Tank Walls Peeling?

[rotex5510]

On both of our tanks, a 10 and a 26, both about 6 weeks old, a film seems to have developed on the inside that peels off. It looks almost like cellophane scraps floating around in the tank, very shiny. It only seems to exist down to the level that we've done water changes. Any idea what this is? Is it harmful to the fish? I have not been able to find a reference to this anywhere on the site. Thanks!

 

[ellena]

It's not actually some sort of film you were supposed to peel off the glass is it? Like a protective thing?

 

[rotex5510]

It's not actually some sort of film you were supposed to peel off the glass is it? Like a protective thing?

No, my best guess right now is that it's hard water deposits that dry on the glass while we do water changes. The tanks were two different brands, too.

 

[waterdrop]

Strange. The description doesn't sound right but it might just be biofilms. These are clear to whiteish to grayish (depending on the type of debris that sticks to them) films that the bacteria (mostly the heterotrophic bacteria outside the filter) put down on all inside surfaces of a tank. When a tank is brand new there will be considerably more of these as the heterotrophs will have more organics to munch on for a fairly short period of time.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[arobinson1984]

Are you adding anything like nutrafin cycle to the tank because if you look in the bottle you will find this contains 'bits' in it and can some times look like scraps floating around the tank.

Andy

 

[rotex5510]

You can actually see where it starts to peel off the walls in small strips. The pieces floating around in the tanks are about 1/4" to 1/2" square, clear and shiny - that's how I notice them, from the shine - they are also curled. On the glass, it is still see through, but a little cloudy. I've only seen it on the backs and sides so far. I've never seen the fish picking at it.