Tiny Bubbles.. In My Tank, Makes Me Feel..

Nope, it's not a song by Don Ho. Here's the story. I mentioned a day or two ago that my cycle was about done and I had algae growing. Yesterday morning I tested my parameters and everything looked good, so I decided to have the lfs verify. They checked the parameters and everything looked really good so I purchased 3 fish. So yesterday was the first time in a long time that I shut off my pumps and power head, in order to feed the fish. What I noticed was a boatload of bubbles rising up from all of this algae, thousands of them. Now this morning the tank looks cloudy, but I look closer and it's just millions of tiny bubbles in the water.

So, two questions. Should I be concerned, and if so what should I do?

 

are the bubbles on the glass itself or just floating? pics would be nice, so we can troubleshoot better.

-tony

 

I'll try to get a shot in a bit, but it's going to be hard. No bubbles on the glass, just mixed in with the water. Making the water look a little cloudy, but it's really just a whole lot of bubbles.

 

Is your skimmers output facing your return pump? Luna

 

My very first reaction to this is that the gas comimg from the algae is oxygen. Plant life utilizes CO2 to function giving off O2 as a biproduct. If I remember correctly, the algae life in the oceans are 70% responsible for the O2/C02 gas exchange on this fine planet. Our waste is their fuel and vice versa. Wonderful symbiotic relationship (from a distance) we have with out photosynthesizing friends. So while I could be 100% wrong as to what is going on with the bubbles, the theory still remains sound.......

Then again.....with this edit......I am starting to doubt myself. I have macros in my fuge and this doesn't happen with me. OK, I am confulsed. Nevermind......It's morning here and I just woke up. Maybe coffee will clear me up.....

 

Yes, but there are two walls between them (the refugium section).

 

.................and your sticking to that story...right?...........lol


[SCROLL]Luna;D[/SCROLL]

 

Try placing a sponge or a filter pad at the skimmer's output and see if that fixs the problem. Luna

 

This makes the most sense. Since I could clearly see the bubbles coming from the algae, the bubbles are most likely coming from the algae. And, it's most likely safe, since it's natural. However, there is no way to control how much O2/CO2 reaction is taking place, so how do I know the mix is right?

 

But I can actually see the bubbles coming from the algae, when I turn all of the pumps and power heads off.