bubbles stuck to rock work

[tlpmyd]

ive noticed i have a decent amount of tiny bubbles accumulating to my rock work, i have 4 koralia #4's in a 120 half circle tank, i know this tank is hard to circulate the water around cause of its shape, but ive had the tank couple years now, and i just started noticing the bubbles, anyone with ideas? thanks

 

[t4zalews]

I have um too...they really hold on tight..I run a mp40w about 90% on lagoon mode and a K4 in my 65g and I still get them. But I think mine are coming from my sand because some reason I have a small dino problem and I think they release them. Do you have any diatoms on your sandbed? My tank has been running for ~3 years

 

[tlpmyd]

no i dont believe i have a diatom prob.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The bubbles are likely O2 trapped on the surface of some sort of algae.

 

[SS21CA]

I've vote daitoms. Do you have an RO filter for when you mix or add water?

 

[tlpmyd]

yes i have an RODI, it can be diatoms, but i dont know what to look for, my sand is clean, but what randy said is right, the bubbles are stuck to an algae, i have a phosban reactor hooked up and i use PURA COMPLETE in it, not sure if that does any good, i also have an AU uv sterilizer, i do get brown algae on my glass that i need to wipe off daily with a magnet, and the algae on the rock is sort of brownish, not thick at all almost just like a thin covering i do monthly water changes at about 35%.

 

[bertoni]

The Pura Complete seems to be a combination of GFO, carbon, and zeolites. The carbon and GFO are fine, but you might need more of it. Less feeding might help as well. The UV won't do anything for the microbial film. What kind of skimmer does the system have?

 

[tlpmyd]

the skimmer is a coral life superskimmer, bought it when i didnt do much research i recently replaced the stock pump with a mag needle wheel and definitly see a difference in the skim in a good way

 

[7hogwarts]

You may also want to consider doing smaller water changes more frequently. If I recall correctly Randy does 1-2 gallons each day.

 

[tlpmyd]

yes i keep saying to myself i need to start doing that but you know how it goes lol, the reason i got the corallife superskimmer was because i have a very small space in my small sump that i wish i could make bigger but i cannot, i wish i could find a skimmer the same size as the coralife or smaller that workers better. i have to say though after adding the mag needle wheel pump and taking off the stock pump the skimmer works alot better

 

[tlpmyd]

well i still cant get rid of these tiny air bubbles stuck to the algae, im running BRS carbon and GFO, did a few water changes , all my sps,lps,softies and fish are doing fine im just worried that the algae will start to overrun the tank and have tiny bubbles all over the place, i have snails, but my hermit crabs might have all gone, if i restock with hermits would it help

 

[elmatth1]

Sounds like dinoflagellets (sp) to me. I've been fighting this for over a month now, lost a few sps during that time too! Trying to keep the PH high for the past week, seems to be working for now. Do a search and see if that's what you've got. If it is, Randy did a whole write up about how to get rid of it, see if you can search for that. When I get home I'll see if I can find the link for you.

 

[tlpmyd]

possibly im not sure all i know is i grab the power head and have to blow off the air bubbles off the rock, but i never had that before thanks for your input this didnt start happening until i replaced my mh's bulb, but same wattage and same k rating, just different manufactur

 

[bertoni]

Replacing the bulbs probably added more light to the system, so there's more photosynthesis. I suspect you're seeing cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates. We'd need a look through a microscope to be sure, though.

 

[tlpmyd]

Cyano is red right? This is more of a light brown film with the bubbles stuck to it

 

[elmatth1]

I hope for your sake you don't have dinos cause they are a pain to get rid of. I'd rather have just about any kind of algae over dinos! Anyway, check this link out, it might help: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

 

[bertoni]

Cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates come in many colors. Red is somewhat common for cyanobacteria, but brown is possible, too.

 

[terri_ann]

I have (brown) diatoms. I have small bubbles by the ton on the rock before they appear! Shortly thereafter, they are also on my sand.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Golden Brown Diatoms:

Diatom blooms are usually a result of higher silicate levels in your tank. Perhaps you are using tap water?

 

[terri_ann]

I use RO/DI.....have had diatoms since tank was set up Cliff ;-( Planning on tank teardown in near future so hopefully will not have diatom problem with next go-around ;-)