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There is a film of oil on the surface of my water. I think it comes from the food. i'm not sure if it can harm my turtles,, My fluvial 405 does a great job of keeping the water clean but it can't keep the oil down
I even tried setting up a skimmer, it looked like it was working but the oil passed right through the filter and came back.
has anyone else had this problem?
thanks

Yes, I have had this same problem since I had my tank. The guy at the pet store said there was nothing I could do about it and it should be "ok", but I think someone else here with more knowledge will be able to help us both.

That stuff happened all the time in the 10 gallon my turtles used to be in. Hasn't happened with my current tank yet, but I think it is time for a water change when the film appears.

DanielRES1180 wrote:That stuff happened all the time in the 10 gallon my turtles used to be in. Hasn't happened with my current tank yet, but I think it is time for a water change when the film appears.

I have tried that but it always comes back within 24 hours.

What kind of food are you feeding, and how much? Also, what kinds of additives are you putting in the water, conditioners and such?

Assuming the water doesn't need changing, it sounds like the surface of the water isn't being agitated enough. Angle the output of the filter so that the surface of the water is being moved. It will break up the film on the top of the water.

Some pellets are thought to contribute to this more than others (and leftover food in general will contribute to it). You could also try feeding your turtle in a separate container of water to help keep the water cleaner.

I feed them one pinch of zoo meds hatchling aquatic turtle food a day. And for every water change I use zoo meds reptisafe water conditioner.

It so cute both of my RES know the blue food bottle and try to swim though the front of the tank to get to it.

Its probably time for a water change

i usually feed them about a tablespoon of ether zoomed or reptomin every other day. I’ve tried partial water changes; I even skimmed all of the oil out using a Tupperware container (pushing it down into the water just for the top surface of the water to pour into it) the next morning it all came back. And I didn't even feed them that night.

See my post on soapy scum...it was algae in my case and I treated the water for algae and it has not come back.


Luke

I saw your post on the soapy scum and I didn't think I was having the same problem, but you may be on to something. The water is crystal clear but there is a lot of algae on the rocks. I don't mind it because I thought it created a more natural look. I’ll clean everything out and see if that helps
Thanks