Micro and nano bubble tank treatment

[Squamosa]

Another growth comparison figure, this time of my pink lemonade

 

[Rybren]

More great growth.

Like you, I am just your average hobbyist and have no special skills or areas of expertise related to marine tanks.

Your tank is certainly experiencing some good growth. Now that your corals are doing so well and have moved beyond the frag stage, it would be an interesting experiment to stop bubbling for 67 days to see what, if any, effect it has on the corals. I fully understand if you are not willing to try it

 

[reefwiser]

So what caused the growth spurt in the past 67 days since you started micro bubbles?
Chemistry changes?
OPR or CO2 changes?
Has dosing increased on certain elements in your tank to account for the growth?

 

[Squamosa]

67 days to see what, if any, effect it has on the corals

I fully believe that after the 2 month period my tank has undergone significant changes with the biology.I've stopped my carbon dosing yet experience no rise in nutrients and feed my corals heavier than before.
It seems that the nutrient export is so much more efficient now.

I really think that stopping, will have no effect on growth or vitality now, at least not for the short term (3-6 months). It is certainly possible that after this period there may be a steady "decline"in health and vigour to the point before the bubbling started, but this was a time I thought I could take my system no further and to me, it looked the best ever, then

Perhaps someone else will run this experiment, but I'll hazard a guess and say that once they see the results I'm experiencing, they won't want to stop

 

[Squamosa]

Chemistry changes?

I can't quantify these changes, if indeed that's what they are, but I do observe:
Skimmer is pulling out thick, dark, frothy skimmate. This is by no means a high-end skimmer of any sort, but it has become really efficient lately
Rocks are devoid of any detritus whatsoever, they look 'cleaned', with coralline growth only.
Carbon dosing stopped, with reduction in nutrients still observed, or at least no rise in them, after 2 weeks!

OPR or CO2 changes

I don't have any ORP readings so can't comment on that, other than what is written in the literature. However, my pH measurements show a slight rise in pH over night or at the very least no drop in value overnight. This could be due to the air pump being outside in the fresh air, of course.

dosing increased on certain elements in your tank to account for the growth

I have had to slightly increase my calcium reactor effluent rate to compensate for the fact that my alk was dipping below 7 dKH (it now sits at 8 dKH). My tank has always used magnesium heavily and I have to dose that over and above the dolomite in the reactor.
I've noticed a slight drop in strontium as well as potassium values and dose small amounts, 1-2 ppm/week.

 

[Squamosa]

@chaoticreefer
Here is a video of all the parts!
Outside tube is 50mm PVC water pipe and inner tube is 15mm conduit, the permanent marking pen is for length reference.
There is a little threaded reticulation fitting at the end cap to accept the airline. Hint: keep the air flowing in slowly you don't want a rush of air into the system.

 

[Squamosa]

Here is how slow the air gets sucked in once the pump is turned on.

Also shown is the amount of bubbles created

The pump is a Sicce Multi quiet 4000!

 

[Squamosa]

Final video showing that if the bubbles created are uniform and small enough in size,then they will stay in the water column longer and there should be very minimal foam, salt spray,vapour or mist visible on the water surface.

 

[Saltine]

Feedback on my setup below?






Thanks
Salt

 

[Squamosa]

Feedback on my setup below?






Thanks
Salt

Hi Salt

What you are achieving is typical of what most of the bubblers are getting now.
Do you have a wooden air block in the return line?

You are creating bubbles of varying sizes including bigger ones as can be seen by the foam on the surface of your water. This foam probably gives you a bit of splash and a fine salty aerosol mist which could cause salt creep issues later!

According to my experiences, you have more than enough bubbles in your tank to see some results over time, if you wanted, you could play around and see if you could get more of a fine bubble going into the DT, as it's quality rather than quantity that I believe works best.
That being said, well done on a good effort

Cheers

 

[Saltine]

Hi Salt

What you are achieving is typical of what most of the bubblers are getting now.
Do you have a wooden air block in the return line?

You are creating bubbles of varying sizes including bigger ones as can be seen by the foam on the surface of your water. This foam probably gives you a bit of splash and a fine salty aerosol mist which could cause salt creep issues later!

According to my experiences, you have more than enough bubbles in your tank to see some results over time, if you wanted, you could play around and see if you could get more of a fine bubble going into the DT, as it's quality rather than quantity that I believe works best.
That being said, well done on a good effort

Cheers

Thanks! Currently have a wood air block under the return intake. I can't see any salt spray when the lights are out, when they are on its extremely fine, I think I would only be worried if the lights were on since they could suck in some spray via their fans.

Any suggestions on getting finer bubbles? I loved it away from the return Inlet but got no bubbles really.

Salt

 

[Squamosa]

when they are on its extremely fine, I think I would only be worried if the lights were on since they could suck in some spray via their fans.

If that is the case and you bubble at night, then I would not be too concerned.
I had a similar situation where after ~ 2 weeks I would start to see fine salt on my eurobracing, but a quick wipe and it was gone

I loved it away from the return Inlet but got no bubbles really

I see you've already been moving the block to and from the return inlet, a bit of experimenting here might yield less larger bubbles

Hope this helps

 

[Reefahholic]

@chaoticreefer
Here is a video of all the parts!
Outside tube is 50mm PVC water pipe and inner tube is 15mm conduit, the permanent marking pen is for length reference.
There is a little threaded reticulation fitting at the end cap to accept the airline. Hint: keep the air flowing in slowly you don't want a rush of air into the system.

Very nice!

 

[Reefahholic]

Final video showing that if the bubbles created are uniform and small enough in size,then they will stay in the water column longer and there should be very minimal foam, salt spray,vapour or mist visible on the water surface.

Nice videos Squamosa!

 

[Squamosa]

Here is a shortened version of my blog, that was posted on Monday

Good morning Monday

My tank has hit Day 70 of micro-bubbling using the wooden airstone/sump method and what have I observed?

Sand is clean as always, no difference there.

Water clarity is crystal clear.

Rocks are cleaner than I've ever seen them, free of all detritus, this includes underneath ledges. No algae is visible anywhere.

Corals, especially Acropora sp. are growing at rapid rates now, with multiple branches and a rounder/bushier growth form, they don't just grow towards the light, but become tighter clusters of branches now.

LPS corals display open, fleshy polyps, where once they receded, now they are growing!

To my eye, fish are healthy, extremely active and graze constantly and I have had no mortality.

Snails (Trochus sp.) now breed constantly!

Skimmer is removing some nasty dark brown gunk, however, the appearance of the foam has changed, it is now thick and creamy!

Another very important observation is that my vodka based carbon dosing is now down to 0.5ml/day in a ~600L system. Despite this fact, I have to add sodium nitrate and AA's to the tank every day or my Acropora start to pale out. I have not increased the feeding rates of the fish, they still only get fed once/day as always, no matter how much they beg.

Could bubbling become the alternative to liquid carbon dosing??
That would be very interesting...

This of course, might all be due to a combination of factors at work, but only time will tell and as more bubblers come on board (by my estimates there are already in excess of 150 reefers trying this), the bigger the pool of observations grow

I am now leaving the airstone/sump method to use the D.I.Y. micro-bubble generator for the next part of the tank journey.
IMO. the original method works very well and that could be the end point in equipment if people wanted.

I'll be documenting my observations to see if anything changes from the list I described above and if the finer, consistently sized and water column filling bubbles, do make another difference.

Cheers

(Edit) After bubbling for 2 nights, I have noticed my skimmate increase in colour and foam!
There is a noticeable rim of bubbles and detritus stuck to the glass edges on the water surface and weir comb!

 

[Saltine]

I've done two nights of bubbling now, It appears my hair algae is receding rapidly. I'll keep observing. My skimmer seems to be skimming a lot less though.

Salt

 

[Squamosa]

It appears my hair algae is receding rapidly

While it would be great to say it removes HA, it is only 2 days into your 'treatment' and a few weeks would have to pass before this could very well be confirmed, if at all.
Take some before and after treatment images!

skimmer seems to be skimming a lot less though.

This goes contrary to what others have observed, including myself!

This is my skimmer after 4 days. Image taken last night!

 

[Saltine]

Yea again emphasis on appears... Not sure why I'm not skimming much I am running NoPX.

 

[Squamosa]

I am running NoPX

Interesting...people who carbon dose have experienced an increase in skimmate production or a change in colour, normally darker in colour!

Are you getting less skimmate (volume) or less in colour?

 

[Saltine]

Interesting...people who carbon dose have experienced an increase in skimmate production or a change in colour, normally darker in colour!

Are you getting less skimmate (volume) or less in colour?

Less in volume. I retuned the skimmer this morning we'll see if that helps.