Air Bubles in Nanocube Reef tank

[nanome]

Hi all,

Are air bubbles (from air stones) good/bad for a nano reef? I've heard that oxygination takes place at the surface, but wouldn't bubbles from air stone do the same thing? (My top water level is above the jetstream of the airpump so I can't get turbulance at the surface.)

I have a anemone, a sun coral (tubas), some mushrooms, a montepora, a clown fish in my nanoreef tank. I am not sure whether bubbles help or hurt in this case. Some say air bubbles might hurt some corals/anemones if they could not dislogged bubbles trapped between tentacles, or some like that.

Please clarify.
Thanks

 

[wrightme43]

generaly in my experince air bubbles are bad, they coat your lights with salt, cause salt creep all over the place, and I have as well heard that they get stuck in the poloyps making them unable to eat. JMHO hth STEVE

 

[dnjan]

Salt creep is a definite problem. You need to be conscientious about cleaning your lights, reflectors, etc.

As far as damaging the corals - careful placement of the airstone so that it isn't directly under a coral can help that. I have run airstones for weeks (waiting for a replacement circulation pump) with no problem.

You can also put the airstone inside of a vertical tube with an elbo on the top. Have the bottom of the tube open, and have the top of the elbo below the surface of the water. This is an air-lift, and the bubbles from the airstone cause water flow out the end of the elbo. Highly recommended for mild-to-medium water flow in tanks where pumps could kill the inhabitants (juvenile fish grow-out tanks, etc.)

 

[nanome]

Thanks for all your replies!

 

[Katchupoy]

or you can put glass between light and tank... but need to clean it regularly. but what about the noise airpump creates? i still choose powerheads.

 

[snobanker]

I had one of those long airstones hiden behind some rock for the longest time.....I had so much salt creep, I was constantly cleaning it. I did like Cesar said and added more PH's and 86'd the stone.