General Care Discussion :: Strange color in water

[StoneFury]

There is this really wierd color on the surface of the water in my tank and I am puzzled on what it might be. It looks like the color you see in water that has lots of oils in it. His tank is due for a cleaning. Anyways if you could offer me any help I would be most thankful.

[megcornell]

It's common for a little film to build up on the water's surface.

Are you using a water conditioner that has a fish "stress coat" in it? That can give the water an oily appearance.

If you can adjust your filter so that the outflow is aimed at the surface, the agitation at the surface will break the film up.

[StoneFury]

no I am not using a water conditioner that has stress coat. What is that by the way? I was guessing at first that it might be his urine polluting the water but I really don't know for sure what it is. But yeah, I have noticed that when it is agitated it makes it less noticeable.

[Daniel3507]

a stress coat is like a slime coating for fish i think. not real sure. that had happened to me before. i went out and got a bubble disk so i would have some surface agitation and it took care of it.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Once you see the oily film, just change the water. I used to get that every 3 days when I didn't have a filter, and the water stunk.

[PcBuilder14]

Basically you just need something to agitate the water and it should go away.

[Bumby's Mom]

If you get a bubble stone it will go away.

[Bascomb]

Stone-f -- If your filter is not large enough that may be the problem. When sizing a filter you must have at least 5 times, gph, the water volume that you have in the tank. More would be better. More water movement, gph, and a larger biological filtration should do it. --Good Luck

[cprcheetah]

I have found that some types of pellets leave film. HBH used to before they changed their pellets. It was nasty in the tank, I tried switching him to a different pellet but Zeke didn't like anything but HBH, now it's not a problem and he loves his pellets.

[StoneFury]

yeah i went ahead and changed the water in his tank. i really dont know what was causing the film to build up but it wasnt causing my turtle any harm at all. what is a bubble stone??

[Bumby's Mom]

It is a stone with little holes in it that you connect to an air pump and it pumps bubbles all through the water.

[mat012]

Here they are...

http://www.aquariumguys.com/air-stones.html

You will need an air pump (around $20 get a small one & dont worry about the gallon description on the box - even the small ones put out plenty of air), some air tubing, and one or two stones. There are all sorts of ways to set them up so that you can have one or several columns of air in your tank.

[steve]

It's usually a protein slick which you will likely see if you are feeding inside the tank. As noted, use something to agitate the water surface which will also help oxygenate your water.