Any advantage of aerating a DT?

[-Pixie-]

Ive just played around with my setup a bit, and noticed my fail safe overflow and return is now pumping in some nice sized air bubbles.

It looks quite nice and natural

Just worried it could be bad, but if it isnt they are staying =P

[-Pixie-]

Also i have been told aerating may help my diatom issue?

[lmsmith]

The salt spray will annoy you in a few weeks. When the bubbles rise to the top and pop, they splash salt everywhere.

[PRDubois]

It can help if you have low PH

[terri_ann]

oops!

[terri_ann]

A myth is that bubbles in the aquarium can harmnfish. Many people do not like bubbles in their DT because of the distraction away from the aquaria.

If your pH is low due to high CO2 levels, the bubbles "might" raise the pH but my guess would be only negligible. One cause for low pH can be high CO2 in the home, especially found in the winter months.

If you like the bubbles Pixie, ENJOY

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by -Pixie-

Ive just played around with my setup a bit, and noticed my fail safe overflow and return is now pumping in some nice sized air bubbles.

It looks quite nice and natural

Just worried it could be bad, but if it isnt they are staying =P

By "fail safe" do you mean bean's design?

Jim

[-Pixie-]

I mean my own design, i wont go into specifics lol.

[-Pixie-]

Awesome answers, i do have a slight ph problem ATM somaybe this will help, not enough to be a distraction but enough to look quite cool.

If any one else has opinions on the theory of air bubbles hurting the fish i would love to hear.

thanks again -PIxIE-

[-Pixie-]

By fail safe i mean i cant flood or drain my tank, due to power outages, or increased/decreased flow. Just incase my Fail safe means something different to yours.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Can you list the rest of the equipment you have on the tank? It's likely you're getting "enough" aeration from other sources - skimmers, for instance, aerate the water pretty thoroughly.

If you've got a pH problem, you need to troubleshoot the root cause of the pH problem, rather than blindly applying fixes.

[John Zillmer]

Originally Posted by terri_ann

A myth is that bubbles in the aquarium can harmnfish.

Well, this is not a myth depending how the bubbles are being formed. If the bubbles are, say, coming out of an airstone in the DT, then no they won't harm the fish.

But bubbles can be caused by air being supersaturated into the water because there is a place in the filtration system (water pump or return line immediately downstream of the pump) where there is a combination of high pressure and air. Sometimes this happens when pump impellers cavitate, and I've seen it happen on commercial systems where there is a small leak in the fittings just after the pump. In these sorts of cases, the actual bubbles that you see are caused by air rapidly coming out of solution once the water pressure returns to normal (that is, once the water is back in the DT) (edit: or even once the water is in a lower pressure spot in the return line). If this supersaturated water remains supersaturated until it enters the body of a fish (through gills), then the bubbles are released inside the tissue of the fish. This is bad, and IME not a myth.

Beyond this, any kind of air bubbles can be detrimental to sessile inverts if those bubbles 'pool' under the animal. Sponges that live under LR, and coral s that are shaped such that air can get trapped under their tissues can die from the lengthy exposure to air.

[Frick-n-Frags]

salt creep will creep up on you if you run a bubbler.

[Toddrtrex]

Originally Posted by -Pixie-

Awesome answers, i do have a slight ph problem ATM somaybe this will help, not enough to be a distraction but enough to look quite cool.

If any one else has opinions on the theory of air bubbles hurting the fish i would love to hear.

thanks again -PIxIE-

Thing is if you are just aerating with the house air you really aren't going to raise up the pH much, if at all. If you are having a low pH issue due to excess CO2 in the house you would need to draw the air in from the outside to have any real effect on the pH.

[John Zillmer]

Originally Posted by Toddrtrex

Thing is if you are just aerating with the house air you really aren't going to raise up the pH much, if at all. If you are having a low pH issue due to excess CO2 in the house you would need to draw the air in from the outside to have any real effect on the pH.

Unless the problem is not that the house is sealed up too tight, but that the tank is. This fall, I put glass tops on my DT and my 'fuge and sealed up the stand (where the 'fuge/sump is) to hold heat in better. Well, pH dropped from 8.3 to under 8. I now run the venturi intake on the skimmer to just outside the stand (but still in the house). pH was back up in two days.

[frewd]

enjoy the bubbles, they can eventually get annoying though. saltcreep mainly. my oldhob skimmer use to pump in some bubbles and my shrimp loved playing in them