Fine Bubble Flotation Filtration

Sims any pump / powerhead with a venturi / air line inlet will work.

A lot of powerheads come with 2 nozzle attachments, one with an airline attchment that guy's use in fresh water applications. Hook one of those up to a timer that comes on for 15 minutes every couple of hours.
 
Sounds like a great idea so long as pockets of larger bubbles didn`t collect as i know of lps that have died from a bubble under their skeleton slowly diffusing into their flesh. I can only presume that they tend to be in slightly deeper areas on the reef and therefore bubbles from crashing waves wouldn`t be an issue.
 
I doubt it's good for clams. So that's clams, lps and sponges. I don't have any sponges or clams. So what about in an SPS only tank? Would bubbles under something like plating montipora cause die-off etc?

Essentially this idea of bubbles helping get particles/DOCs out of the tank is like turning your entire tank into a protein skimmer.
 
Surly with lots of random flow these air pockets will be removed? I got a OR2500 pump from my AM1000 I can try this with but don't wanna cause any problem for my livestock....
 
Sims if you have a spare pump give it a try.
Start with short 2 or 3 minute bursts and and check the response of the corals after. Also look for visible bubbles that are left.
Shouldn't cause any problems with your livestock like that.
 
Interesting topic, will post some interesting info on this tonight.

I have a pump which occasionally sucks in air, especially when I disturb the water surface (like sticking hand in tank). I have noticed an increase in slime (mucus) production from acropora which come into contact with the bubbles.

Whether this increased mucus production is good or not, is what concerns me..................
From Global Coral Reef Alliance, letters to Nature:
First, while some corals may constantly secrete mucus, few do so at a constant rate, as stated. Copious mucus release is the first visible sign of a generalized response to environmental stress (Helgol. Meeresunters. 37: 113-137, 1984; Revista de Biología Tropical (5):173-185, 1998), including sediment and freshwater (Science 145: 383-386, 1964), aerial exposure (which was used to determine mean mucus production in the paper)........................In summary, we believe that the quantity and quality of coral mucus release and its role as a microbial substrate is highly variable in space and time, and fluctuates with the varying stresses corals are exposed to.
Click to expand...



http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cach...4.pdf+coral+mucus+function&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4

Here we show that released
coral mucus efficiently traps organic matter from the water
column and rapidly carries energy and nutrients to the reef
lagoon sediment, which acts as a biocatalytic mineralizing filter.
In the Great Barrier Reef, the dominant genus of hard corals,
Acropora, exudes up to 4.8 litres of mucus per square metre of
reef area per day. Between 56% and 80% of this mucus dissolves
in the reef water, which is filtered through the lagoon sands.
Click to expand...

So coral sliming and releasing this slime is all good..............It feeds rest of reef, sand bed etc. Are we removing more trapped particles by having the corals release slime by aerating the water??? Surely corals produce enough slime on their own to rid their surface of excess foods, particulate matter and bacteria..........
I can see how stimulating mucus release into our tanks can trap particles in our water as the slime works its way to the skimmer, sandbed etc, but is this a good thing entirely.............?

What about:

News in Science - Coral uses slimy mucus to donate food - 04/03/2004
Anna Salleh​
ABC Science Online

Mucus, which you can see dripping off coral as it is lifted out of the water, plays a role in cleaning the coral of dirt. It also protects coral from bacterial infection.
Click to expand...

From http://www.uvi.edu/coral.reefer/feeding.htm :

They (corals) utilize two main methods of prey capture: nematocyst adhesion and mucus entrapment (Sebens and Johnson, 1991). Nematocysts on the tentacles and mesentarial filaments can be used to sting prey and move it into the mouth. Some corals will trap prey in sticky mucus on their tentacles and move the prey into the mouth using the mucus and cilia
Click to expand...
.

By doing what is proposed, are we removing too much mucus from the coral too fast......? Is the coral being given enough oppurtunity to produce enough mucus to trap food and protect itself/..........?

I would imagine that a great amount of energy is used in producing coral mucus. Could that energy not be utilised in a more beneficial manner, such as growth and immuno response?????


And to come a full circle in going nowhere:

A lot of the corals we keep, especially acropora, porites, etc. Produce large amounts of mucus when exposed to air during low tides.
This obviously serves to protect them against the sun and wind (drying out) and to reduce wind drag. Now our corals are very seldom exposed to air. Could this aerating of the water stimulating mucus production simulate the amount of mucus released after a low tide.????????

 
Good question !!! :)

My concerns with this were the excess sliming, particularly with captive bred frags that have adapted to tank life.
 
Just to add to this thread. Last night I was fiddling with my tank. Moving some rocks and making a general mess. That tank looked pretty murky. So I connected a piece of airline tubing to a powerhead. I am using the powerhead that came with my Jebo. It creates really fine bubbles for a venturi. I let it run for about 20 mins. At this time a lot of the crap was lifted and went into the skimmer. As a result the skimmer produced a lot of thick brown foam.
After the 20mins was up I disconnected the venturi and the tank looked really good. I think this idea does work BUT I would not do it every day.
Another good point with this system is that it does help to get rid of cynao. The added oxygenation seems to make it 'die' back a bit.
 
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