With Surface Agitation, comes film

Ok so i was trying to aim my flare nozzle from my return at the surface a bit to create some agitation, which i know helps with PH. But the way my tank is set up, the agitation keeps the surface film from skimming into my overflow. Its kinda weird. I either have to go with less surface agitation or surface agitation with surface film. So i have been alternating days of agitation and surface skimming. Which one is the most beneficial? And should i keep on with one, and not the other?

 

do you have other ways for the water to be aerated? sump?

 

Can you change the position of either the skimmer collection over flow or the wavemaker

the surface movement if its not uniform, will be pushing the film to one area
if you can set it up, so its pushing it to the skimmer collection overflow

you get the best of both worlds

Steve

 

Yes. I have a sump, skimmer and bean animal (calfo style overflow) coast to coast on one side of my tank.

 

Cant move the overflow. Maybe move the Vortech but

 

Any current is going to push film around. Surface agitation is quite overrated IMO. You woun't notice one bit of difference in PH from it. It actually has very little impact on gas exchange.

I pointed my returns down the back of the tank to provide clean water through my rock work. not everyone cares to do that, but you do not need to point them at the surface.

 

Well, if you have a protein skimmer in your systems. you're already getting plenty of "surface agitation" . And the overflow box itself provides plenty of it. Its not really necessary to have a flare nozzle pointing towards the top.