Bubble Bar or Bubble Stone?

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Skeeter4158098

Aquarium Advice Activist
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May 27, 2012
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Idaho
I want to fill my dead space in my 55 gallon fw tank with a wall of bubbles is there a difference between a bubble bar and bubble stone bars?
 

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And will affect my inlet or my heater being right under them? I have a Aqueon pro 150 heater and a fluval 306.
 
Thanks. When i put them in I let them sit for a good hour before I started them. Still have a empty spot on the right side one. Hoping it will go soon. I went and got some suction cups to hold the hose in place.. forgot to get some when I got every thing else lol. Also thinking of getting some long fake plants to go in front of the hoses to hide them from view. I have no background on it. I can't bring my self to find a plastic one that fits in with it. Looking at finding a poster or a picture online and then have it blown up to fit.
 
Skeeter,

Are there any fish in that tank? How long are the bars? Are they connected in the tank? What are you powering them by?

I struggled with this for a long time too, although I didn't want a single stone in my 60 gallon -- I knew I wanted the back wall of the tank to be filled with bubbles, so I went from two Top Fin wands to a Marineland "flexible bubble wand" and now I have two Petco branded bubble bars that do the job 100 times better than those other wands, believe it or not. I would recommend Petco's bubble bars to anyone; they have lasted, even with diatoms clogging their pores (I since cleaned those out), and they really put out a powerful stream of bubbles (I mean powerful) when connected to the right pump. One of my bars is being powered in a "bridged" setup (both outputs of the dual output pump are running together for a bigger forced output) by a Rena Air 400 (awesome powerful pump) and the other is being powered (also "bridged" for maximum output from the dual outputs) by a Tetra Whisper 60, which I don't recommend (I went through a bunch of these Tetras already with no lasting success).

I love bubble bars and wands, but the only downsides are that they render the water looking not-so-clear (even with 300ml of Seachem Purigen in my filters polishing the water) and give the tank that alka-seltzer look if there's too much aeration (which I have) and also, they seem to create more lime deposits on the filters and the back of the tank due to their snapping and breaking when hitting the surface. It's also a heck of a lot nosier with the bubbles than without.
 
I have 5 serpae tetra 's and 5 high fin black skirt tetra's. I have two 14" petco bubble bars. I have the four port petco air pump running two out puts into one for one side and the same for the other. With each bar with there own line. The PETCO brand pump I got it because it has a control on it to turn it up and down. I have been waiting to see if one of the bars will fill in the whole length and it hasn't yet even took a toothbrush as advised from a PETCO employe. So if it doesn't fill in all the way going to take it back and get another one. And as far as the bubble's or the pump being loud its not to bad really. And if it then I just turn down the pressure on the pump. And as far as making the water dirtier haven't really noticed. I'm running a fluval 306.
 
I have 5 serpae tetra 's and 5 high fin black skirt tetra's. I have two 14" petco bubble bars. I have the four port petco air pump running two out puts into one for one side and the same for the other. With each bar with there own line. The PETCO brand pump I got it because it has a control on it to turn it up and down. I have been waiting to see if one of the bars will fill in the whole length and it hasn't yet even took a toothbrush as advised from a PETCO employe. So if it doesn't fill in all the way going to take it back and get another one. And as far as the bubble's or the pump being loud its not to bad really. And if it then I just turn down the pressure on the pump. And as far as making the water dirtier haven't really noticed. I'm running a fluval 306.

I have the two Petco bubble bars too -- I believe they're two 18" though; can't recall. At any rate, they almost fill the back of my 60 gallon, which is around 48" long. To be honest, I have gone through many brands of these so-called bubble wands and stones, and I have had the most success with the Petco bars. No kidding. They haven't crapped out on me yet. You mentioned you have a Petco brand air pump too -- I actually had a Top Fin brand pump at one point (Petsmart's house brand), their top of the line one, but man was that thing NOISY and it didn't put out much power. I switched to a Rena Air 400, which is seriously the best pump commercially available in my experience, and supplement it with a Tetra Whisper 60, which isn't that great, but together, they individually feed the two bubble bars. The Rena is clearly the more powerful and superior product, as the bar fed by the Tetra doesn't spit out bubbles from all its pores while the one fed by the Rena comes out full force, like powerful, rocketing bubble curtains.

It seems, though, with all the aeration in my tank from these two bars (not covered by the gravel substrate), it has lead to more calcium and lime deposits on the edges of the back of the tank and on the filter plastics -- plus, it seems to make the water look a bit "club soda" like, what with all the bubbles popping and fizzing everywhere. Interesting that you can't seem to tell if the bubbles are affecting your water's clarity.

As a side note, your fish must be really small -- I don't see them anywhere in the photo!
 
Hi, one thing you should do with bubble bars, is soak them for at least 24 hours. I purchased an 8" bubble bar from wal-mart. Soaked it for a day and never had any problems with bare spots .
 
Tank Decor

Hello S...

Bubble wands and airstones create a nice effect in the tank, but do little for health of the tank. You want to create a comfortable home for your fish first. I'd suggest adding more real plants to the tank. Aquatic plants do so much to make the fish feel comfortable and secure. Real plants also help keep the tank water cleaner.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B
 
Hello S...

Bubble wands and airstones create a nice effect in the tank, but do little for health of the tank. You want to create a comfortable home for your fish first. I'd suggest adding more real plants to the tank. Aquatic plants do so much to make the fish feel comfortable and secure. Real plants also help keep the tank water cleaner.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

Isn't it also true that they (bubblers of any kind) aid in gas exchange at the surface?
 
Hi, one thing you should do with bubble bars, is soak them for at least 24 hours. I purchased an 8" bubble bar from wal-mart. Soaked it for a day and never had any problems with bare spots .

That's true, tech -- and Petco specifically advises to soak their bars for at least 24 hours on the packaging. However, I did that, and still one of mine doesn't seem to spit out as many bubbles as the other, leading me to believe it definitely has something to do with the difference in air pumps (the Rena vs. the Tetra)...
 
ArtesiaWells said:
Isn't it also true that they (bubblers of any kind) aid in gas exchange at the surface?

They agitate the surface aiding in the gas exchange. +1
 
As far as one bubble bar not bubbling as much as the other one I think I just don't have enough air pressure. The pump I have is the big four port PETCO air pump. If I take one off and blow through it the whole bar bubbles. Think I will take the air pump back and either get two smaller ones. One for each side or get another big one so I have one for each side.
 
Airstones & Bubble Wands

Isn't it also true that they (bubblers of any kind) aid in gas exchange at the surface?

Hello Art...

Airstones don't do much to get oxygen into the tank and remove carbon dioxide. The bubbles are too small and rise and escape so quickly. Provided you have the recommended level of power driven filtration equipment running in the tank, then you have everything you need for proper gas exchange.

A filter with a gph (gallon per hour) rating six times the volume of your tank is sufficient. So, if you have a 55 gallon tank, your filtration should have a gph rating of 330 or better. A single, large power filter or two, smaller ones placed at opposite ends of the tank will work as well.

B
 
Hello Art...

Airstones don't do much to get oxygen into the tank and remove carbon dioxide. The bubbles are too small and rise and escape so quickly. Provided you have the recommended level of power driven filtration equipment running in the tank, then you have everything you need for proper gas exchange.

Well, I'm not saying all that is required for healthy gas exchange are bubblers/bars/stones...I'm just saying they aid in the procedure, and can't really "hurt" to have in a tank (confirmed by the member I replied to just before this post).

A filter with a gph (gallon per hour) rating six times the volume of your tank is sufficient. So, if you have a 55 gallon tank, your filtration should have a gph rating of 330 or better. A single, large power filter or two, smaller ones placed at opposite ends of the tank will work as well.

B

On my 60 gallon goldfish tank, I'm running on one side an Aqueon QuietFlow 55 (good for 300-plus gallons per hour) and on the other an AquaClear 110 (good for 500 something GPH) and combined, they turn over some 800 something GPH if my math is right...is this sufficient for a 60 gallon decently stocked (four fish) goldfish tank?
 
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