Are Bubbles in Display a Problem for fish, inverts, corals????

[duganderson]

I just got an Upflow Algae Scrubber for my nano cube 28 with two oc. clowns, 1 firefish, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 RBTA, softies, LPS (candy cane and frogspawn) and one SPS (pink birdsnest).

If you don't know what this is, it uses a bubbler to create 1 liter per minute of bubbles across a screen to grow algae with a light shining in from outside the glass. It is in my display making lots of bubbles. I've read that bubbles in the main can be a problem for some creatures in a tank. Which fish, inverts, corals, etc. (if any) respond negatively to bubbles??

One person wrote that bubbles are only a problem if the air is very cold like the air line goes right past your chiller.

Thanks in advance for your opinions??

 

[cloak]

I've never had any problems with an abundance of bubbles in the display tank. I actually went out of my way to promote this. Through constant fiddling, I was able to place the intake of a powerhead so close to the waters edge that once every 20-30 seconds or so it would inject a small burst of bubbles into the tank. Here's a picture to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm not sure if this is what your experiencing, but I don't think you'll have any issues with the bubbles. Salt creep maybe, but that's about it.

 

[brandon429]

Excellent pic. My system is ran only with air bubbles and no pumps, agreed its all choice. The earliest images I have in mind were of 80's tanks w bubbles so that always looked great to me. Areas on the reef fringe in high activity zones in natural settings have powerful coral invert and fish support with bubbles. If you can contain them, go to town.

 

[MellowReefer]

But microbubbles are bad right? Like the ones made by skimmers? Everyone is always talking about how to build a bubble trap in the sump so these don't make their way up to the tank.

 

[cloak]

But microbubbles are bad right? Like the ones made by skimmers?

Not in my experience. Most people consider them unsightly, as opposed to bad. You would be hard pressed to find a thread where somebody was having problems with their tanks inhabitants due to microbubbles IMO. Salt creep is another story.

 

[KafudaFish]

Unless you are raising fish from a larval stage what issues have you seen people report?

Sea horses maybe?

Most people have issue with salt creep and many don't like seeing bubbles in their displays.

There was a TOTM a while back and the reefer used bubbles to clean his corals.

 

[MellowReefer]

I have seen a lot of posts on forums about preventing microbubbles in the tank, but no one really said why but I didn't think it was just for asthetics. And my LFS owner told me it's bad for fish if bubbles stick to their scales. Not sure why, I will have to ask him next time I see him.

 

[mofro]

Definitelyno issues with bubbles. The only time I was reallyhappy with the flow in my tank was when i had a 5 gallon bucket on a Surge device dumping its contents into tank within a few seconds. It flattened polyps and fish went surfing, but never had any ill effects. Discussed the device with an LFS owner who tried to convince me the bubbles irritate gills of fish..... He then tried to sell me a tunze wavebox... LOL!
If you ever dive on a shallow reef, you won't see fish swimming out the way of bubbles... In fact, its related to wave action which often breaks off food for them...

 

[MellowReefer]

I guess they're not bad, it's just a myth, according to ReefKeeping magazine (many people seem to trust what they say)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php

 

[CHSUB]

i've seen a tank with a bad micro-bubble issue caused by a homemade skimmer, besides looking terrible; bubbles were sticking to corals causing areas of necrosis.....