won't a black background

[everl0ng]

show off microbubbles a lot more than a blue one?

[Tehrab]

Yes

[rodgod20]

well, you shouldn't have microbubbles. Need to find the problem and correct the microbubbles

[IMM3DOORSDOWN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9839948#post9839948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rodgod20
well, you shouldn't have microbubbles. Need to find the problem and correct the microbubbles

second that

also i have both on seperate tanks 1 blue and the other black.and my opinion the black background with the nice white ish sand
looks awesome

[cloak]

I like the microbubbles. Got my pump so close to the waters edge that every 5 or 6 seconds it's like a venturi was turned on.

No problems.

[Ronny#66]

I got micro bubles too coming out of power heads powerheads suck up nitrogen bubles coming out of sand.

[RobbyG]

Micro bubbles will destroy your corals. It's like putting them inside a skimmer, it removes the corals slime coat and eventualy kills them.

[NanoGurl]

Thats what I thought too about micro bubbles?

[drummereef]

Perhaps it might show off some bubbles, but the payoff of showing your fish and corals true colors is pricless. Where are the microbubbles coming from you think?

[everl0ng]

i am not sure? i think my last baffle before my return is letting them because they fall down over the top and i think that's why. i probably have small entrance in my return pvc as well. i am moving soon so everything will be redone. what do i use to seal the pvc connections? a silicone?

[drummereef]

If you are redoing the setup then I would do the the plumbing over and glue it with pvc cement. It's too cheap not to, imo.

[coyoteseven]

Originally posted by RobbyG
Micro bubbles will destroy your corals. It's like putting them inside a skimmer, it removes the corals slime coat and eventualy kills them.
Originally posted by NanoGurl
Thats what I thought too about micro bubbles?
Microbubbles are an aesthetic problem and will not harm your corals.

Ever been diving or seen a Discovery Channel show on reefs? The waters around a coral reef is full of micro and larger air bubbles caused by normal wave activity.

[RobbyG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9841952#post9841952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coyoteseven
Microbubbles are an aesthetic problem and will not harm your corals.

Ever been diving or seen a Discovery Channel show on reefs? The waters around a coral reef is full of micro and larger air bubbles caused by normal wave activity.

Nope that's not the same situation.
The corals found on the surge part of a reef are some what immune to the bubbles, but most of the corals in your tank are not found in those kinds of conditions. They will not survive a constant striping of their slime coat, also wave action on a reef is not constant. At night the surface waves on a reef are usually calm, in a tank the bubbles will be 24/7 and give the coral no chance to recoup.

[jasontg99]

Good info RobbieG. I wa not aware of that.

[nodea717]

Second that RobbyG... Sometimes microbubbles are present in a new tank from a skimmer not broken in yet, and you just wait and they go away. Most of the time they are from a poor plumbing joint. Occasionally your sump got too low and your pump is telling something. But you want to get rid of them no matter what, ALL THE TIME.

[cloak]

Show me a coral that has deterioted from microbubbles?

[Frick-n-Frags]

so where do these microbubbles come from? the skimmer?

(sorry, never had them except when draining the sump and the main return starts chopping air)

[everl0ng]

i can't find where, but i guess when i redo everything when i move i will do it all correctly the first time with the correct pvc sealant. i guess i just never realized that they make a cement strictly for that since i didn't see it in the same aisle as the pvc.

[Randall_James]

The biggest issue of microbubbles I have heard about comes from pressurized pumps with air leaks. They can supersaturate the water with oxygen and cause problems with the fish. They end up with a fish version of the bends...

I have never heard of a coral getting its "slime" removed and dying due to microbubbles. Where is this at, I would like to read up on it some. Thanks

[coyoteseven]

Originally posted by Randall_James
I have never heard of a coral getting its "slime" removed and dying due to microbubbles. Where is this at, I would like to read up on it some. Thanks
As would I.

Could links be provided to this research, possibly by noted scholars/persons in the field, such as Shimek, Calfo. Fenner, Borneman or the like?

TIA

[keenste]

I have never read anything about microbubbles being harmful...if thats the case someone should notify the Carnagie Science Center in Pittsburgh...they have several tanks setup that reproduce life on the reef complete with waves and microbubbles their corals are flourishing...I think its more of an aesthetic issue IMO

[alexb518]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9840517#post9840517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ronny#66
I got micro bubles too coming out of power heads powerheads suck up nitrogen bubles coming out of sand.


I would check your impellers. chances are that is what it's from.

[RobbyG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844168#post9844168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coyoteseven
As would I.

Could links be provided to this research, possibly by noted scholars/persons in the field, such as Shimek, Calfo. Fenner, Borneman or the like?

TIA

Don't know where to point you to that, like everything else on this forum your bound to find 10 people who say Yes and 10 who say No. My answer is based on personal observation. My first tank had a micro bubble problem and it killed all the coral within the bubble stream within a couple of months.

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844666#post9844666 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG
Don't know where to point you to that, like everything else on this forum your bound to find 10 people who say Yes and 10 who say No. My answer is based on personal observation. My first tank had a micro bubble problem and it killed all the coral within the bubble stream within a couple of months. begs the question, did you have the corals in "direct" waterflow. That HAS been shown to kill some corals off pretty rapidly.

I will continue to look at the "bubbles" as the cause in a rather skeptical light as I have not seen any peer reviewed article or such that would indicate the stripping of slime coat. Not saying it is good for them, just that I would like to see some empirical evidence is all.

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844777#post9844777 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randall_James
begs the question, did you have the corals in "direct" waterflow. That HAS been shown to kill some corals off pretty rapidly.

I will continue to look at the "bubbles" as the cause in a rather skeptical light as I have not seen any peer reviewed article or such that would indicate the stripping of slime coat. Not saying it is good for them, just that I would like to see some empirical evidence is all.

microbubles can not hurt anything there is a tank on RC that the guy usess surges and bubbles to help feed the corals and transport detritus off the bottom to the overflow

[papagimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844396#post9844396 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alexb518
I would check your impellers. chances are that is what it's from.

No way, impellers are encased in the pump. Air has to be coming from somewhere else. All the impellar will do is chop them up finer. But impellars will not "leak air into the plumbing".

[bues0022]

That's not totally true. Though very very unlikely for aquarium pumps, there is a phenomenon called cavitation which basically forms bubbles underwater. It happens when blades from a pump, prop or other spinning blade slices through the water faster than the water can replace behind it (high pressure differential causes voids, I won't bore you with the physics). Check this site out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation. Check half-way down the page at the pumps section - it's pretty cool stuff. All this is a moot point, however, because this is almost certainly not the case. Aquarium pump blades (I'd hope) are designed to not to enter into the cavitation region of performance. Anyway, just a little useless information for a monday afternoon. Cheers.

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844821#post9844821 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
microbubles can not hurt anything there is a tank on RC that the guy usess surges and bubbles to help feed the corals and transport detritus off the bottom to the overflow if you read closely you will see that I am suspecting the "DIRECT FLOW" of water on the coral, not the bubbles

[jdjeff58]

I'm being told that too much return pump can be an excellent source for microbubbles. Isn't a Mag7 a little much for a 37g?

[RobbyG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9844821#post9844821 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
microbubles can not hurt anything there is a tank on RC that the guy uses surges and bubbles to help feed the corals and transport detritus off the bottom to the overflow

GSM don't take this the wrong way but there is an example on RC for every situation :) With a few hundred thousand members you can find tanks that use Mud, volcanic rock, maybe even lemon peels. Some of these people are successful but most fail. I don't look at the oddball guys method unless it makes a whole lot of sense to me. I scuba dive a lot and what I try to do is mimic what I see on the reef in my tank. The most beautiful corals that I see tend to be in 5 to 15 ft of water with a medium current and very little wave action. I have never seen any kind of bubbles reaching these corals. Now on the shallower reefs were I do see wave action and bubbles I find mostly Caroline covered jagged rocks, with some smaller corals tucked in here and there.

[3n1]

According to this article ( by Eric B. ) in reefkeeping magazine:

Myth 14: Microbubbles are to be avoided.

Many aquarists go to some considerable lengths to baffle sumps and pump flows to prevent small bubbles from being returned into the display tank. It has been suggested that such bubbles represent an irritation to fish, corals and other invertebrates and that they should be avoided. To be honest, I am unsure from where the origin of this perception came. However, it is untrue. Even the name is inaccurate… the prefix "micro" would refer to bubbles too small to see.

A link to the page:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php

Who's a newbie to believe???????????

[RobbyG]

I have seen that article. Keep in mind, that is one mans opinion of the situation and not the gospel. I could also show you experts who say that Ro water is not needed, skimmers are a waste of time and sand is really bad for a Tank.

As I stated before I take my ideas from what I see when I go diving. I have never seen microbubbles coming in contact with any form of soft corals and only a very select group of hard corals. All the best reef I have seen live in areas that are not exposed to any air sources. Couple that with my own experience and that's enough for me.

If you want to have air bubbles hitting your corals then that is your choice, I am not here to force my opinion on anyone.