Dusty surface water?

[bombilate]

The past few days I have noticed the water surface has a layer of kinda dust it's like cloudy but only the surface the rest of water seems very clear. I have random flow generater on the surface and when it stops for a second you can see the film on the surface I haven't changed anything recently so no idea why it's just started doing it I have plenty of flow. Only thing I can possibly think of is I added kalkwasser mixed in ro water a few days ago which is cloudy as my alk and pH was a bit low but why would it settle on the surface and not get filtered out by now

 

[zerozero]

Sounds like biofilm to me.

How to get rid of biofilm?

I have bio film all over my saltwater fish tank how should I get rid of it?

www.reef2reef.com

I have it too but as I'm deliberately feeding heavy and my tank is only in it's fourth month, I not too worried.

How old is your tank and what size is it?
How're your tank inhabitants doing?

 

[bombilate]

Tank is still new maybe 2 months or so livestock seems ok corals still all open just started to notice the brown diatoms on sand today

 

[zerozero]

So long as you have enough surface agitation I think it's just part of a new tank finding balance

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Every tank should have a powerhead pointed at the surface for agitation, tank needs more flow than just the return. 2 is almost always better than one. Get all that gunk mixed into the water so your filtration can filter it out. An agitated surface (that is creating little bubbles) also helps oxygenate the water.

Sitting on the surface like that, it cuts gas exchange so you have lower oxygen content in the water, the debris on the surface also cuts light penetration, so corals can suffer.

Algae also loves low flow so you would have future algae issues. Flow is extremely important in a salt tank and should not be underestimated. Get some powerheads in your tank.

 

[bombilate]

As I have said flow isn't the problem I have a power head on the surface on maximum setting if I had it on non stop I wouldn't notice the film but I have it on random setting so when it stops for a second that's when I see the film on the surface and then the flow blasts it then it's back and so on

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think a short video will help. Is the film like oil? That could be dissolved organics, which you would need a way to remove organics like with a skimmer or water changes.

But overall should not have this issue if you have adequate flow and filtration so visual clue will really help.

 

[Doctorgori]

when I get a film or whatever I float then drag a paper towel across the surface…works great

 

[bombilate]

Quick video of the water surface movement