Surface Skimmer

[learner]

noticed a layer of oil on the surface of my planted tank.. is that why i need to get a surface skimmer?

wondering what should i get, where and how much.. i'm running a 2233.....

thanx!

[tawauboy]

a surface skimmer will remove the protein film. you should be able to get a skimmer from any reasonable lfs.

alternatively, you can get platy. this fish will clear the film for you.

[learner]

thanks tawauboy....
haven't seen or heard about platy before.... is it common in lfs? i'll try to read up more..

thanks agian!
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[vinz]

Platy looks like a bloated swordtail fish without the swordtail. Bright orange.

[learner]

thanks vinz... if platy can clear up the layer of oil, is it that's why it's so fat? haha... eat up all the oil

[vinz]

Forgot to mention... was told mollies will do the job too.

Platys are prolific breeders. If your plants are dense enough, you should see a few fry survive.

[tawauboy]

the female usually have bloated stomach while the male is slimmer. they breed easily.

[sherchoo]

I had the same cleaning effect with guppies too. If your tank is big, a skimmer will do better.....

[lorba]

Skimmer works fantastically for my 3ft, cleared up my oily and bubbly (bubble trapped under the oil film) surface in less than 5min.

[learner]

hmm... saw some red, fat tail-less swordfish.. i suppose those are platys? but then i also saw some were in white, and some in black.. so i wasn't sure if they are platys or not....

any ideas?

[coryfav]

yeah, some have a little black on their bodies too. fyi, platies are being used as feeders now. seen them in K&K tampines and 328 Aquarium, next to c328.

if you buy these feeders, imho, do quarantine them first.

[learner]

thanks coryfav...

what i mean is they are totally black leh.. is that what i'm looking for?

[szesteve]

How does the skimmer actually work? I see 2 intakes, one on top which follows the water level and one at the bottom..

And what's the flow control thing?

[richy]

Platies are normally orange, red or a mixture of black with orange or black. Other color variations are occasionally available locally.

Those totally black are most probably mollies.

[tawauboy]

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On 12/18/2002 12:30:47 AM

How does the skimmer actually work? I see 2 intakes, one on top which follows the water level and one at the bottom..

And what's the flow control thing?
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for skimming to be effective, there has to be a difference in water level. too little, you won't be able to skim. water will still flow down but the surface film will not. think it has to do with surface tension.

the intake for skimming is at water surface and you use the flow control stick to adjust the amount of water going into the bottom inlet. if the bottom inlet flow is reduced, more water has to go in from the skimming inlet causing more suction from the skimming intake. this will pull the water level in the skimming intake to drop below the water surface and start the skimming action.

hope this helps.

[szesteve]

thanx, i'll try it out!