Bubbles-Good or Bad?

At my LFS, in passing one of the helpers said that bubbles are bad for my tank. Is this true? I've got a reef tank and curious to know if bubbles are bad for the corals or something. I don't have a ton of bubbles but powerheads currents collide into one another and create some bubbles. Good or Bad?

 

Bubbles collecting on corals can cause damage.

 

also if you have alot of really small runs, i mean alot, the make your fish sick.

 

isnt it called over-oxidation or something like that? i think, along with everything else, too much of anything can be bad.

 

I am having the ULTIMATE BATTLE of microbubbles in my new system. I have a ton of them and it drives me absolutely insane!!! Without getting into much details...this entire install has been one big mess! Not one single thing has gone right!

But basically somebody has told me that depending on the amount and size of the bubbles it can cause problems with corals plus it can cause pop-eye and other disease in fish. I was told that even though I have a lot of bubbles mine are small and will not effect the health of my livestock

However, some people, including big aquariums I have been told will purposefully set timers to release bubbles into the tank to raise the oxygen levels in the tank.

I however do NOT want the bubble in the system, spent a lot of money on it and want the water to be clearer.

 

waves crashing in natural reefs will cause bubbles, however i believe its global warming thats causing such massive reef destruction.... not bubbles. Most microbubbles in tanks stay in the upper most area of the tank, and shouldn't be any harm to coral/fish.

I've heard several people talk about bubbles causing embolii in fish as they pass by their gills- I personally think this is a lie, as the gills absorb oxygen from the water passing over the gills via diffusion, and regardless of the water/air ratio, it will not cause any more "massive" amounts of oxygen (or air for that matter) to be absorbed. For an embolii to occur you need some open portal of entry, that is typically un natural (damage to a specific area, allowing air to enter via a pressure difference).

In terms of coral, ive seen microbubbles land on many of my coral and their polyps from time to time- with no negative consequence- the water flow will eventually brush them off. Like I said- I can only see it being a problem with sponges only do to their respiratory matrix and microbubbles possibly being caught in it.

 

I think it is more of a visual/personal issue.

As Phayes mentioned the ocean has bubbles in the reef systems because of the waves.

embolii would only happen if you had a deep tank (15ft or more) and the fish/coral were to ascend too fast, just like in scuba diving. With the size of home aquariums, this is not an issue.

 

What about bubbles rising from the substrate?

 

Sometimes when the water level gets low in my sump, the pump will shoot out tiny bubbles. If it's not corrected soon, the bubbles collect in the overflow tube and multiply until the overflow doesn't work! Ouch! I never like to see bubbles in my tanks. Kas

 

do your overflows not reprime themselves?