Film on water in sump

[scoop]

In the return section of my sump I have a lot of build up of film. When I take some out it appears to be like algae. In the tank I have enough flow on the top to keep any of this from building up, but what do I do about the sump? Should I just leave it? I've skimmed it off a couple of times in the last few days, but in a day it comes back. The return pump is an Eheim 1260 that is throttled back by a gate valve about 25%. The skimmer is in the same section as the flow that comes in from the tank, so there is plenty of water movement there. I have an Octopus NW-200 that I am emptying daily, and I haven't fed the fish or corals yet, they've only been in the tank for a week. The cycle appears to be done, no ammonia, nitirites, or nitrates (new Salifert test kits). The diatoms are gone and the hair algae is about gone. Will this go away or do i need to change something? (I don't really want to put a power head in that section of the sump because of the extra heat.) Thanks, Don

[scoop]

Oops, Here is the picture:

[Doug1]

Don, thats some nasty looking film, not sure what it is, have you considered a filter sock to trap it?

[Loverotties]

Hard to tell!Does look Nasty!Does it smell?Try skimming it off with a fine mesh net.

[jerseyguy1996]

I used to get that all the time. For me it was oils in the food that I was feeding them. Organics tend to float to the surface and your return pump is sucking from underneath so they never get cycled back into the water column. What I used to do is stir it all up with my hand to get the pump to cycle it back through the tank in the hopes that the skimmer would get it out on it's next round through the sump. I started feeding a lot less and now I don't get it at all.

[scoop]

I'll try stirring it up, I have taken some off. I wonderd if it was something related to the tank being new, only set up for 4 weeks. It doesn't really smell. I have thought about a sock, I still may try that.

[not_sponsored]

I just put a paper tower on the surface and that soaks up some of it then toss the towel.

[seasalt dreams]

brine nets remove that stuff in no time, then put a small ph on it. Thats what I did and it has not come back since.