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Are micro bubbles dangerous to marine life? (1 Viewer)

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Tangs

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I picked up a new hang on the back filter that also has a protein skimmer. Seems to me that red ..1 white stripe clown fish get bubble eye from this... from my years of experience. Then they die. I have reduced the amount of micro bubbles to as less as I can because they are also getting into my aquarium. While still having enough micro bubbles for the protein skimmer. I have had protein skimmers before and never seem to get much protein even at max bubbles.
 

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I picked up a new hang on the back filter that also has a protein skimmer. Seems to me that red ..1 white stripe clown fish get bubble eye from this... from my years of experience. Then they die. I have reduced the amount of micro bubbles to as less as I can because they are also getting into my aquarium. While still having enough micro bubbles for the protein skimmer. I have had protein skimmers before and never seem to get much protein even at max bubbles.
It shouldn't bother them. A few years back, some idiot invented a filtration unit called a SCAM (I wish I was making this up, but that was the actual name of the product) where you would pump a bunch of microbubble into your entire tank effectively turning your entire system into a skimmer. It was obviously a scam of a product, but it didn't harm anything.
 
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Tangs

Tangs

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On the internet the verdict seems to be split. I do have a Tomato Clown fish and do not want to loose him or others so I am proceeding with caution. I do want to improve my water quality with the skimmer. I put a lot of sponges in the filter to cut back on the micro bubbles entering the aquarium.
 

ITreefer

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On the internet the verdict seems to be split. I do have a Tomato Clown fish and do not want to loose him or others so I am proceeding with caution. I do want to improve my water quality with the skimmer. I put a lot of sponges in the filter to cut back on the micro bubbles entering the aquarium.
The skimmer might just be "breaking in". Some produce tons of bubbles for a day or two, then stop.
Mine did the same thing for about a day, then pretty much zero micro bubbles. Fish didn't seem bothered.
 

Cody

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On the internet the verdict seems to be split. I do have a Tomato Clown fish and do not want to loose him or others so I am proceeding with caution. I do want to improve my water quality with the skimmer. I put a lot of sponges in the filter to cut back on the micro bubbles entering the aquarium.
You'll want to make sure to clean those sponges regularly. They will build up gunk and cause back pressure on the return, causing the skimmer performance to fluctuate, or like in the case of @steveb , you could potentially backwash water on to your floors. My recommendation would be to let it settle in, like @ITreefer said. Especially with a HOB external, the return to the tank will develop algae and film. They will do a decent job fishing in some of the extremely small microbubbles, in addition to the chamber itself. In the meantime, I wouldn't worry about the bubbles effecting your fish health. As far as your research online, especially if you're going to a large forum, it doesn't matter what you're trying to find out. Given enough people, there will be people arguing both sides of the point, whether right or wrong. I just know that I've personally never met someone that ever had an issue with microbubbles effecting the health of their fish. Humans are very good at finding patterns, even when there isn't one.
 
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Tangs

Tangs

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Ya thanks for the help guys. I think I will see if the micro bubbles stop after the break in period and go from there. It is safe to turn on at night regardless cus my fish hide at night in the live rock.
 

RedSeaRoss

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Ya thanks for the help guys. I think I will see if the micro bubbles stop after the break in period and go from there. It is safe to turn on at night regardless cus my fish hide at night in the live rock.

Ive ran micro bubbles for 7 days while bubble scrubbing my aquarium using the elegance corals dino method. No issues at all. Corals, fish, clams, etc.
 

Cody

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Ive ran micro bubbles for 7 days while bubble scrubbing my aquarium using the elegance corals dino method. No issues at all. Corals, fish, clams, etc.
That's the method I was referencing. On a side note, I've never met a person from Orange that's a reefer. I head that way fairly often for work. Let me know if you ever need me to bring something to your side of town from Houston.
 
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RedSeaRoss

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Thanks! I sure appreciate the offer there! I would definitely pay anyone for saving me that 2 hour drive lol add me on Facebook if you can Ross Sellers
 

sneezebeetle

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I first heard of micro bubbles a few years ago and the benefits of it. Now I do it every other week for abt an hr and have never seen any adverse affects on fish or corals.

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RedSeaRoss

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I have only seen benefits myself. I use outside air to scrub and it makes the SPS polyp extension crazy.
 
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