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Question: Strange film on top of the water

H

havocsdesign

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The water in my tank keeps developing this strange iridescent white film on top of the water. I skim it out when I do water changes, but within a day or two it's back and I've tried everything from different food to changing the filter and I can't seem to get rid of it. Does anyone know what might be going on?
 
Coastal Groovin

Coastal Groovin

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It's from the oils in the foods you feed and from the waste you axolotl creates. You could buy or DYI a protein skimmer to remove it but I wouldn't worry about it. Doing regular weekly water changes will help. You can lay paper towels or even newspaper across the surface and then peel off the water's surface. That will remove a lot of it.
 
keiko

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Increasing the water movement at the surface helps too, or adding an air stone to move the water a bit. Ofcourse this doesn't remove the film, but breaks it apart. Just be careful not to add to much water movement so the axies don't get stressed. The film is not harmful, but it does stop gas exchange at the surface.
 
Cacique

Cacique

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Everyone gave good advice. Another option I read about was to roll up a paper towel into a tube shape and drag it across the surface of the water, worked well for me.
 
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