Other than cosmetics, why are microbubbles bad?

[CIMulation]

Why is it bad and can it contribute to algae growth?

[Blown 346]

The reason it is bad is becasue it can stress out not only the fish but corals as well. Air bubbles can and do get trapped under coral or on it and can cause tha part of it to die. I guess it can cause a little algae growth if it is blocking waterflow, but on a realistic note I have never seen nor heard od it causing algae growth.

[bertoni]

I suppose if there are enough bubbles, they might do some harm, but in general they're just an annoyance. I've had skimmers throw bubbles for hours without generating any problems at all.

[Javeo]

Can cause gas supersaturation, which can be deadly to fish. Also as stated above they can cause damage to corals as well.

[Mish]

When you say micro bubbles, do you mean the bubbles that are comming from my power heads? I have three maxi jets with the ?venturi things?

Should I not have the bubbles?

[King-Kong]

They arent bad.

Any reasonable amount of bubbles in the current is natural. Go watch a reef w/ surf roaring above.

I believe this topic has been covered in reefkeeping magazine, as well.

[Blown 346]

Too many bubbles can be bad, hence too much oxygen. That can kill your fish. I highly doubt you are causing that problem but it can and has happened before. Like stated they arent bad but with marine aquariums water movement is waht provides the tank its oxygen. Plus those bubbles will cause one hell of a problem with salt creep.

[Dubbin1]

Originally posted by Mish
When you say micro bubbles, do you mean the bubbles that are comming from my power heads? I have three maxi jets with the ?venturi things?

Should I not have the bubbles?

Mish take the "venturi things" off of the powerheads as they are not needed.

[Attreui]

Originally posted by Blown 346
Plus those bubbles will cause one hell of a problem with salt creep.

That's for sure!

[bertoni]

So how can gas supersaturation kill a fish? I thought parts of reefs were often supersaturated with oxygen. Plus, as mentioned, reefs have bubbles.

[Ochi]

I'd guess if dissolved oxygen% got too high it'd be toxic for fish like it is for us, but I'm just speculating.

[Javeo]

Oxygen isnt good at dissolving into water, skimmers and venturi powerheads force O2 to dissolve beacuse of the high pressures. When the O2 enters a low pressure environment it returns to is gaseous state, mostly this will be the aquarium water, but if fish breathe in the supersaturated water, this can happen in their blood vessels, hence causing a blockage, gas bubble disease.
Its not really comparable to the ocean, like many other parameters in out aquariums, supersaturation is not likley to occur in an ocena at any great level simply due to the surface area of the ocean v the amount of water n the ocean

[bertoni]

Do you have a reference for this issue? I am skeptical.

[InvertLover]

Mything the Point, Part Three: Conclusion

number 14

[bertoni]

For oxygen supersaturation in reef waters:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/eb/index.php

[chrisbenavides]

Hey my Remora spills bubbles into my tank. Why? How do I stop that (if this truly is bad)?

[Mud Shrimp Moe]

Originally posted by King-Kong
They arent bad.

Any reasonable amount of bubbles in the current is natural. Go watch a reef w/ surf roaring above.

I believe this topic has been covered in reefkeeping magazine, as well.

I was about to say the same. I've seen pics of natural coral beds getting tons of microbubbles. Plus, some corals and anemones are in VERY shallow water with wave action. Granted, they also get more flow in those cases, so maybe the extra water flow makes up for the constant micro bubbles.