eheim in the second, and upgrade the sump pump in the third....just to get some experimental results....

Experiences with any of the above or any advice on which direction to go would be greatly appreciated.
 
When I had a stock 12g nanocube, it had the same issue. Tried things such as dipping plastic on top to grab/adhere onto all the lipids/hydrophobic junk, however that was a pain to keep doing. But the most effective way was to cut teeth into the top edge of the back "sump" chamber that created a surface skimmer/overflow that flowed into a sponge filter/sock.
 
Darkxerox said:
When I had a stock 12g nanocube, it had the same issue. Tried things such as dipping plastic on top to grab/adhere onto all the lipids/hydrophobic junk, however that was a pain to keep doing. But the most effective way was to cut teeth into the top edge of the back "sump" chamber that created a surface skimmer/overflow that flowed into a sponge filter/sock.
Click to expand...
The stock grill from the main to the sump area, with the top edge closed, stops too much of the surface flow? Interesting. So you cut just that top edge off? Did you raise/keep the water level at just at/above the teeth then?

Or was this in the back chamber between sump compartments...maybe between the center and pump compartment?

Interesting idea, thanks.
 
So basically I'm not sure what your tank looks like but yeah the teeth have to be about 1/8 inch minimum to break the surface tension. Also the overflow region of course has to be the highest part in the tank so it "waterfalls" over into a chamber lower than the tank. Do you have a photo of your tank?
 
Innovative marine 10g.

PXL_20220730_033107219.jpg
 
Darkxerox said:
My guess is that since the teeth don't go all the way up there might be a little extra surface tension that isn't allowing all of it to follow into your floss.

There's one product I found that might work: https://intankaquatics.com/intank-all-in-one-aquarium-surface-skimmer/

The other thing you could try is angle the pump output towards the surface/overflow to create some agitation.
Click to expand...
This is an Innovative Marine tank....as it turns out, they make a device similar to the one in the link. Called "High Tide Water Risers" which are found here: https://www.innovative-marine.com/s...ion-SR-Pro-2-30-120-gallon-Midsize-p394348299

The theory is that by decreasing the overall length of the teeth upward, more water is forced through the filter box from the surface instead of 1" below the surface. Brilliant.

I just tried a make shift piece of acrylic covering the lower portion of the grate and it definitely forced more surface water through the grate. I'm off to order one now.

Thanks!
 
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