Cutting down micro bubbles

[walt]

Hello All does anyone know if you run your water through a garden hose nozzle that has the different flow patterns, will that help with micro bubbles I think I read that on a thread. Thanks Walt

[pastry]

Not sure. But in the winter your warm water will have micro bubbles while your cold water-only option will be too cold. Even if you do tricks to cut down on micro bubbles, heated tap (at least in my area) will change water measurements (sometimes drastically) over a few days. Goal is for stable water for new water.

[rickztahone]

It's really better to age your water. If you absolutely can't, then use a prefilter and a 200 micron sock on your incoming tap water

[FishFanMan]

What exactly is the problem with micro bubbles? I do WCS all the time with micro bubbles in it and never had problems.

[dprais1]

What exactly is the problem with micro bubbles? I do WCS all the time with micro bubbles in it and never had problems.

We both get water from Lake Michigan, and although I know others in your area say they have no problems, if I don't age my water with good circulation for at least 20 minutes the bubbles form all over the slime coat of my discus and then I see 'sheets' of this slime coat sloughing off.

[Kyla]

from what i understand, when the water coming into the tank is saturated with gasses under pressure in the water lines, those gasses can release in the form of microbubbles while escaping in ur tank. they can irritate the gills and skin of the fish. in some circumstances gas supersaturation can lead to gas bubble disease.

ideally you can set up a holding tank where u aerate ur tap water to allow the gasses to escape before adding it to the aquarium. im excited to get my holding tank set up.

in the meantime i am attaching a long tube stuffed with sponges to the end of my refill hose to remove the bubbles as the water passes through all the foam. it works better than i expected, but its still not perfect. like rick said, aging water is ur best bet.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/kylasfish/Mobile%20Uploads/8638BBCE-87C0-41A4-A53D-6B2E20FE7716_zps9ltu2fyf.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/kylasfish/media/Mobile%20Uploads/8638BBCE-87C0-41A4-A53D-6B2E20FE7716_zps9ltu2fyf.jpg.html)

[Kyla]

We both get water from Lake Michigan, and although I know others in your area say they have no problems, if I don't age my water with good circulation for at least 20 minutes the bubbles form all over the slime coat of my discus and then I see 'sheets' of this slime coat sloughing off.

i saw this too, sheets of slime coated in bubbles peeling away from the sides of the discus after water changes, flicking, scratching, pissed off discus. the fish were visibly irritated. i should have snapped a photo but never thought of it at the time.

sure the fish seemed OK afterwards once the bubbles dissipated, but i cant imagine that needless stress is good over the long term. my discus r much happier now that im using the tube with foam, but they'll appreciate the aging barrel even more. i picked up my new pump last weekend and am stoked to install it and improve my refill process even more.

[walt]

I've never seen sheets of slimecoat coming off my fish and my ph in tank is 7 and out of tap 7.3 I do what kyla does stuff my aqueon changer with filter floss and then I put it into 100 micron filter sock still see some bubbles though. Reason for not aging water my barrel only holds 42 gallons and tank 120 gallons,going right from faucet allows larger wc, maybe I'm overthinking it.

[rickztahone]

I've never seen sheets of slimecoat coming off my fish and my ph in tank is 7 and out of tap 7.3 I do what kyla does stuff my aqueon changer with filter floss and then I put it into 100 micron filter sock still see some bubbles though. Reason for not aging water my barrel only holds 42 gallons and tank 120 gallons,going right from faucet allows larger wc, maybe I'm overthinking it.

You can always age the smaller portion of water and finish off with tap. Better than all tap

[walt]

Ricardo will be giving this a try recently lost 2 fish only thing I changed was not aging my water anymore only thing is will have aging barrel in my family room all the time. Thanks for the help.

[Kyla]

some ppl set up a barrel on wheels so it can be moved when needed. is this an option for u? im planning to keep my barrel in a different room and pumping the water to the tank thru a hose. i picked up a 150gal barrel because i have big tanks too.

[Kyla]

I've never seen sheets of slimecoat coming off my fish and my ph in tank is 7 and out of tap 7.3 I do what kyla does stuff my aqueon changer with filter floss and then I put it into 100 micron filter sock still see some bubbles though. Reason for not aging water my barrel only holds 42 gallons and tank 120 gallons,going right from faucet allows larger wc, maybe I'm overthinking it.

i saw the sheets of slime sloughing off in QT when i did my 80-90% wc from tap. in my 180g i wouldnt typically see this, prob just because the % wc was lower, but i would still see the flicking and irritated behaviour

[ExReefer]

We both get water from Lake Michigan, and although I know others in your area say they have no problems, if I don't age my water with good circulation for at least 20 minutes the bubbles form all over the slime coat of my discus and then I see 'sheets' of this slime coat sloughing off.

This is true and a big reason why I don't bother to keep discus (but I do miss them). I don't want to age my water and I absolutely have the micro bubble issue as my water also is sourced from cold Lake Michigan. My discus were always happier in the summer due to warmer source water temps and much fewer micro bubbles. Not only does it irritate their slime coat it, but it also irritates their gills.