# film on the top of my tank water



## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

Hi everyone, 

I have a small question. Is it normal for a currently trying to cycle tank to have a film on top of the water? Someone please tell me this is the starting of something good @ . @ If not what is it? Does it need to be addressed?


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

edit: I skimmed a lot of it at the top. It might be from the bubble nest he made at the filter? Maybe it just made everything gross when the filter destroyed it? I can't tell. I hope I didn't destroy a bacterial culture or anything. I left SOME still in there just in case  if someone has any information I'd love to hear it


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Apparently it is just a protein film. Not harmful.  I have one on my male betta's tank.


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

Bombalurina said:


> Apparently it is just a protein film. Not harmful.  I have one on my male betta's tank.


Ohhh! It's bio film? So it's not harmful for the fish or tank?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

The only problem biofilm can present is if it prevent oxygen from diffusing into the water. This shouldn't be a problem with your betta, but if you have snails or plants that need DO, then it could be a problem. I have it in a lot of my betta tanks and other tanks with little surface movement. If it really bothers you, you can scoop it off. Other than that it's fine.


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

thekoimaiden said:


> The only problem biofilm can present is if it prevent oxygen from diffusing into the water. This shouldn't be a problem with your betta, but if you have snails or plants that need DO, then it could be a problem. I have it in a lot of my betta tanks and other tanks with little surface movement. If it really bothers you, you can scoop it off. Other than that it's fine.


Thanks for the advice! My betta has the whole tank to himself though, if it's not a problem to him I'd rather not tamper with his water further than I have to


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

No problem.  It shouldn't hurt him. My film stays pretty light because I stir it up pretty good at weekly water changes. So long as it doesn't become too thick you guys will be fine.


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

thekoimaiden said:


> No problem.  It shouldn't hurt him. My film stays pretty light because I stir it up pretty good at weekly water changes. So long as it doesn't become too thick you guys will be fine.


When you break it up, does it turn into light dots of debris? I increased the flow on my filter to cause some surface movement temporarily and now it just.... looks like debris. I actually change my water more often than that since I'm trying to get this tank to cycle (you can probably tell i'm a newbie and it's my first tank)


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Ya. It looks like dots of iridescent stuff on the surface. It looks strange, but it is harmless. I keep most of my tanks away from the rest of the people in the household, so it never bothers me that they look strange sometimes.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

It is harmless  often in water that has very little to no surface movement (bubbler, sponge filter, filter). You can usually just break it up by scooping it out, or just breaking it apart with a stick or end of a spoon. It does look yucky sometimes though lol


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

thekoimaiden said:


> Ya. It looks like dots of iridescent stuff on the surface. It looks strange, but it is harmless. I keep most of my tanks away from the rest of the people in the household, so it never bothers me that they look strange sometimes.



Thank you. I'm glad this is a normal thing. I'll stop worrying about it now that you guys all say it's normal


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## thejapanesezombie (Nov 30, 2011)

Sena Hansler said:


> It is harmless  often in water that has very little to no surface movement (bubbler, sponge filter, filter). You can usually just break it up by scooping it out, or just breaking it apart with a stick or end of a spoon. It does look yucky sometimes though lol


THank you very much! I'll just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get too thick or anything. <3 I really appreciate the help


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