# Super Fine Bubbles?



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

I want to add fine bubble to my tank. I dont want to use stones I just want to attach an air line to a pump and mount it a few inches below the water line. Is there any secrets I should know to achieve this? I just want the for the looks. I want them to be super fine...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

If you want super fine bubbles, use limewood blocks at the end of the airline. You're not going to get fine bubbles without using some sort of stone or block.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the tip but how so I attach a stone or block to my power head?


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Attach the limewood to the end of an airline, attach the airline to your air pump.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

Scuff said:


> Attach the limewood to the end of an airline, attach the airline to your air pump.


lol, yes I understand that. Its just I want the bubbles to shoot strait out across the top of the tank a few inches below the surface. An air stone would just have the bubbles going strait up. You know how a waterfalls have water and air churning up beneath the surface of the water. Well thats kinda what I want. I figure if I can hook up an airline to a powerhead it will shoot bubble strait out across the tank. I just dont think that the bubble will be fine enough. Thats why I was thinking air stones...


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Ah, sorry. You weren't very clear in your first post. You can use a powerhead with a venturi on it to accomplish that (a lot of the Aquaclear powerheads have this feature). No air pump needed. The velocity of the water entering a diminishing-width aperture on the inside of the powerhead output creates a low-pressure zone. A hole above this zone is connected via an airline to the outside air. The low-pressure zone sucks air in and distributes the bubbles through the water evenly as it exits the nozzle. Viola...air bubbles and current in the same unit.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Aquaclears dont chop the bubbles up as fine as he is looking for.

ceramic stones or limewood would do what you are looking for, i use a marineland 660 powerhead for a Co2 reactor and those bubbles are tiny alot tinier then aquaclears produce(I think this is in the chamber design)


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback scuff. That sound almost perfect.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

WhiteDevil said:


> Aquaclears dont chop the bubbles up as fine as he is looking for.
> 
> ceramic stones or limewood would do what you are looking for, i use a marineland 660 powerhead for a Co2 reactor and those bubbles are tiny alot tinier then aquaclears produce(I think this is in the chamber design)


It sounds like you know the deal,lol. So if ceramic or limewood are the ticket how do I set it up? Do I tie the stone to the end of the outlet on my pump so the water blows across the stone? I'm trying to visualize this but its bot really looking the I would imagine it. Any help with that.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

well with the marineland you dont need a stone at all, there is an airline port on nearly every powerhead made(less hagen pro series for sure). the powerheads come with the hardware to accomplish this.

When i use stones in my fry tank I always place them opposite furthest away from the powersponges for circulation. the longer the tiny bubbles stay in the water the more O2 that is consumed and absorbed into the water column. lots of tiny bubbles have more surface area then a bigger bubble.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

My AC powerheads spit bubbles so small it almost looks like smoke. I don't know how much smaller you can go with bubbles.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

what AC?

I have 30,50 and 70's and they are all larger then the marineland(and I dispise marineland as a whole). My hagen pro3 powerhead is a bubble mister machine.I got it as part of payment last week and hot damn is that thing wicked.


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

WhiteDevil said:


> the longer the tiny bubbles stay in the water the more O2 that is consumed and absorbed into the water column. lots of tiny bubbles have more surface area then a bigger bubble.


We already have a thread going on here I believe that explains why air bubbles do not oxygenate water.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

WhiteDevil said:


> what AC?
> 
> I have 30,50 and 70's and they are all larger then the marineland(and I dispise marineland as a whole). My hagen pro3 powerhead is a bubble mister machine.I got it as part of payment last week and hot damn is that thing wicked.


A Rio 600 came with my tank but I havent used it and I dont know how well it will work. It dosnet have any hardware with it. I guess I would just add a airline to it to allow it to suck in air i guess.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

yep but put a check valve in as well, walmarts got a 2 pack for a buck i think.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

This is that mine dosent look anything like all the ones I see in the pictures online. Theres just the main outlet with a little nipple on top with a screw in it. Also the main rubber seal is dry wrotten so will that effect it?


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

id replace it if the seals are dry rotted for sure, a pic would be helpful you more then likely have an older model.


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## AbadHabit (Sep 9, 2010)

:dolphin: I just mess around with stuff..but if you have time for the hobby part, air line tubing, a small needle, and some air line suction cup holders. Depending on the size of your needle head, and how far you poke the hole, for the bubble size. Smaller the poke , the smaller the bubble. Silicone the end or plug it with something plastic. I don't like metal under water. Been a plumber too long and know what it can do. Put it about a inch below your water return( power head or filter). Trial and testing *old dude on the amount of air pressure for the hole sizes. I have put one at the bottom of my 29 gal, under the HOB marineland filter I use and by the time the bubbles come up, pushed foward from the flow of the filter, the dissappear right in front of your face at the front under the water. But now I am full of plants so I just have my underwater valcano that bubbles back in the plants. One trimming off my plants in a week could start a 10 gal easy. Fixing to give them away to people at the LPS. Hard to get good fresh plants here. So have fun..I always do.. And always talk to your fish and plants. If you care..they feel it. :dolphin:


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

AbadHabit said:


> :dolphin: Fixing to give them away to people at the LPS. Hard to get good fresh plants here. So have fun..I always do.. And always talk to your fish and plants. If you care..they feel it. :dolphin:


Thanks for the info about the air lines. If you have trimmings to give away please take a look at my post. Donations for troop project.


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## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

yeah so I hooked up my rio 600 and the bubble are really big and everything just shoots out into a strait line. I would like to see them more wide spread and moving much slower. I have been looking through youtube and cant seem to find anything that looks like what I want. I am thinking that if I buy a powerhead with a controllable flow rate I can maybe add a small piece of clear plactic tube. the kind they use for undergravel filters. Just use maybe 3 inches or so and stick an limewood in the tube. the head should suck up every bubble and then I can just put the pump on the lowest setting.


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