Tiny Bubbles

[Jimold]

OK, hrere's an odd question... I always seem to have little tiny bubbles floating around my tank. I have 2 penguin 350's and 2 bubbble wands flanking the sides of the tank. They keep it incredably clean, but like I said, they'res always tiny bubbles floating around.
Is it just me, or does anyone else get these?

FYI, it's fun watching the angels try and eat them...lol

 

[sgould]

I got 'em too.

 

[COBettaCouple]

We get those too.. I'd like to know what they are too. I always just guessed they were some sort of air bubbles released from treated water that I added, but really have no idea if that's true.

 

[Stitcher]

Do you get these bubbles when you add new water or are they there all the time?

 

[sgould]

All the time.

 

[Luniyn]

They come from the spill out of the power filters virtually throwing the water down into the tank. The reason they stay and not pop when they hit the surface is usually due to the chemicals we add to the water. Any chemical additive that helps the slime coat of the fish will also coat these bubbles making their outer skin more dense and harder to pop. Turn off your filter and see if they dissolve after a little while. As long as they do, then they are just air bubbles and not much of a concern unless you tend to have a lot of them. It is possible for them to get into the gills of the fish and causing Gas bubble disease which is kind of like decompression sickness or "the bends" which effects divers. If you want to lessen the amount of them, then try to keep the water level of the tank closer to the outflow of your filter so there isn't as much splashing. Also make sure there aren't any bubbles (from an airstone) going into the intake of the filter which will also create these bubbles. However, if they do not remove themselves with the filter (and air stone) off for a while, then you will want to help get rid of them. To do this you can get something like . This will make all of those particles bind together to make larger one's that can easily be removed by your mechanical filtration.

 

[COBettaCouple]

cool, that makes sense.

 

[capekate]

They come from the spill out of the power filters virtually throwing the water down into the tank. The reason they stay and not pop when they hit the surface is usually due to the chemicals we add to the water. Any chemical additive that helps the slime coat of the fish will also coat these bubbles making their outer skin more dense and harder to pop. Turn off your filter and see if they dissolve after a little while. As long as they do, then they are just air bubbles and not much of a concern unless you tend to have a lot of them. It is possible for them to get into the gills of the fish and causing Gas bubble disease which is kind of like decompression sickness or "the bends" which effects divers. If you want to lessen the amount of them, then try to keep the water level of the tank closer to the outflow of your filter so there isn't as much splashing. Also make sure there aren't any bubbles (from an airstone) going into the intake of the filter which will also create these bubbles. However, if they do not remove themselves with the filter (and air stone) off for a while, then you will want to help get rid of them. To do this you can get something like . This will make all of those particles bind together to make larger one's that can easily be removed by your mechanical filtration.

I had the same problem in my 10g.with the betta. At first I thought it was him.. but when I realized it wasn't. I thought of what it could be caused by and came to the conclusion that I didnt have the tank totally filled and the outflow water from the filter had that much more of an distance to splash into and cause the bubbles. When I filled the tank up to the top where it should be.. and turned the filter down alittle the bubbles went away. I also turned off the air stone wand, as I hear the bettas are not crazy for that attachment.

 

[COBettaCouple]

Actually it's a good idea to have an air stone going in a Betta tank for aeration, a gang valve is good to adjust the flow though. For a long time, I didn't run air stones having heard that bettas didn't need them, but when I got on here and read what long time betta owners had to say, all our betta tanks got air stones in them. It keeps the water top cleaner and the water itself seems to be cleaner with the airstones running.

 

[capekate]

Actually it's a good idea to have an air stone going in a Betta tank for aeration, a gang valve is good to adjust the flow though.  For a long time, I didn't run air stones having heard that bettas didn't need them, but when I got on here and read what long time betta owners had to say, all our betta tanks got air stones in them.  It keeps the water top cleaner and the water itself seems to be cleaner with the airstones running.

HI there! Well.. sounds like I should turn the dang thing back on then! lol... thought the filter waterflow would bring in enough aeration for the betta. My air pump that I picked up for the 10 gallon doesn't have an adjustment for the flow like my other more expensive one has. Is there a valve that I can buy seperatly to adjust the flow? I will check it out when I go to the LFS on wed. Decided not to make the trip til then.. (for the master tester etc) while I'm there in town for a drs appt. Going to try and conserve on the gas use WOW prices.. and still going up! So will get it all done on wed. Thanks for your advice on the air stone, I will turn it on for awhile.

 

[COBettaCouple]

yea, that's what we did.. just bought a gang valve at the store to control the flow to each of the 3 betta tanks. yea, gas prices are making it easier to pay shipping costs.