Micro Bubbles

[the grim reefer]

Can anyone help me with suggestions as to how I can get rid of these micro bubbles...ugh....I have read that they will kill my inverts so now I am completely stressed...

Any Help would be appreciated....

 

[Tomd]

Micro bubbles can irritate fish and lead to "embolisms" at an extreme and can harm corals, however short term I would not be to panicked here.

Where are they coming from?

 

[melosu58]

I ask the same question. We need to know where they are coming from.

 

[the grim reefer]

This most likely sounds really stupid but to be totally honest I am not sure...I thought that is was from the diffuser on my skimmer but I dont think that is the culprit...I have been adjusting it this afternoon and have it on a more of a drier skim that before and does not seem to make any difference....it seems like the PH might be causing it but that does not seem totally logical..how do you guys have your PH's pointing..I had mine pointing up to the surface and the other one is pointing to the back of the tank. I moved the one that was pointing upwards to point more straight across and its made a bit of a difference I think. I dont have a terrible amount of them but I am not quite sure what amount I should be concerned with..does not look like looking through a glass of champagne or anything.....so maybe then Tomd I am overly concerned then? I just finished the tank's cycle and I was excited about putting things in until this happened....I just put snails in so far...

Sorry to sound so stupid-but in actuality not far from it when it comes to this new game I am playing Thanks again

 

[Tomd]

1. Sometimes skimmers have a "break in" period in which they do sometimes produce micro bubbles. If so, nothing to worry about it will go away.

What kind of skimmer?

2. If it is the powerhead just pointed towards the surface to much just point it a little more downwards but I think you would be able to tell if it was.

What kinds of powerheads?

 

[the grim reefer]

Its a Coral life super skimmer and the maxi jet 900 (2) that I am using...the skimmer is a HOB type....it works slick and the PH seem to be working good too....the tank has been running with the skimmer for about 4 weeks now....

 

[Tomd]

The needle wheel pump on the CSS skimmer creates micro bubbles per its design. You sure you have everything connected right?

Also, I think it comes with a bubble trap, are you using it?

 

[the grim reefer]

Hi Tomd

I have the skimmer connected exactly how its suppose to be...I have the bubble trap on also..I added the 2nd PH yesterday and that is when I started noticing it..my LR even has bubbles on it now...the bubbles look almost like particles of dust blowing around in there....the big bubbles are all underneath the bubble trap and I think that the PH are disipating them into the tiny bubbles...are SW tanks suppose to be totally bubble free or do they all have small amounts of them? I cant believe how bubbles have me in a panic... :?

I appreciate you taking the time to try and help me figure this out...

 

[Tomd]

If you think it is the powerheads, try and play with their position more, although to be honest it is hard for me to imagine powerheads creating this. Also, I have heard of skimmers having up to 6 weeks of "break" in time. Some take longer than others.

Also, their is a round switch on the CSS. Try adjusting the water level, may be set high.

Usually we have no bubbles. Larger bubbles are not as irritating to the fish but we still want to get rid of them

And no problem at all!

 

[the grim reefer]

Thanks again for the help...I will mess around with it some more and hopefully get this resolved because I dont want to put anything into the tank with these bubbles in there...and whoever said that SW was not hard

 

[roka64]

You don't have the air intake tubes on the phs, do you? My ph will spout out bubbles, for a few seconds, if I turn them off and then back on.

 

[Tomd]

You will be fine sometimes skimmers take some fine tuning but once you get them to work you will get the hang of it.

 

[the grim reefer]

Hey Roka no I dont have them on...the little airtube intake thing for adj the air flow is plugged. I unplugged the skimmer this am before I left for work and I am going to try a few other things when I get home...

How often does it happen that the critters and fish ingest bubbles? Is it something that has a slim chance or is it something likely to happen? YOu know I just need another thing to worry about

 

[Tomd]

Really dont worry as long as you can try to nip it soon.

 

[roka64]

Hey Roka no I dont have them on

The reason I asked, was we had a post like this, but not micro bubbles, just bubbles. We were troubleshooting for a few days, turns out the intake tubing was plugged into the phs. One person thought to ask that question and the problems was solved.

 

[Tomd]

Maxi Jets are generally good cheap powerheads that do not have any issues.

Don't take this wrong, but are you sure you are not blowing anything around in the tank with the Ph's?

Did you play with the level adjustment of the skimmer?

 

[the grim reefer]

Hey Tomd and Roka...did not take it wrong at all as I checked that out for sure because that is what I thought too...I will see what it looks like when I get home as the skimmer has been off all say and if there is no bubbles I know its the culprit....its so good to have different feedback from all different sources as its great to trouble shoot...I have been researching on the net today and found some forums with those skimmers that suggested some different things..I have played with the level also but I think its going to be a trial and error thing....they are pretty highly rated so that is good..I think its just one of those little hurdles I have to figure out..if not they will drive me to drink but hey I have AA right?

 

[Tomd]

I hear that one! For a relatively cheap costing skimmer, I am a big fan.