Silly Question? Fizzy Or Bubbly

[Davey Jones]

Air stones, there seems to be those that bubble & those that fizz. Other than the look, is there any difference?

I prefer the look of the fizzing kind, don't want to embarrass myself in the lfs asking for fizzing air stones though , does anyone know what they are called?

 

[doresy]

Stab in the dark.....bubbling=coarse air stone.......'fizzing' = fine airstone

I don't personally favour either but, what I have seen, the fizzing ones tend to make the water look a bit cloudy with the very fine air bubbles....just my view

 

[Davey Jones]

Stab in the dark.....bubbling=coarse air stone.......'fizzing' = fine airstone

I don't personally favour either but, what I have seen, the fizzing ones tend to make the water look a bit cloudy with the very fine air bubbles....just my view

It seems the only time i see the fizzy ones (in the lfs's), they seem to be in marine set ups and the freshwater have bubbly one if any? Thats why i wondered what the difference was besides the ascetics

 

[InaneCathode]

From what i've been told, the idea is to create more water movement, as the oxygen you get is actually from disturbing the surface, not from the fizzing itself. That's whay i'd probably say a 'bubbly' one is better 'casue it moves more water than the fizzy kind.

 

[Davey Jones]

From what i've been told, the idea is to create more water movement, as the oxygen you get is actually from disturbing the surface, not from the fizzing itself. That's whay i'd probably say a 'bubbly' one is better 'casue it moves more water than the fizzy kind.

Good point, i was thinking of a lot of bubbles though, probably 4 or 5 columns in a 4' tank...

 

[andywg]

A marine tank will have smaller bubbles as a byproduct of all the salts dissolved in the water. This is why protein skimmers work on SW tanks and not on FW tanks.

There difference between larger and smaller bubbles would be a greater surface area to allow gas exchange while the bubbles are in the water, however the bubbles would still not be in the water long enough for any meaningful gas exchange to take place.

It you are concerned about dissolved oxygen levels then you are better off pointing a filter or powerheads outlet towards teh surface to create ripples.

Air stones are better really for asthetics in most tank setups. They are not commonly used in salt water as the small bubbles can cause problems with the corals and it causes huge amounts of salt creep, and having everything within a 2 foot radius of the surface covered in salt is not much fun.

 

[Davey Jones]

A marine tank will have smaller bubbles as a byproduct of all the salts dissolved in the water. This is why protein skimmers work on SW tanks and not on FW tanks.

There difference between larger and smaller bubbles would be a greater surface area to allow gas exchange while the bubbles are in the water, however the bubbles would still not be in the water long enough for any meaningful gas exchange to take place.

It you are concerned about dissolved oxygen levels then you are better off pointing a filter or powerheads outlet towards teh surface to create ripples.

Air stones are better really for asthetics in most tank setups. They are not commonly used in salt water as the small bubbles can cause problems with the corals and it causes huge amounts of salt creep, and having everything within a 2 foot radius of the surface covered in salt is not much fun.

Thanks for the info..I want the finer bubbles purely for aesthetics really as the filter creates enough surface disturbance. Thanks again

 

[newtotropical]

Davey im with you. I have a 18" bubble wall but the bubbles are to big! Any ideas how to sort them? Can you buy different grade stones?

 

[Davey Jones]

Davey im with you. I have a 18" bubble wall but the bubbles are to big! Any ideas how to sort them? Can you buy different grade stones?

On ebay I've seen some advertised as fine bubbles, but haven't tried them so not sure... I was hoping to find out myself..I think I'm going to have to go to my lfs and ask for fizzy air stones & hope they don't laugh me out of the shop

 

[Davey Jones]

Davey im with you. I have a 18" bubble wall but the bubbles are to big! Any ideas how to sort them? Can you buy different grade stones?

I just bought a fine ceramic airstone, but it's still not right...bubbles not fizzz...It was expensive as well