Freshwater Aquarium water care

Question
Hi

 I have small fresh water aquarium.  I have a very small algae eater and a small Puffer fish in the tank.  New filter is in place and the water stays right around 78 to 80 degrees.  I feed one algae disk as needed and about 3 -4  dried shrimp per day for the puffer.  There is a small live plant in the aquarium also.  The problem is that there is a whiteish film on the top of the water.  I did a 50% water change a couple of days ago and thought that would fix the problem.  The film is back. Please help.  Do not know what I am doing wrong.  Is it the shrimp or does the puffer have a disease?  Can not figure it out.  Have another freshwater aquarium with a catfish and a snail in it.  The water is crystal clear in that one.  Please help.

Thank you

Amy

Answer
Hi Amy
Did your rinse everything off good before starting up the tank?  Including the filter and all the stuff that goes in the filter?  Are you using a dechlorinator for the water?  If so, what kind?  Some kinds can cause a film layer as well.  It also could be from the shrimp I suppose.  How high is the water level in the tank-is it right up to the filter output?  If so, try dropping the water level so it agitates the water more.

One thing also, do you know what kind of puffer you have?  A lot of the puffers that are sold, require a brackish water tank, even though they're sold as a fresh water fish.  And, puffers generally aren't very good community fish.  It might be a good idea to move the algae eater to anohter tank.  

Hope that helps!

Christy