# How many is too many bubbles?



## mom2thebest2 (Jan 3, 2011)

This is half of our 55 tall tank. There seems to be quite a bit of bubbles, is there a "rule" when it comse to how much there should be on the top? I should add that this is a constant amount on top.


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## chimera779 (Jan 7, 2011)

did you ever try turning off your pumps mainly the flow of your tank and seeing if some of the bubbles went away.


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## mom2thebest2 (Jan 3, 2011)

chimera779 said:


> did you ever try turning off your pumps mainly the flow of your tank and seeing if some of the bubbles went away.


This isn't from the water filter, it's from the air pump/bubble stone. I'm certain because I just put the stone in yesterday and prior to it, there were no bubbles like this. (Another point that may or may not be important is there aren't any fish in here yet.) My old pump wasn't pushing enough power to put any bubbles out of the stone so I bought a new pump and stone. I want bubbles all across the back but can't seem to find a stone long enough. I'd also like to ask if someone might know why with a pump for 30-60 gallons and an 18" stone there aren't as many bubbles at the farthest end of the stone (away from the tubing) as in the beginning. The pump should be sufficient and we've always had this problem. (Course we've always used the same kind of pump too. Hmmm) It's like it can't push the air that far? So I'm guessing as long as the bubbles don't overflow, there's no real guideline to go by?


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

It's a classic case of the pressure dropping off as bubbles escape the stone. The only way I know of to get bubbles to release evenly across an air stone is to pipe the air in at various points along the stone. This involves multiple pipes and a fair bit of jigery pokery and in my own opinion isn't worth it. 

You could also have several air stones and a splitter for the air pump. That might well be easier than messing about with multipe pipes and drilling extra holes into the air stone.

Ooooo It has just come to methat you could get enthusiastic kids to blow down the tubes 24 hours a day. Most of the kids I know have too much energy at the best of times and this should calm them right down!


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## mom2thebest2 (Jan 3, 2011)

Sir Chauncy said:


> It's a classic case of the pressure dropping off as bubbles escape the stone. The only way I know of to get bubbles to release evenly across an air stone is to pipe the air in at various points along the stone. This involves multiple pipes and a fair bit of jigery pokery and in my own opinion isn't worth it.
> 
> You could also have several air stones and a splitter for the air pump. That might well be easier than messing about with multipe pipes and drilling extra holes into the air stone.
> 
> Ooooo It has just come to methat you could get enthusiastic kids to blow down the tubes 24 hours a day. Most of the kids I know have too much energy at the best of times and this should calm them right down!


 
Haha that sounds like a good punishment... err... way to show how much I love them 
I'm not going to want to mess with making the bubbles go all the way across, since I'm honestly the only one who notices! So what I got from your post is that these bubbles are fine and not to worry about them?


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

That's pretty much it, there is no real trauma from having the bubbles there that I know of. They help to work as a kind of protein skimmer by being there (avoiding a silvery skin on the surface of the water) and they do go some way in aerating the tank as well. 

The only real down side is that it can create a higher current in the water than you or your fish might like. Getting a plastic vent can help reduce this if you're worried or you can make a tiny pin prick sized hole in the tubing near the pump itself. This way, if for some reason you don't like the hole being there any more you only need to cut a small piece of hose off rather than replace the whole thing.


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## RCinAL (Nov 14, 2010)

If you notice any bubbles sticking to your fish, you have too many bubbles.


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