air?

[Kabe]

I have to maxijet 1200's in my tank for now and my father brought up a good point. air? I have the clear stoper in the hole that you can put the long tube in. I was thinking that you could adjust the flow of the pumps with that so i just put the cork thing in it. Am i right in thinking sw tanks dont need any kind of air?

[gjones]

Don't use the air hose, the tank doesn't need it. Also i heard it works like a protien skimmer, but not in a good way, the gunk in the water bonds to the bubbles, and when the bubble pops at the top, it releases all the crap that bonded to it, and you get nasty surface film.

[raciampa]

Micro bubbles also irritate the gills of saltwater fish.

[jstone624]

Bubbles popping at the surface will give you large amounts of salt creep.

[Cellenzweig]

Micro bubbles also irritate the gills of saltwater fish.

Where did you find this interesting piece of information? I'd like to check out the source...

[jstone624]

I used the search button and found the following to support raciampa, there has been many threads on micro bubbles and the affects on fish and seahorses.

 

Here are a couple...

 

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bubtroubfaqs.htm

http://oxyedge-chum.com/diffuser,_oxygen_bubbles.htm

[Cellenzweig]

Maybe you should read your links again. The first says (many times) that micro bubbles are harmless unless there is trapped air accumulating under a coral (and you've heard of this happening how often?)

 

"Many aquarists go to some considerable lengths to baffle sumps and pump flows to prevent small bubbles from being returned into the display tank. It has been suggested that such bubbles represent an irritation to fish, corals and other invertebrates and that they should be avoided. To be honest, I am unsure from where the origin of this perception came. However, it is untrue. Even the name is inaccurate… the prefix "micro" would refer to bubbles too small to see. Small bubbles are very common in tumultuous reef environments, and areas where waves break are often dense with both reef life and small bubbles. In addition, in tanks and on reefs, many bubbles of various sizes, including true "microbubbles" are produced by photosynthesis, and this is especially the case in highly illuminated environments. In my own aquaria, a constant rise of bubbles, especially in the afternoon, are produced by various corals and algae in even some of my less-illuminated systems. Larger bubbles frequently get sucked into pump intakes, and are chopped up to even smaller sizes and distributed throughout the tank. I won't even begin to discuss the massive numbers of bubbles produced by various surge devices. These water motion devices have great benefits in aquaria, and even as anecdotal aquarium observations, I have never seen anything disturbed, irritated, or harmed by the rush of bubbles. " -Eric Borneman

[Cellenzweig]

"Neither bubbles nor the lack of them in a tank is likely to endanger the health or survival of organisms." -Eric Borneman

[dweakl01]

My son likes bubbles. Can I have him put some in my tank?

[jstone624]

I see we skipped some of the sections of the 1st link that state,

 

"The bubbles are a problem for fish because they can act like the bends in humans, forming bubbles in their flesh or systems that are as problematic as they are for humans."

 

Such as the gills.

 

Yes, there are more posts concerning inverts and bubbles in the 1st link, but those who read all of the page will find relevant content.

 

I have no other comments...

[Daemonfly]

During the day, there usually is no need for air supplementation in most systems. At night is a different story, just like in FW setups. In many skimmerless tanks, non-reverse photoperiod fuges, or non-24/7 fuges, there isn't enough aeration or water movement to keep good amounts of oxygen, this also largely considers how stocked the tank is. If you find your fish & critters hanging out at the surface of the water in the morning, then theres a good chance you have a low oxygen problem. Common problem thats been around since the beginning of aquariums.

 

A latest Reefkeeping article actually goes into some testing of this http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/eb/index.php