Bubble bar not bubbling?

[ZombiesAteMyDog]

Ok, I have a question, I just set up my new aquarium, everything is working great expect for my bubble bar.

I have a 29 gallon Aquarium that I bought from walmart, I also bought a 10 - 30 gallon whisper air pump, I have 2 things hooked up to the air pump at the moment using a T connector, at the Branch of the T I have it hooked up to a 4 - 6 Inch bubble bar that does not make bubbles, if I pick up the bubble bar up and hold it near the top of the aquarium I get very slight bubbles, once it is on the bottom it does nothing, then going straight from the T connector I have one of those treasure chests that open and close and release bubbles, it works perfectly, and what vexes me is that the treasure chest of the 2 is furthest from the air pump and comes 2nd, but works great.

any ideas? do I just need a bigger air pump? any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

The pump may not be strong enough or you have water in the line. Pull it all out of tje water and make sure there is no water. Put it back together then turn it back on before putting it back in. Then stick into the tank.

Hopefully its just water in the line and by having in on before putting it in it will keep the water out. Otherwise try it without the t. And see iff it works. If it does you need to buy a bigger pump.

 

[foster53]

The air will take the path of least resistance. The treasure chest probably don't require as much pressure to operate. try hooking the airline to the bubble wand only, and see if it works. If so then you might need to get a gang valve so you can adjust each item separately. As Andrew said you might need to get a larger pump. The resistance increases the deeper the bubble wand is.

 

[Ian086]

The air will take the path of least resistance. The treasure chest probably don't require as much pressure to operate. try hooking the airline to the bubble wand only, and see if it works. If so then you might need to get a gang valve so you can adjust each item separately. As Andrew said you might need to get a larger pump. The resistance increases the deeper the bubble wand is.

+1 on the Andrews and fosters posts. Make sure you have a check valve on both airlines. A gang valve will probably solve your problem as you can control the amount of air going to each... As foster said, the chest would have a lot less resistance, so the air will choose that over the wand....
PS... Get one of the metal gang valves(Ebay or Amazon), they are more sturdy than the plastic ones!!!

 

[jcahow]

Pumps are rated based on the depth of the water of your tank as previously mentioned. The deeper you go and the longer your air lines the more power you need. I also agree that the multiple attachment metal gang valves are best but you can get single inline plastic ones as well. The harder your pump has to work the faster the parts inside will wear out. Your pump will last longer if you get one larger one than needed and then get a gang valve to control the attached devices that also has a vent on the end to release any extra pressure so that it does not work any harder than it has too. You should only need one check valve at where the tubing attaches to the pump (assuming the pump location is lower than the tank).