Does mirco bubbles cause any damage to the filter? I'm just curious as my Eheim does it all the time and I actually don't mind the bubbles, but I started to think if it will cause any damages or if it's a sign of something bad that might happen.
Mirco Bubble Damages?
- Thread starter benzjamin13
- Start date
I imagine if there's any damage associated with it, it would be from heat and friction on the impeller and other moving parts that are normally kept cool by being in contact with water. I noticed my Fluval 405 used to run a little hot right after cleaning the filter as I was never able to fully purge it of air. Interestingly enough my Cascade which is a great deal cheaper never seems to have that problem, never mind the fact that I went through 3 Fluval 405's in a month defective seal or impellers. Something that again never happened with my cheap Cascades, plus I love the spray bar on them. I'm convinced surface turbulence helps a lot with gas transfer. Sorry for the rant, hope at least the first part of my answer made sense and was helpful.
I've had the tank set up for 2 months now. It never had the bubbles until maybe 2 weeks ago (I think).
I know what you mean. I know Eheim products can be pretty pricey people swear by it, but besides this filter, I've bought multiple heaters from them which are all in the trash now while people speak out against the Stealth heaters, but they've been the best and longest lasting heaters I've ever had.
I know what you mean. I know Eheim products can be pretty pricey people swear by it, but besides this filter, I've bought multiple heaters from them which are all in the trash now while people speak out against the Stealth heaters, but they've been the best and longest lasting heaters I've ever had.
Hello; If the micro bubbles happened to be the result of cavitation (sp?) then there can be erosion of the impeller surfaces. The way I understand cavitation is that a very low pressure is created on propeller/impeller blades as they spin. This sudden lowering of pressure causes the problem. I have read two different explainations. One is that the sudden low pressure allows the dissolve gasses in a fluid to explossively errupt from the fluid. Another is that the sudden low pressure allows the water to suddenly boil into steam. (Sort of like being able to boil water at much lower temps on a high mountain, but even more extreme.) Either way the sudden expansion of the bubbles on the surface of an impeller seems to be able to cause destructive errosion.
Is there any way that air is being pulled into the pump at some point?
Is there any way that air is being pulled into the pump at some point?
Are your intake clear of debris and all your hoses and the connections tight? Also, do you run airstones in your tank?
Which model of eheim do you use?
Which model of eheim do you use?
I guess I'll look into it just to be on the safe side. I was kind of enjoying the extra aeration too, lol! There's no air going into the intake. It's the Eheim Ecco 2236.
I believe cavitation only becomes an issue with pumps when the inlet flow of a high powered pump is constricted. This causes the low pressure situation around the impeller where cavitation can occur. I don't believe that most aquarium pumps have enough power and are of a design that cavitation will ever be an issue.
Both of your statements are correct that cavitation is a micro implosion due to an extreme low pressure condition. I have a couple of ultrasonic cleaners that clean via ultrasonic wave induced cavitation and they are phenomenal in their cleaning ability. The cavitation bubbles in ultrasonic cleaners dissipate as quickly as they form and do not fill the water with micro bubbles. I suspect that pump cavitation is similar in that you will never see the micro bubbles from cavitation in the water column.
I would not worry about micro bubbles in an aquarium pump. The amount of air due to micro bubbles vs the amount of water in the regular flow of an aquarium pump is so minimal that their effect on cooling is minimal. (Running an impeller dry is a completely different matter though).
Hello; I have wondred about this myself. I suspected (at least hoped) that an aquarium pump manufacturer would address this if it was a potential issue.
i'm not sure if this applies but for marine applications, air is sucked or pumped into a pump to produce microbubbles in the skimmer. no worries and that is the intention.