Nano Bubble Injection

[MitchM]

Reef Central had a tank of the month, 8 years ago, that used intermittent air injection.
Pic and diagram of the setup is about half way down the page.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-04/totm/index.php

I'm not crazy about the idea if you run air injection 24/7, intermittent probably wouldn't hurt anything as long as you had strong enough flow otherwise to dislodge the bubbles from the corals and live rock.

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[soapy]

Originally Posted by MitchM

Reef Central had a tank of the month, 8 years ago, that used intermittent air injection.
Pic and diagram of the setup is about half way down the page.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-04/totm/index.php

I'm not crazy about the idea if you run air injection 24/7, intermittent probably wouldn't hurt anything as long as you had strong enough flow otherwise to dislodge the bubbles from the corals and live rock.

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Hey thanks Mitch, great link. Interesting setup on that tank.

I agree running 24/7 would not be good. Other places I've read that guys are running for a couple hours in the evening. I see that TOTM guy does 1 minute bursts every 3 hours. I was thinking it might be good for 1/2 hour or an hour twice a day, low tide twice a day like on a reef?

In my short tests Ive found that the bubbles don't really stick to the coral flesh or the rocks unless there is an overhang that can trap it. Algae on the other hand gets lots of bubbles caught up.

[soapy]

Here is a couple of shots from todays tests. After shutting down the air I waited
five minutes which was overkill really the bubbles clear pretty fast. Trapped bubbles take longer to dissolve but I haven't waited to time that yet.

[Jordon]

I was actually reading this shortly before you posted!

Gimmicky would be if they were selling something, which it doesn't appear that they are at this time. So what would be in it for them exactly?

I think this is something I would try at night only, but would definitely wait for Mike's take on it when he posts his articles @ RB. I have many other experimental things on my list to try first.

This is what makes the hobby exciting; Finding interesting ways to make something "better" Yes, yes, maybe not visually pleasing, but at 3am, i'm not exactly looking at my tank, and it if improves health or has other positive effects, why not?

The whole thing here I think is will this actually work better than a skimmer, or what other effects does it have versus one? Also if there are pros to run this versus a skimmer, is the extra cleanup (possibly from salt creep) and other factors worth it?

soapy, do you have the resources to set up two small tanks to test this theory? i.e.: identical livestock, equipment, rock, sand and water conditions, with only that one variable changed? If so, that would be amaze-balls.

[soapy]

Originally Posted by JDH

I was actually reading this shortly before you posted!

Gimmicky would be if they were selling something, which it doesn't appear that they are at this time. So what would be in it for them exactly?

I think this is something I would try at night only, but would definitely wait for Mike's take on it when he posts his articles @ RB. I have many other experimental things on my list to try first.

This is what makes the hobby exciting; Finding interesting ways to make something "better" Yes, yes, maybe not visually pleasing, but at 3am, i'm not exactly looking at my tank, and it if improves health or has other positive effects, why not?

The whole thing here I think is will this actually work better than a skimmer, or what other effects does it have versus one? Also if there are pros to run this versus a skimmer, is the extra cleanup (possibly from salt creep) and other factors worth it?

soapy, do you have the resources to set up two small tanks to test this theory? i.e.: identical livestock, equipment, rock, sand and water conditions, with only that one variable changed? If so, that would be amaze-balls.

A comparison test like that would be a cool idea. Or even just a tank to test coral frags. Some species are going to hate this but some might thrive with it. I already know of one cyphastrea that hates the bubbles and an acro that shed a slime layer, which the reefer in Mitch's link thinks that is a good thing.

One might guess that the deep water, forereef and lagoonal corals won't be as tolerant to bubbles as the reef crest and reef flat ones.

[mike31154]

Cool thread with interesting info. Don't find the idea gimmicky myself, particularly in light of other 'gimmicks' I've seen for this hobby. Certainly recall reading much about folks obsessing about microbubbles in their display caused by an overachieving skimmer in their sump. It's good to see another perspective on the effect of microbubbles.

My skimmer is in fact an old school wooden air diffuser job, diy, came with the tank. Quiet & does the job. Some years ago I happened across a glass Japanese skimmer design for nano tanks. Called a Mame, quite pricey, but a little work of art that uses a wooden diffuser & is located in the display, the bottom being open to tank water. I've considered something similar but on a larger scale for some day when I actually have a sump. Not sure I'd want something like this in larger scale in my display, using up valuable real estate. However, if one were ok with it, one may easily modify the concept with a valve somewhere to allow periodic bursts of microbubbles into the display.

Will be interesting to see how this develops further.... or not. The YouTube you linked to in an earlier post certainly leaves no doubt that shallow reefs are blasted regularly with copious amounts of bubbly goodness! And if we are indeed trying to emulate a little slice of the ocean in our tanks, why not? With our tanks being 3 feet deep at the most, why do we even bother with deeper water coral? Or a mixture of species???

Ducks head & runs...

[soapy]

Hey Mike, yes I remember those Mame skimmers I thought they were a clever design and was thinking of building a copy at one time.

Recently I was thinking of a similar idea to build a bubble containment device for those Bio-cube carbon dosing blocks. Something to contain the bubbles and salt spray but let the water migrate freely.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by JDH

Gimmicky would be if they were selling something, which it doesn't appear that they are at this time. So what would be in it for them exactly?

But... The ARE selling something: They are a business and selling the idea that they are the experts. Good on them. I have zero issues with that nor the fact that they choose to do this with their clientelle; but the idea that they're not selling something is blatantly false. The spread of their idea beyond their customer base is incidental to their own marketing that they are innovators and authorities.

[Proteus]

I spent a entire day talking to Cruz from elegent coral about this method. They have done this method for 15 years. Along with it being a popular method in Asia
You can check out their fb page to get more info also a thread on r2r

There is a big difference between micro bubble and nano bubbles. Nano bubbles are no more than 50 microns because of the super small size they are very slow to rise and if done correctly will rise even slower due to decreasing the weight of the water. Which is why they suggest a hard wood air stone. It is also noted to have extremely good flow to keep the bubbles from forming larger bubbles.
Almost everyone who is using this method has reported more vigorous in fish and better growth in corals, the first hours corals slime up allowing them to "shed"

This essentially turns the tank into a reef environment.
I will be starting this method on the weekend. I will keep results posted

[soapy]

Sounds good Proteus. Keep a close eye on your corals if any have bubbles stuck to corals after the air goes off you will want to blow them off. Or perhaps move these corals to a part of the tank not getting bubbles. Air stuck on the coral's tissue can cause problems.

There are many corals that rarely touch air.

The ones living along the reef crest and reef flat are most tolerant of air. Acroporas are the most common in these areas from what I read.