powerhead question

i currently have 2 power heads in my 55 gallon tank and i really feel stupid asking this but i read something in another post that made me think and i'm probably just thinking way to much....I read something about microbubbles in another thread. Well my powerhead is blowing bubbles. How much bubbles should be in the water? Isn't it just supplying oxygen to the water? Someone please inform me of the right adjustment for a powerhead...do i want those bubbles or do i need to turn it down...and is there a difference between microbubbles and my bubbles from a powerhead?

 

Micro bubbles are just very very very small bubbles. The problem with bubbles in a tank is if they get stuck in the LR or on corals. Image a pocket of air building up under a rock that is getting somewhat big and a fish going to investigate what that "thing" is. To his surprise he takes in a nice gulp of air. Not very good... Same goes for the LR and corals... air isnt good for them. If you have a skimmer your water is getting enough oxygen. I personally try not to get any bubbles in the tank.

As for your powerheads shooting bubbles is it constant or every couple seconds, minutes, hours??? Most of the time its just a little air build up in the PH. Unplug it open it up and turn it around in the water so you get all the air out. Should be ok after that. I had an Aquaclear 400 that i replaced cause it kept shooting bubbles no matter what i did to it.:-/

Let us know how it goes.

Marc.

 

Aquaclear is famous for doing that. The pump cavitates too much, I believe it is a design flaw.
Like Marc said " Let us know how it goes "

Jim

 

By the look of the power head in your Avatar. you have the airline hose in your Maxi Jet. Most do not use it. I would suggest you remove the air intake hose and you will have a lot less bubbles

J

 

Good call J. Didnt notice that.

 

I'm having the same problem right now, too many micro bubbles from the return heads. Its a very constant flow of bubbles, some times there are larger bursts.

I don't see any in the return hose, it must be happeing from the two pivot returns.

You can see my megaflow with the image on this site.
http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/megaflow_demo.shtml

Any suggestions?

 

Could be bubble from you sump. or Lock line used for you r return can have air leak issues. You can try taping up your lock line to see if it goes away. Remove the tape lock by lock and watch when the air returns

J

 

A friend of mine had the same problem. He had an external pump on his sump and used regular teflon tape on the threaded input to the pump. It had a very small pinhole somewhere around the threads. He coated the threads all around with silicone sealer and no more bubbles. Just one more thing to consider.

Mike

 

Definitely want to get rid of the airline hose to your powerhead. Also, make sure the powerhead is low enough in the water as to not add to many bubbles into the water.
Also, I would add more powerheads to your tank to increase water surge(current)movement!!!!Depending on what you have in your tank, you will have to adjust the powerheads to suit the needs of your corals if you have them. Corals differ in the amount of water movement they require to survive and be happy.