Microscrubbing... I'm Ready to Try It!!!

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john.m.cole3

john.m.cole3

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I've been noticing large patches of the algae on my back glass floating around in the display. The color of it is getting brown, very brown actually. ?It's not as thick as it was on those small pieces of rubble. My nutrient levels continue to improve. NO3 was 4 and PO4 was .021. No water changes and I'm running my skimmer and microbubbles at the same time for 12 hours a night. I haven't scraped/siphoned/or turkey basted anything in my tank. Winning the algae war w/ bubbles would be a huge accomplishment.
 

UltraReef

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Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and am getting back into the hobby after a ten year break. Have a new set up, two months in with a fresh sandbed and red slime, cyano/diatoms to go with it. Plus I'm feeding heavy as I put in some new fish and want them to fatten up. At any rate, I read quite a bit of the material you provided on micro/nano bubble scrubbing and have implemented it into my system.

My only worry is something I heard about a long time ago and that was fish getting popeye from having tiny air bubbles in the water. Is that a concern or even something that is possible?

Also, on a side note. I put together a refugium in my home made sump with some fiji refugium mud and macro algae. After a few days I had red slime on the surface in the sump and covering most of the macro algae, not good. I then watch a youtube video made by tidal gardens about setting up a refugium and he suggested making sure that no bubbles entered into the refugium/mud bed area and that the flow was slowed down somewhat. After making those changes, my macro algae went crazy and I had nice growth. Anyway, you might try keeping bubbles out and reducing flow if slime or hairy algae is keeping your macro algea from making new growth.

Thanks!
 

hawkinsrgk

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Finished the three initial days and started my second day of running 12 hours at night. The corals seem to look a little better, but I haven't noticed a reduction in nitrate yet. Skimmer performance has definitely improved and alk consumption has increased 10ml a day
 

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Pic after the first day. Skimmer was cleaned before turning on the air pump

IMG_1478576447.213896.jpg
 

hawkinsrgk

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Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and am getting back into the hobby after a ten year break. Have a new set up, two months in with a fresh sandbed and red slime, cyano/diatoms to go with it. Plus I'm feeding heavy as I put in some new fish and want them to fatten up. At any rate, I read quite a bit of the material you provided on micro/nano bubble scrubbing and have implemented it into my system.

My only worry is something I heard about a long time ago and that was fish getting popeye from having tiny air bubbles in the water. Is that a concern or even something that is possible?

Also, on a side note. I put together a refugium in my home made sump with some fiji refugium mud and macro algae. After a few days I had red slime on the surface in the sump and covering most of the macro algae, not good. I then watch a youtube video made by tidal gardens about setting up a refugium and he suggested making sure that no bubbles entered into the refugium/mud bed area and that the flow was slowed down somewhat. After making those changes, my macro algae went crazy and I had nice growth. Anyway, you might try keeping bubbles out and reducing flow if slime or hairy algae is keeping your macro algea from making new growth.

Thanks!

In the other bubble thread it was pointed out by a couple of people that it could be harmful to fish and/or sponges. It got to the point of being so negative that I eventually stopped reading it

I have noticed my Chaeto is not as happy as it was before I started the air pump. I grow more Chaeto than I can give away so i am not really concerned about it. You are definitely correct though that Chaeto doesn't like the bubbles
 

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Thanks hawkinsrgk for your response. Sorry, I didn't mean to be negative about the bubble subject, just had some questions. Again, I'm still getting refreshed on reef keeping in general along with trying to learn about any new methods or trends. Either way I'm giving this a try while the lights are off probably at least until my sand bed stabilizes and/or I'm at the point where I can feed less.
 

Lonny

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Ok, I started bubble scrubbing after the lights went out. I don't have a nutrient problem. But I do have cyano in my sump,(was vodka dosing just switched to vinegar). My goal is in a week to be able to blow my rocks off lol, and not see a detritus storm get kicked up, and hopefully better coral vitality.
Just in one night I've noticed my ph which usually drops from 8.2 to 7.7, is holding steady at 7.9! Very pleased with those results so far. No pics right now sorry long day.
I'll keep posting my results. The air stones are in the bubble tap just before the return pump and no big bubbles are making it to my tank. I'll be running the overnight cycle.
 
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john.m.cole3

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Finished the three initial days and started my second day of running 12 hours at night. The corals seem to look a little better, but I haven't noticed a reduction in nitrate yet. Skimmer performance has definitely improved and alk consumption has increased 10ml a day
that's great. The increased alk consumption can result in one thing, growth!
 
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Ok, I started bubble scrubbing after the lights went out. I don't have a nutrient problem. But I do have cyano in my sump,(was vodka dosing just switched to vinegar). My goal is in a week to be able to blow my rocks off lol, and not see a detritus storm get kicked up, and hopefully better coral vitality.
Just in one night I've noticed my ph which usually drops from 8.2 to 7.7, is holding steady at 7.9! Very pleased with those results so far. No pics right now sorry long day.
I'll keep posting my results. The air stones are in the bubble tap just before the return pump and no big bubbles are making it to my tank. I'll be running the overnight cycle.
Thanks for the feedback. Those are reasonable goals I think. The rise in night time ph is pretty neat. I hope your rocks are sparkling this time next week.
 
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j.p. harrington

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i was just thinking about this last night i have tired the whole micro thing but i cant get my bubbles small enough with the cheap pump i have but the thought crossed my mind about an emitter like the 02 grow one i know a diy version can be made has anyone thought or mentioned this they would make a significant nano micro bubble??? someone may have mentioned it already just a thought though
 
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i was just thinking about this last night i have tired the whole micro thing but i cant get my bubbles small enough with the cheap pump i have but the thought crossed my mind about an emitter like the 02 grow one i know a diy version can be made has anyone thought or mentioned this they would make a significant nano micro bubble??? someone may have mentioned it already just a thought though
You'll need a pressure rated pump. The tetra whisper 10 didn't work for me. Someone posted saying the tetra whisper 40 did it for him.
 
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Hello everyone. this week has been a more steady week. Skimmate production has slowed down. Not sure if it is related to my wood stone not producing the small bubbles anymore. I adjusted where it was under the last baffle, but no improvement. I'll change out to a new air stone tonight. I've been bubbling for 10 hours a night and have my skimmer on 12 hours a night. I had to step up my feeding to keep nutrients in the water. NO3=5, PO4=.04
 
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That's awesome. My skimmate has more than doubled. Not really seeing nitrates go down that much. It's gone from 32 to 24. Alk consumption is still increasing. I am dosing 40 more ml per day now

IMG_1479160048.020581.jpg


That's one week
Did you use the Lee's limewwod air stone also?
 

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