water top offs

[miked78231]

the water i use from the faucet to top off the tank always seems to be kind of oily for the first few secs after i pour it in. is this normal? it has been doing this since i have been in the hobby so it doesnt seem to be harmful to the fish, it just doesnt look right.

[Reef69]

WHY HASNT ANYBODY REPLIED???!?!?!?!? :lol :lol ..First..you shouldnt use water from the faucet (not going to explain why)..second, its not oily..its at a different temperature than your tank water..(science class..highschool..)..LOL

[Bill S]

Not only is it a different temperature, it's a different salinity - assuming by your post that you are topping off with FRESH water. Don't know where you live, but you might want to test your fresh water source. I can't believe ours (SA) has 10 ppm of nitrate. THAT'S one of the reasons why people use RO/DI water.

[miked78231]

i do use freshwater but i have been told that its not that bad for the fish and coral. whats that stuff called that you can mix in the water over night to take out all that extra stuff thats in our water?

[hammondegge]

that is only a dechlorinator, you still may have heavy metal, phosphate and high nitrate in the water.

[pilot_bell777]

Do you have an algae problem Mike????

[Reef69]

Not only is it a different temperature, it's a different salinity - assuming by your post that you are topping off with FRESH water. Don't know where you live, but you might want to test your fresh water source. I can't believe ours (SA) has 10 ppm of nitrate. THAT'S one of the reasons why people use RO/DI water.

You are supposed to top-off with fresh water..Why would you top-off with saltwater???..Doesnt seem logical to me..

[SBreef]

WHY HASNT ANYBODY REPLIED???!?!?!?!? :lol :lol ..First..you shouldnt use water from the faucet (not going to explain why)..second, its not oily..its at a different temperature than your tank water..(science class..highschool..)..LOL

Diego,

Not everyone here has the time to monitor who posts at what time. Some of us do have jobs!

Mike,
You should top off with RO/DI. Do not use tapwater. Tapwater has chlorine in it, and other junk in it. If you do not have a RO/DI unit, go to HEB or etc. and get water from the filter units in fron to f the store. That is better than tap water.
You only replace with saltwater, upon a water change, or if you have salinty issues.

[Reef69]

Oh, right..I thought because it was just a common sense thing..hmm, dumb me, sorry!, LOL

[Henry]

Not everyone is as smart as you think you are.

[SBreef]

Also,
I have the oily film on the top of the water on the 10 gallon. I am not surface skimmimg. I beleive that the oily film is due to oils and protiens in the food/water. If it bothers you, use a power head directed towards the top of the water, and that will help break it up. Or you could shut down all pumps, then lay "Float" paper towels on the top of the water to remove the film.

[Reef69]

Not everyone is as smart as you think you are.

Apparently you would know..LOL

One key component for surface skimming are calfo's. To whoever is gonna start a new tank i'd strongly recommend one. The surface movment is constant and the surface is always clear.

[LoneStar]

I agree on the calfo. My next tank will have one built in :)

[Reef69]

I think Calfo's skim the surface better than an overflow with teeth, some people disagree but you need to see the calfo in action to see it. I love mine (Thanks Pete).

[LoneStar]

I've seen Petes and after checking it out, along with what I have read about calflos, they seem like a great way to go. Plus it frees up space the vertical overflows use...

[jap1]

I don't want to sound too ignorant, but what's a Calfo?

[SBreef]

A calfo is a type of drain/overflow system. It is like a small overflow box that generally runs the lenght of the tank, and the water will overflow to the drains that are located near the bottom of the calfo. HTH

[Reef69]

Sort of like an infinity pool.. :skeezy

[miked78231]

alright well thanks for all the input. oh and pilot i dont have an algea problem at all and it doesnt really bother me when it looks oily i just wasnt sure if it was bothering the fish.

[brewercm]

I think that what Mike was talking about by the oily look is when you pour fresh water into salt water. It has an oily look because of the salinity difference from fresh water to salt. Same as if you dump salt into the tank directly it looks like you have hot springs at the bottom of the tank until it's all disolved.

Good info on the Calfo though.