# What do y'all think of bubblers?



## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

Not so much for water agitation as mush as decoration.....liking that stream of bubbles. I like those round ones that are a good 6" in diameter. I seen one in a tank pushed up against the wall and it looked neat. I like keeping the Mbuna rock aguascape but like bibblers to and don't need any fancy LED lights either. What are some good brands? Do you have them in your Chichlid tanks?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I find them noisy and not natural looking. But they won't hurt the fish so go for it!


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## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> I find them noisy and not natural looking. But they won't hurt the fish so go for it!


Yeah, I like natural but husband says if I'm worried about water agitation (which I believe I have enough)to get a bubbler which to me really doesn't do much.


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

My bubbler is the noisiest piece of equipment in my tank, followed closely by my HOB. I am not too concerned by the noise since it would be basically just as noisy without it but if I had a canister filter then I would probably find a way to get around the bubbler. I do like the looks. I actually glued small rocks together around one of the cheap blue sticks so that it camoflages the source of the bubbles and it looks like it is coming out of rocks at the back of my tank. This will have a negligible impact on the agitation in a decent sized tank - in a small tank it can be quite significant. I would strongly suggest some other method of generating agitation.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I prefer to disrupt the surface with filtration.


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## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> I prefer to disrupt the surface with filtration.


Yep, that's my way. Plus I love the sound. So Zen. I feel like I live by a stream. Nice. A stream of piranhas lol


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I use a small air stone/bubbler tucked into the corner of each of my tanks these days plugged into a separate power outlet than the filtration is plugged into. I learned a valuable lesson about a year and a half ago. I had a power strip fail which must have happened after I went upstairs for the night (tanks are in the basement office). So overnight my heavily stocked 75g Mbuna/hap tank was without any surface agitation from the filter since the power strip died (probably about 15hrs) which was ample enough time to suffocate 21 of 23 adult fish.

So it doesn't matter how much surface agitation a filter makes if the filter stops running. Power strip failure is not a very common thing but it does happen and it did to me which resulted in losing almost an entire tank. So that is why I always put a small stone in the back corner of all my tanks these days plugged into a different outlet than the main power strip.

Just something for everyone to consider because I never considered it until it was too late, but it won't happen to me again that's for sure.


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## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

Steve C said:


> I use a small air stone/bubbler tucked into the corner of each of my tanks these days plugged into a separate power outlet than the filtration is plugged into. I learned a valuable lesson about a year and a half ago. I had a power strip fail which must have happened after I went upstairs for the night (tanks are in the basement office). So overnight my heavily stocked 75g Mbuna/hap tank was without any surface agitation from the filter since the power strip died (probably about 15hrs) which was ample enough time to suffocate 21 of 23 adult fish.
> 
> So it doesn't matter how much surface agitation a filter makes if the filter stops running. Power strip failure is not a very common thing but it does happen and it did to me which resulted in losing almost an entire tank. So that is why I always put a small stone in the back corner of all my tanks these days plugged into a different outlet than the main power strip.
> 
> Just something for everyone to consider because I never considered it until it was too late, but it won't happen to me again that's for sure.


Gotcha! Sunday at 1 AM we had a blackout. My husband said it only lasted 30 minutes but I woke up at 5 AM tweaking about all the fish. I went and checked every tank in the house, all 5 to make sure they were all on and running. Everyone was okay. Yeah, these things happen. Very good idea.


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## Riippasaarni1 (Jun 21, 2016)

Maybe not natural, but it seems some cichlids like them. I see them sometimes staying close the ''air shower'' like taking some kind of baths. About the noise..some of the new ones are quite noiseless and the bubbles won't make sound either if they are small enough and water is deep enough.


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## Melanddave6571 (Jul 5, 2016)

Riippasaarni1 said:


> Maybe not natural, but it seems some cichlids like them. I see them sometimes staying close the ''air shower'' like taking some kind of baths. About the noise..some of the new ones are quite noiseless and the bubbles won't make sound either if they are small enough and water is deep enough.


I had a power head in mine and (no longer do) and a couple would swim right in front of it. It was like a game. Reminded me of those parachute tubes where you really don't jump out of a plane.


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## Riippasaarni1 (Jun 21, 2016)

I need bigger airstone..those two cichlids can't fit on it at the same time..and they are pushing each other away. :fish:


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## MysteryMan (Aug 7, 2016)

It might not look natural when the bubbles are in a conformed line or circle, but place a large flat rock or log over it and then it becomes much more "natural" because bubbles do rise randomly from the bottoms of lakes and rivers, just much slower. So if you get an adjustable air pump you can turn down the pressure so it just bubbles once in awhile, just a thought..


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