Micro bubbles: deadly? How do I get rid of them?

[Anonymous]

I was told that micro bubbles injected into my tank will kill fish. Is this true? If so, how do I stop them coming in via the return?

Thanks in advance.

Peace,

Chip

 

[madrefkepr]

Micro bubbles don't look very nice, but deadly? Don't believe I've heard that one. Can you identify where the bubbles are coming from (skimmer, possible leak in the plumbing, etc)?

 

[Anonymous]

Some people with surge devices have tons of these and I don't think they kill fish. I suppose if air built up under rocks it could injure cryptic sponges growing there, but I haven't seen it happen. The problem is much worse with new systems, after the pipes and stuff get slimy there are less bubbles.

 

[LFS42]

The theory behind deadly micro bubbles is...

If they come from the skimmer, then they have the protien that is
collected by the skimmer on the skin of the micro bubbles.
Thus, they are highly toxic in large quantities.
Now that said, I have never noticed them to be deadly, but irritating to the gills of fish and sometimes causing corals to never fully extend.

If the micro bubbles come from a different source, like a power head or return pump, they are less toxic but still irritate.

Most of the time I have seen the bubbles from wave makers turning the power heads on and off.

 

[Chris Witort]

Well, I have had bubbles micro and otherwise in my tank for years, never saw a fish care about them one way or another! Don't you think surf makes bubbles on the reefs all around the world.

 

[aliendomain]

I had some micro bubbles coming from the skimmer in my sump, I fixed this by adding a sponge over the return tube. I have a downdraft type skimmer that is plumbed through the wall of my sump I added a 90 degree pvc pipe to the return which helps keep the water level in the skimmer constant even if the sump level changes (this is now trivial after I added a level control), at the top of this pvc pipe is where I added the sponge. I used a left over pump sponge but you could fashion one out of a aquaclear sponge.