I have noticed over the last few days that there seems to be a scum forming on top of my water with a lot of what looks like small purple algae blooms floating around. I could not get a good picture to post but my water tests good. I have a reef tank with a sump and 1200gph pump. Protein skimmer has been producing well. I have four water inlets and two powerheads that are positioned towards the middle/front of the tank. Should I point two of them to the top to help move the water?
Water quality / floating scum
- Thread starter steve528
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ErinCahir
Sausage Wrangler
Yup. It'll also help with oxygen exchange. :D
Aquarian
Reef pro
+1Erin
I just experimented with overflow boxes. The surface scum is because the overflow box needs to drain at a higher flow.
Once I adjusted the flow such that the in-tank compartment of the overflow box was below (3/8" to 1/2" in my system) the water surface in the tank, the scum disappeared. It flowed away. Probably any difference in level is adequate.
Once I adjusted the flow such that the in-tank compartment of the overflow box was below (3/8" to 1/2" in my system) the water surface in the tank, the scum disappeared. It flowed away. Probably any difference in level is adequate.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
All the proteins and other organics float to the top of the water.
The overflow box needs to skim this off and get it to your sump where your protein skimmer can remove it from the system. This is why coast-to-coast overflows are the best and why little corner overflows are the worst. The C2C are the most efficient surface skimmers. And like PsiStar says, the faster you can drain, the more you'll skim.
Creating surface agitation with powerheads is good for gas exchange and can help keep things moving, but you have to get that junk into the overflow.
The overflow box needs to skim this off and get it to your sump where your protein skimmer can remove it from the system. This is why coast-to-coast overflows are the best and why little corner overflows are the worst. The C2C are the most efficient surface skimmers. And like PsiStar says, the faster you can drain, the more you'll skim.
Creating surface agitation with powerheads is good for gas exchange and can help keep things moving, but you have to get that junk into the overflow.
