bubbles

[jonnydubs]

Some how my fluval canister filter is getting air in it. I know this because every once in a while it blows bubbles out. Im going to be taking it apart and cleaning it this week hopefully its just a bad seal or something. But can these bubbles cause harm to anything?

 

[sly]

No, bubbles aren't dangerous but they can cause salt creep. Maybe the filter just needs cleaning. The air you are seeing could be oxygen or nitrogen gas being let off from some decay process inside the filter.

 

[saltn00b]

actually bubbles can cause a decrease (i think) in pH, and can also adhere to corals and cause tissue loss

 

[bang guy]

Or it could just be cavitation. This is common with canisters as the filter becomes clogged.

 

[catawaba]

I hate that when that happens.
The Hunt for Red October
"We just unzipped our fly"

 

[eaglewonj]

Do you have a protein skimmer on the system?
Protein skimmers dissolve a lot of gasses into the water as well as remove dissolved organics. I have seen similar bubbles from my canister filter and they stopped if I turned the skimmer off for awhile. I have Eheim biomedia in the canister....the supersurface area not only allows bacteria to grow all over but also gives a massive area for air bubbles to form from solution.

 

[sly]

Originally Posted by eaglewonj
Do you have a protein skimmer on the system?
Protein skimmers dissolve a lot of gasses into the water as well as remove dissolved organics. I have seen similar bubbles from my canister filter and they stopped if I turned the skimmer off for awhile. I have Eheim biomedia in the canister....the supersurface area not only allows bacteria to grow all over but also gives a massive area for air bubbles to form from solution.
A little OT, but do you have an in-sump skimmer? I had problems with my skimmer putting bubbles into the tank as well. I fixed it by putting the pump right next to the skimmers exhaust tube. This way the pump sucks up any air bubbles that get spilled out of the skimmer so that they don't get sucked up into my main system pump. Since I did this, I have not had any bubbles get into my main tank.

 

[eaglewonj]

In my case there are no visible bubbles coming out of the skimmer output. The water appeared fine, bubbles just form on some things in the tank and especially in the filter. Its supersaturation of gasses in the water in my case. The skimmer output itself does not contain bubbles. The problem stops with the skimmer off. I just took the output nozzle from the filter and pointed it a little more up so the bubbles go right to the top and don't riddle the tank.