My fish tank looks dirty...

[Fish Questions]

from all the tiny little air bubbles floating around my tank. Where are all these bubbles coming from——surface agitation? I'm running a H.O.T. Magnum Pro and the bubbles look like it's coming mostly from the Bio-Wheel and maybe a little from the outflow diffuser. How can I get rid of the bubbles or at least make it so that not so many come out. For the most part, the rest of my tank is pretty clear. It's the bubbles that make it look like there is dirty particles floating around my tank.

 

[TankGirl]

Is this a new tank? This is often seen in a new setup, and over time, as the filter and biowheel grow bacterial colonies, the bubbles will go away. Not a problem - just wait a week or two and they will no longer be a problem.

 

[poikilotherm]

Are the bubbles floating, or do they appear to be neutral buoyancy? If they are not floating, which I presume is the case, then they must be attached to aggregates of some sort (sand, bacteria, algae, organic matter), and that is what is keeping them from just springing to the surface.

I suspect you should look to the root cause, the particles. Perhaps a run with a diatom filter would clear the particles that your air bubbles are attaching to? Do you have sand as your substrate?

If they're floating and foamy, then you probably have a buildup of protein or some surfactant.