Dissolve organics on surface for those with refugium

[stripedbadger]

I have found no easy way of getting rid of the dissolved organics (oil slick) that accumulate on the surface other than cleaning it off the sides of the tank during weekly water changes. (sticks to the walls as water level goes down)

I have a Remora C skimmer that resides in my refugium but it does nothing for the organics since my overflows are below the surface level. Any thoughts or ideas on how to work around this?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[tippMANn98]

is there any kind of surface skimmer you could retrofit onto the skimmer pump?

 

[Dentoid]

Try this! (Picture compliments of Marine Depot.)

 

[ScubaDrew]

Dent - whats the name / product number of that thing? I'm interested!

 

[Dentoid]

It's an AquaC Remora Pre Filter Box.

AquaC Remora/Remora Pro Protein Skimmers

 

[vdituri]

Scott, you can get it for me for Christmas! lol
Those are the next toys on my shopping list.


*** In the mean time, use an airpump with a bubblestone on the end.
Try it.

 

[stripedbadger]

The pre-filter will not work for my application since my Remora-C is underneath the aquarium in the refugium.

 

[onix]

Dent - whats the name / product number of that thing? I'm interested!

HI. I HAVE ONE OF THIS BOX AND REALLY DONT LIKE. IF YOU WANT I CAN SELL TO YOU. I HAVE THE BIG ONE BOX

THANKS
CESAR

 

[kathywithbirds]

*** In the mean time, use an airpump with a bubblestone on the end.
Try it.

Hey Victor, can you explain that one? how's that work, where do you put it?

 

[prow]

ahhh easy fix. couple things you can do but need to know the layout of your sump. one thing, depending on your sump, is to lower the water levels so the the waterline drops a 1/2" on the baffle after the refugium. can you post a pic of your sump?

 

[ScubaDrew]

would be good for your co2 exchange also - something that becomes more of an issue in the winter when we close all the windows up, right?

Hey Victor, can you explain that one? how's that work, where do you put it?

 

[BEELZEBOB]

id suggest maybe redirecting some flow to increase the aggitation of the waters surface in your display.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

1 0r 2 power heads pointed at the top of the water helps a lot. Is this a new skimmer? If so it has a break in time and will eventually pull the junk out of the water. Also make sure the water level in the skimmer isn't up to high and the skimmer is adjusted to where it should be.. If the water flow is to high through the skimmer it will dump the skimmate back in the tank. It flows to fast through the skimmer.

To get the "oil"off the top of the water I stirred mine with a net every so often. It gets it in the flow of the power heads and hopefully get pulled down to the skimmer. But it is only a temporary fix until your skimmer pulls it out.

But hopefully some movement at the surface alone will fix it for you.

 

[vdituri]

Hey Victor, can you explain that one? how's that work, where do you put it?

I just tucked it in behind some rocks. I was getting a major oil slick on the surface of the water. The bubbles must do something similar to a skimmer cause within about 10-15 mins the water was cleared.

I originally did this because I was getting worried about the oxygen exchange at the surface being impeded by the slick.

 

[stripedbadger]

I have two maxi-jet 1200's throwing at the surface. I'll try to get more surface agitation going from them and see if that helps.

I guess I could adjust the water level to allow the surface to be at the level of the return line (that goes to the sump where the skimmer is located) to allow the dissolved organic to get to the skimmer. (skimmer is not new and works fine)
Just a pain in the butt to adjust the flow back and forth. Got the water level just right in the display tank.

Thanks all for your input!