CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

theres some sort of white film on the top of the water when there isnt any areation, or movement of the water. is this normal? i just have some feeders with out any filtration right now, just to keep the cycle going on a tank.

I believe that the film that you are talking about isnt good at all. If I am correct it will be cured by adding an air stone or something that will aggitate the surface of the water. If i remember correctly the film on the surface will block the gas exchange on your tank and wont allow oxygen to enter or co2 to expel out of the tank because of this film. I hope that i am right, since i remember something to that effect in earlier posts.

What aarocain said above is true, that it does block the O2 and CO2 exchange. Its caused though by a build up of bacteria on the surface due to not enough water current. I would just add a bubble wand on the bottom rear side of your tank that covers most of the length of your tank..

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Candice

yah, i noticed that too. when i turn on the pump, it slowly brakes up, but when i turn it off (at night) and wake up the next morning, i see that gunk. is it just current or water filtration thats the prob?

mainly current I would guess, but it cant hurt to add a filter to get the bacteria established in the filter.

It is mainly the current. But the buildup of bacteria is also from not having a filter. Adding a filter would probably do the trick. And if this is a tank for feeders you should have a filter in it to promote healthy feeders. Most fish have health problems from bad water conditions due to inadequete filtration. That is the method fishstores use (no filter) with their feeders, and that is why we reccomend not buying feeders from stores. They have disease and other conditions (parasites) brought on by that.

The health of your fish is directly related to the health of the feeders. Make sense?

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Candice

the fact that they dont have heaters and filters and dont do water changes and they put 2,173 feeders in a 20 gallon tank, well yeah pretty much all of this adds to the bad reputation of lfs feeders. And the fact that they are bought cheap and not taken care of by the breeders also.

Actually goldfish are cold water fish and will get sick and diseased if kept in heated water... that is why you cant mix tropical fish with goldfish in community tanks. Feeders are just baby goldfish and to be truely happy and healthy should be kept at around 65-72 degrees, much much lower then our oscars should be kept. If your LFS has their feeders in a tank with a heater DO NOT BUY THEM!!!!! they will most definately be stressed and probably diseased. It would be like keeping your oscars at 95-100 degrees... they wouldnt last long with out getting ill.

Just something to think about.

Also DM you really need to get some kind of filtration, goldfish naturally expell large amounts of ammonia that have to be processed somehow. And the film is showing that what ever set up you have is not doing the job.

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Adam

gotcha. will a 802 powerhead with that quickfilter do for now? basicly..., i dont really want the feeders when im through to them. i'll go feed them to some other fish. i dont really want to get my filters all set up is cuz im going to hong kong in a few days, and i dont want to leave on so many things on the tank. when i leave, the only thing thats gonna b on is the pump and the powerhead