Recommended airflow for UAS bubbler

[SantaMonica]

Recommended airflow for UAS bubbler:

0.012 cfm of air per inch of width of screen.

0.005 cfm of air per cm of width of screen.

0.33 lpm of air per inch of width of screen.

0.13 lpm of air per cm of width of screen.

[ruddybop]

How did you come to your conclusion SM. Experiment with different air pumps and visually estimate from the amount of bubbles or some type air measurement tool.

And is this the minimum air per inch/cfm..

[SantaMonica]

Yes, experiment. Taller screens probably need more.

[Othello]

How do you measure flow of an air pump? Is it supposed to be quoted on the package with other specs? Or is therenany way to measure?

[SantaMonica]

Is usually printed on the pump.

You can hold a gallon or liter bottle upside down underwater, and see how long it takes to fill with air.

[Othello]

Is usually printed on the pump.

You can hold a gallon or liter bottle upside down underwater, and see how long it takes to fill with air.

Ok cool...is there a problem if the flow is MORE than this? Or is this the minimum recommendation?

[SantaMonica]

More is better, but is harder to control the bubbles in the tank.

[Othello]

SM I keep hearing about bubbles in the tank being bad...not to go OT or anything but are they any danger or is it just an aesthetic thing?

[SantaMonica]

Bubble will hurt sponges and irritate some SW fish. I don't know of any harm in FW.

[Othello]

OKK...for FW every one uses air stones in the tank itself so i dont think there would be any issues...

for SW, all the fish stores I have seen here have air stones in their tanks (FO with LR in the sumps)...none in coral display tanks though...

but then I guess, judging by what I have been experiencing with most of them regarding subject matter knowledge (especially when discussing cycling, nitrogen cycle and scrubbers) seems to be close to nil :( (not that I am an expert mind u...i just happen to read a lot and like to experiment)

[jakef150]

okay- whats recommend # for hang on UAS 5 Square inches 31 square cm?

Im assuming (bad math myself) 1.65 LPM ???

Thanks

[SantaMonica]

Does not matter the area. Only matters the width.

[sjmusic2]

Do you run the air continuously like the water flow...or run it periodically like the lighting ?

[SantaMonica]

Continuous

[bguile]

Recommended airflow for UAS bubbler:

0.012 cfm of air per inch of width of screen.

0.005 cfm of air per cm of width of screen.

0.33 lpm of air per inch of width of screen.

0.13 lpm of air per cm of width of screen.

I'm not sure if there's a chart table with this information, but I thought I'd contribute to the community since I was looking for it. According to, http://answers.tetra-fish.com/answers/0596-en_us/product/4250/tetra-whisper-air-pumps-questions-answers/questions.htm, a Whisper 60 does 2.6 lpm which is good up to a ~7.5 in, and a Whisper 100 does 3.3 lpm which is good up to 10 in. I'm assuming this is when you tee both outputs to one input.

Hope that helps someone. Maybe there could be a sticky dedicated to pumps and ratings??

[srusso]

Yes, experiment. Taller screens probably need more.

Can you talk more about these experiments? How many tanks tested? How were the experiment/s performed?

[SantaMonica]

Not many tests. Just mine. So the numbers are open for adjustment. But I'm sure that more will be better.

[Sly]

Hmm, more is better. Got me thinking. What would happen if you built a scrubber screen inside a protein skimmer? Mine produces extremely fine foam. I could build a screen insert and place it down in the skimmer. Place lights around the skimmer. Bubbles surround the screen on all sides and if there are any proteins left then they drift up to the collection cup for disposal. Kind of like a skimmer/scrubber combo...

[SantaMonica]

Well that's been thought of but I've not seen it built yet.

Fine bubbles would not penetrate the growth as well, however.

[sjmusic2]

Sorta tried that with a seaclone skimmer but wasn't satisfied with the results. I pulled the plug and came up with an in-sump overflow instead that is working like a charm. In fact, I'm building an led array for it right now !