Skin that turns white and stringy when agitated

Hello all,

As the thread suggests, I have just today noticed a skin on my tank water that turns white and stringy when agitated. Should I be worried about this? The tank has been cycled for a month or so now and all the water parameters have been so good that I haven't changed any water in a number of weeks. I have a small bowl next to the tank that I empty meltwater from from frozen food and squeeze my turkey baster into. I've not emptied this bowl for a while and even this suddenly gained a skin on it today, with no water being added to it for two days.

The skin isn't fragrant or sticky. If it was bacterial or algal I would have expected a different colour or a smell, but perhaps that was naive of me. Would anyone be able to help me determine what this is and tell me whether or not I should be worried? My concern is that the skin might affect the oxygen concentrations in the water.

Thank you in advance!

Sam.

What you are referring to is a very common phenomenon. The layer that appears on the surface is the result of the accumulation of proteic derivates from bacterial decomposition of organic matter in the tank. To reduce it, you need to keep the tank clean of uneaten foods, decaying plants, feces, etc...
The inmediate remedy is usually to place a piece of kitchen paper in the surface and take it out quickly, so that the paper absorbs the oily layer.

Thank you very much for your extremely quick reply and sound advice! I normally feed my axolotl on bloodworms and he can be quite the messy eater. I shall make sure to be more diligent when it comes to clean-up time.

Thanks again.
Sam

That is one of the main causes right there, the blood worms. If you are feeding frozen blood worms, defrost them and rinse them well before feeding to your axie, this will help reduce the film on the surface of your water.

Cheers,
Alex