Help! White layer of crud at surface of tank. Any ideas?

cju84

cju84

Member
Hey all - I've been away from the forums for quite some time but over the past month or two, there has been white gunk accumulating at the surface of my tank. It almost looks like salt particles just nestling up there. I've been doing 50% water changes the past few weeks and it's not going away. I wonder if perhaps my powerhead was too far below the surface and therefore it's been collecting? Has my salt mix gone bad? Does this look like anything else anyone has seen?

This is a 5g pico with a koralia 240 pump. I have one clown, 3 peppermint shrimp, and a few other cleanup crew dudes.

Also, the tank is about 3 years old now if that means anything. Not really any other issues to report.

I apologize if this should have been sent to the pest forum.

Thanks guys!View attachment 21758View attachment 21759
 
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xj_matt

xj_matt

Premium member
We had something very similar in my girlfriend's 3 gallon aio What I had done is put the return at the top of the surface and added some fikter floss to Catch it all

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Dose it look a bit like oil?
 
cju84

cju84

Member
xj_matt said:
We had something very similar in my girlfriend's 3 gallon aio What I had done is put the return at the top of the surface and added some fikter floss to Catch it all

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Dose it look a bit like oil?
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It looks like salt just sitting at the top and piling into a more solid gunk at the corners of the tank.

I've never ran a skimmer nor filter on this tank before, but maybe it's time to start :X

Thanks for the reply!
 
xj_matt

xj_matt

Premium member
I But looking to getting a small hang on the back-and add Cami pier and filter floss that's what we're running in the 3 gallon and everything's working awesome weekly water changes of one gallon
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
Is there zero filtration on this tank ? Kinda looks like u just run a power head . Maybe get a small hang on back filter
 
cju84

cju84

Member
madjoe said:
Is there zero filtration on this tank ? Kinda looks like u just run a power head . Maybe get a small hang on back filter
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It's a 5 gallon pico tank, so the live rock is the natural filter. No other filter though - perhaps it is time for a HOB filter though!

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Amozoc said:
What about surface skimmer?


Sent from my iPhone using Thor
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It might be a good idea to get one although I'm trying to figure out what this is and why after 3 years I'm having an issue. I'd like to avoid a skimmer/artificial filter if possible, but they can't hurt. Thanks for the reply!
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
cju84 said:
It's a 5 gallon pico tank, so the live rock is the natural filter. No other filter though - perhaps it is time for a HOB filter though!

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It might be a good idea to get one although I'm trying to figure out what this is and why after 3 years I'm having an issue. I'd like to avoid a skimmer/artificial filter if possible, but they can't hurt. Thanks for the reply!
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Did u change salts recently? Im sure a hob filter will clear it up i am surprised u were able to go three yrs without seeing it . I guess just go through and figure out what changed.
 
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