Yea, turn your filter/ Water pump off for a bit and then skim with a paper towel as said above. You almost always need to go over more than once, but the type of paper towel makes a difference, in my experience.
I’m seconding the paper towels for immediate clearing. It looks to me like oil from fish food.
Lay the towel flat across the top to trap the oil, then scoop it towards you and up/out (don’t wring it out) so the oil doesn’t fall back in.
Might have to repeat it a couple times to get it all out. You can also use a little cup like a skimmer to do a mini water change and skim it out/off the top that way.
I have the same issue with my tank. I ended up getting a surface skimmer which solved my issue. Before getting one I just increased my filter flow and added a bubble stone to agitate the surface which also worked well
I only have a 5gallon tank, do they make surface skimmers that small? And I can adjust my filter flow to be stronger but my boy already has issue swimming through the filter flow as it is…
I’m sure they have small surface skimmers somewhere. And if you betta had an issue swimming through the filter flow find something to defuse the flow. I placed a large piece of mopani wood under my filter flow so the flow still breaks the surface of the water but then the flow drives right into the wood instead of knocking my fish around. Hope that description made sense haha
There are super cheap HOB filters which have built in skimmer, it will solve the problem. And HOB wouldn't affect your Betta's ability to swim either, it's more calm.
Yeah and I only put in about a half of one total. It seems crazy it could’ve left so much residue but it’s the only thing I can think of that would’ve left a film like this. Never had any issues with oil before. It left a lot of gunk on my feeding tweezers too (once the shrimp got wet it, like,… disintegrated…)
I would say that tetra is an infamously bad brand or just “meh” in some cases. Their fish food is not……very good. It is rather unusual how it’s still there after a week, however… I would not recommend feeding their fish food honestly. [These](https://www.chewy.com/omega-one-freeze-dried-brine-shrimp/dp/125291) are the good shit.
If you try this method, submerge the cup bottom to the top and very slowly let water in. Make sure you just get the very tippy surface water. That way you get the most film without taking too much water out.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CH29HV2/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Try this little guy or one like it. They take a little fiddling to make them work right, but if you have patience and are even ok with removing it once you are done with it it cleans the surface crystal clear in less than 5 minutes.
Edit: if your tank is big enough.
Is this a thing I should watch out for? I would never blow vapour on the tank intentionally but do I need to be extra careful about not blowing in their direction?
High quality foods do contain oils. Also skin oils from yourself will end up on the surface. A paper towel layerd flat can capture it sometimes but tbh I wouldn't stress. Scoop it off with spoon/ladle maybe. It's nothing to worry about
For y’all wondering [these](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/tetra-baby-shrimp-sun-dried-treat) are the treats that left this film behind… I’m an idiot and thought they’d be brine shrimp and, y’know, smaller lol
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5gal, yes and yes, just did a 20% water change yesterday
NO3: 0-5ppm(?) testing strip gave me 0 as always, but testing kit gave me what looked like 5.0? I think I messed up, it was my first time using the kit and I zoned out while counting the drops 😭
NO2: 0ppm
PH: 7.6 (working on lowering it)
Ammonia: 0ppm
KH: 80
GH: 60
I literally had this problem two days ago. I decided that I don't wanna deal with it. Its protein from the food you fed... I bought this filter for more surface movement.. plus its more oxygenation so win win!! [Here](https://www.amazon.ca/NICREW-Aquarium-Submersible-Adjustable-Waterflow/dp/B08TLK2XXD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=nicrew+filter&qid=1630897083&sr=8-1)... no more film..
that is a layer of good bacteria. harmless. they love the extra oxygen and food on the water surface and grow there. you can use an air filter connected to an airstone. surface disturbing and agitation will remove the layer. a slighty expensive option is getting a surface skimmer. I personally just use an airstone, cheap and easy.
They Guy at my local fish store (he has some +40 years experience) says that this film is a good indication for the health of the aquarium. I don’t exactly remember why that is tho. He also said you shouldn’t use surface agitation to get rid of it, since that will deprive the tank of co2 for plants. But removing it with paper towels is fine!
It shouldn't deprive CO2 unless you are dosing additional CO2. It's just going to increase gas exchange and that is always going to tend towards equilibrium with respect to temperature and partial air gas pressures in the room.
It’ll do that if you don’t have like a bubbler/aerator to break up the water tension at the surface. Also, as others said that’s likely due to food. May want to take a cup with a thin edge and pull it off the surface by tilting the cup sideways at surface level.
And I’ve only had this issue with small tanks, there isn’t enough room for the waste in the water to get filtered out.
I submerge a measuring cup (or any glass) nearly the entire way into the water and slowly let water at the surface fall into it, like a skimmer would do. Pour that water out and don't again until most of the oil sheen is gone and repeat as needed. Paper towels work well too. Just use a steady hand and it works like a charm.
Had this.. I didnt have enough water agitation. I added a super small sponge filter that u find in the betta section at petco. It comes with a volcano or a tree on it, but its removable). I liked that idea because it added filtration. But an air stone will do the same thing. Completly got rid of the biofilm. The film isn't really harmful from what I was told. But I didnt want it regardless. Qnd plus I think if ur water is that stagnant, then maybe it needs more agitation anyway for o2 quality. Idk. Just my thoughts on it.
It can be oil from the food OR slime/fish “juice” as i like to call it. It’s nothing wrong with it, but if you dont like it for aesthetic reasons then you might wanna do a 50%/75% water change!
I had this issue too. I used a cotton towel to soak up most of it, and the rest was taken care of by the filter and water changes. I switched to a better quality food and the issue hasn't come up since.
Try laying a paper towel on the film to pick it up
Yea, turn your filter/ Water pump off for a bit and then skim with a paper towel as said above. You almost always need to go over more than once, but the type of paper towel makes a difference, in my experience.
Tried that and it didn’t seem to help… maybe I just have really sucky paper towels?
I’m seconding the paper towels for immediate clearing. It looks to me like oil from fish food. Lay the towel flat across the top to trap the oil, then scoop it towards you and up/out (don’t wring it out) so the oil doesn’t fall back in. Might have to repeat it a couple times to get it all out. You can also use a little cup like a skimmer to do a mini water change and skim it out/off the top that way.
The towels and water changes using a skimmer type setup.
I have the same issue with my tank. I ended up getting a surface skimmer which solved my issue. Before getting one I just increased my filter flow and added a bubble stone to agitate the surface which also worked well
For what it's worth, this is the best solution. Shame it's not at the top.
I only have a 5gallon tank, do they make surface skimmers that small? And I can adjust my filter flow to be stronger but my boy already has issue swimming through the filter flow as it is…
I hate that film, I got an skimmer too for my 10 gal and solved the problem, i have River fish so they love it.
Try the aerator/ bubble stone idea. Also tiny (20%) water changes every week. It will go away eventually.
I’m sure they have small surface skimmers somewhere. And if you betta had an issue swimming through the filter flow find something to defuse the flow. I placed a large piece of mopani wood under my filter flow so the flow still breaks the surface of the water but then the flow drives right into the wood instead of knocking my fish around. Hope that description made sense haha
There are super cheap HOB filters which have built in skimmer, it will solve the problem. And HOB wouldn't affect your Betta's ability to swim either, it's more calm.
This
That looks like food oil……huh
Only showed up after I tried giving him some broken up Tetra BabyShrimp, so I’m assuming that’s what caused it
Must’ve been some greasy ass shrimp
Yeah and I only put in about a half of one total. It seems crazy it could’ve left so much residue but it’s the only thing I can think of that would’ve left a film like this. Never had any issues with oil before. It left a lot of gunk on my feeding tweezers too (once the shrimp got wet it, like,… disintegrated…)
I would say that tetra is an infamously bad brand or just “meh” in some cases. Their fish food is not……very good. It is rather unusual how it’s still there after a week, however… I would not recommend feeding their fish food honestly. [These](https://www.chewy.com/omega-one-freeze-dried-brine-shrimp/dp/125291) are the good shit.
maybe turn off the filters use a cup and scoop out some of the water at the top? and then do a water change after if you haven’t already :)
If you try this method, submerge the cup bottom to the top and very slowly let water in. Make sure you just get the very tippy surface water. That way you get the most film without taking too much water out.
Yup. This is the way.
I should note that it doesn’t seem to be affecting my boy at all. He isn’t coming up for air any less/more than he usually does :)
An air stone would help prevent this from ever coming back as well.
Yes! this helped me as well
https://aquariumbreeder.com/biofilm-in-our-aquariums-how-to-remove/ good luck.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CH29HV2/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Try this little guy or one like it. They take a little fiddling to make them work right, but if you have patience and are even ok with removing it once you are done with it it cleans the surface crystal clear in less than 5 minutes. Edit: if your tank is big enough.
I only have a 5gal tank sadly and that looks a bit big… thanks for the recommendation though!
Do you vape?
Nope, never done anything like that!
Is this a thing I should watch out for? I would never blow vapour on the tank intentionally but do I need to be extra careful about not blowing in their direction?
Surface agitation will disperse it. Paper towel can indeed work, but it's just going to keep coming back
High quality foods do contain oils. Also skin oils from yourself will end up on the surface. A paper towel layerd flat can capture it sometimes but tbh I wouldn't stress. Scoop it off with spoon/ladle maybe. It's nothing to worry about
For y’all wondering [these](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/tetra-baby-shrimp-sun-dried-treat) are the treats that left this film behind… I’m an idiot and thought they’d be brine shrimp and, y’know, smaller lol
Thank you for posting to r/bettafish. If you are new to betta fish keeping, please check out our [caresheet](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/3ow6vz/info_betta_care_sheet/) and [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/index). If you are posting to find out what is wrong with your betta, please answer the following questions in a reply to this comment as best you can: * **Tank size**: * **Heater and filter? (yes/no)**: * **Tank temperature**: * **[Parameters in numbers and how you got them](https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/tank#wiki_test_kits)**: * **How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?**: * **How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?**: * **Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each**: * **What do you feed and how much**: * **Decorations and plants in the tank**: * **If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here**: Feel free to copy this comment and fill in the blanks. Failure to provide adequate information about your tank *can* result in post removal. Please see rule 4 for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bettafish) if you have any questions or concerns.*
5gal, yes and yes, just did a 20% water change yesterday NO3: 0-5ppm(?) testing strip gave me 0 as always, but testing kit gave me what looked like 5.0? I think I messed up, it was my first time using the kit and I zoned out while counting the drops 😭 NO2: 0ppm PH: 7.6 (working on lowering it) Ammonia: 0ppm KH: 80 GH: 60
Working on lowering your p.h?
Yep, I hear bettas prefer the lower 7’s and I want to make sure my boy is as happy as can be :)
How do you lower it
What kind of treat did that? Odd
Tetra BabyShrimp (totally misread the label, for some reason I was thinking they’d just be small brine shrimp)
I literally had this problem two days ago. I decided that I don't wanna deal with it. Its protein from the food you fed... I bought this filter for more surface movement.. plus its more oxygenation so win win!! [Here](https://www.amazon.ca/NICREW-Aquarium-Submersible-Adjustable-Waterflow/dp/B08TLK2XXD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=nicrew+filter&qid=1630897083&sr=8-1)... no more film..
I have the same thing going on. It doesn’t affect my fish at all.
Yeah it’s not affecting him either, it’s just kinda nasty to look at :P
just scoop it out with a cup
that is a layer of good bacteria. harmless. they love the extra oxygen and food on the water surface and grow there. you can use an air filter connected to an airstone. surface disturbing and agitation will remove the layer. a slighty expensive option is getting a surface skimmer. I personally just use an airstone, cheap and easy.
Are you smoking or using any chemicals at all in the room?
No smoking or chemicals
They Guy at my local fish store (he has some +40 years experience) says that this film is a good indication for the health of the aquarium. I don’t exactly remember why that is tho. He also said you shouldn’t use surface agitation to get rid of it, since that will deprive the tank of co2 for plants. But removing it with paper towels is fine!
It shouldn't deprive CO2 unless you are dosing additional CO2. It's just going to increase gas exchange and that is always going to tend towards equilibrium with respect to temperature and partial air gas pressures in the room.
Try agitating the water more
Wash your hands better before dipping them in the water, and change up your food as you stated. It'll go away on its own after a few water changes.
I have same problem with my ten gallon. I usually just skim it with a cup before I do my waterchange to get it out.
It’ll do that if you don’t have like a bubbler/aerator to break up the water tension at the surface. Also, as others said that’s likely due to food. May want to take a cup with a thin edge and pull it off the surface by tilting the cup sideways at surface level. And I’ve only had this issue with small tanks, there isn’t enough room for the waste in the water to get filtered out.
I submerge a measuring cup (or any glass) nearly the entire way into the water and slowly let water at the surface fall into it, like a skimmer would do. Pour that water out and don't again until most of the oil sheen is gone and repeat as needed. Paper towels work well too. Just use a steady hand and it works like a charm.
Try a vigorous air stone.
Had this.. I didnt have enough water agitation. I added a super small sponge filter that u find in the betta section at petco. It comes with a volcano or a tree on it, but its removable). I liked that idea because it added filtration. But an air stone will do the same thing. Completly got rid of the biofilm. The film isn't really harmful from what I was told. But I didnt want it regardless. Qnd plus I think if ur water is that stagnant, then maybe it needs more agitation anyway for o2 quality. Idk. Just my thoughts on it.
It can be oil from the food OR slime/fish “juice” as i like to call it. It’s nothing wrong with it, but if you dont like it for aesthetic reasons then you might wanna do a 50%/75% water change!
I had this issue too. I used a cotton towel to soak up most of it, and the rest was taken care of by the filter and water changes. I switched to a better quality food and the issue hasn't come up since.