Micro bubbles

[reefgoddess808]

This may be a stupid question, but are the micro bubbles put out by a protein skimmer harmful to the fish? Im in the process of calibrateing and getting it running smoothly and there are tons of bubbles. Dont know if they affect the dissolved oxygen levels or anything like that. Ive been doing small water changes to help with the bio load issue and i removed the carbon filter and replaced it with a mesh bag of ceramic filter media. The skimmer is a HOB 3 chamber model with a UV filter also. Brand Aquatop PSE 1. Any help is appreciated!

 

[GroktheCube]

Microbubbles are generally harmless to fish, and raise DO levels. They can be harmful to certain other types of animals, such as sponges who have no means of clearing the air from important areas.

Why ceramic filter media instead of carbon?

 

[reefgoddess808]

The carbon is what caused the black water and in some of the literature about the skimmer it said that the filter getting clogged could cause bubbles, so i decided to make use of the space for some extra media. I added carbon to my regular filter instead. The guy at my LFS said that the carbion may have burnt or damaged their gills. I did another small water change but my puffer, clown and foxface are still in shock it seems. Really frustrated but nothing left to do now but wait it out and hope they all make it.

 

[reefgoddess808]

I realize I didn't fully explain...I bought some new live rock and put it in the tank the same day I started the skimmer. Within a few hours the water got darker and by the following morning i could barely see into the tank. Of course this was on Sunday so no store was open. I cut off the skimmer and the water cleared up some, but then my fish were on the bottom and appeared stressed. So today I took out the new rock and brought it back to the LFS, he put it in one of the tanks there for about 30 minutes and everything seemed fine so I brought it back home and its back in the tank now. Water is clearing up, still a ton of bubbles and still listless fish. I also added floss to both the skimmer and my regular filter.