Hi All,
I spent this weekend working on what I thought was a simple tank project, adding a manifold loop in my return pipeline, and attaching my pH and ORP probes to the manifold. The only practical place to mount this manifold was in the pipe running from the sump outlet to the main return pump inlet. I somehow miscalculated the design, and the probes protruded into the actual return pipe, thus slightly reducing the diameter of the pipe. This had the undesirable effect of causing some cavitation in the return pump, resulting in a large amount of very small bubbles being "blown" into my tank. Due to time constraints, I'm not able to remove the manifold until next weekend, and the tank will just have to live with the bubbles.
Now, what does this have to do with leather coral expansion, you may rightly ask...
Well, after an hour or two of this highly aerated tank water, both my large leather corals have expanded to a size which I've never seen before. I would guess they both expanded at least 15% larger than normal.
Although I normally have good water flow in my tank, I can only guess that the small bubbles caused more surface agitation, resulting in an increased oxygen level in the water, which the leathers obviously enjoy... Any other theories of guesstimates ??
Anyway, here is a photo showing my one leather actually touching the water surface - the tank is 700mm deep, and the coral is nearly 450mm in height, and about 350mm in width...
Any comments ???
Hennie
I spent this weekend working on what I thought was a simple tank project, adding a manifold loop in my return pipeline, and attaching my pH and ORP probes to the manifold. The only practical place to mount this manifold was in the pipe running from the sump outlet to the main return pump inlet. I somehow miscalculated the design, and the probes protruded into the actual return pipe, thus slightly reducing the diameter of the pipe. This had the undesirable effect of causing some cavitation in the return pump, resulting in a large amount of very small bubbles being "blown" into my tank. Due to time constraints, I'm not able to remove the manifold until next weekend, and the tank will just have to live with the bubbles.
Now, what does this have to do with leather coral expansion, you may rightly ask...
Well, after an hour or two of this highly aerated tank water, both my large leather corals have expanded to a size which I've never seen before. I would guess they both expanded at least 15% larger than normal.
Although I normally have good water flow in my tank, I can only guess that the small bubbles caused more surface agitation, resulting in an increased oxygen level in the water, which the leathers obviously enjoy... Any other theories of guesstimates ??
Anyway, here is a photo showing my one leather actually touching the water surface - the tank is 700mm deep, and the coral is nearly 450mm in height, and about 350mm in width...
Any comments ???
Hennie