Bubbles or no bubbles

[bassman]

I just set up my octopus tank yesterday and installed a bubble wand on the back wall of the tank. The wand creates a wall of bubbles on the entire back of the tank.

I really like the look of it but after doing some reading I see that some people don't recommend bubbles in the water column.

I was wondering if I should remove the wand.

My octopus is not in the tank yet, he is currently residing in one of my other tanks which has a large, circular airstone in it. It is not on the floor of the aquarium, it's just under the water surface so the bubbles aren't floating from the bottom of the tank to the top.

 

[cthulhu77]

Some aquarists have had a big problem with the bubble wands...to err on the side of safety, I would take it out.

 

[monty]

in particular, there is some evidence that it's possible for a bubble to get caught an octo's mantle such that it causes some sort of fatal problem... this doesn't seem common, but it's a known risk so most octo-keepers prefer to be "better safe than sorry" although there are a few people who have kept octos with bubblers anyway and have gotten away with no troubles. I would lean pretty strongly in the direction of taking it out-- it's a risk for relatively little benefit (except looking cool...)

 

[Nancy]

In a discussion some time ago, an airlift was mentioned as a way to have bubbles and oxygenate the water, but keep the actual bubbles away from the octopus. I haven't tried this, but I do know that octos can take things apart, so I don't know whether this would really work.
Anyone tried it with an octopus?

Some time ago, before we realized bubbles presented a danger, one of our octo owners was using a bubbler in the tank. Her bimac moved the bubbler into its den!

Nancy

 

[bassman]

Agreed. I am playing with the idea of making a false wall (or box if you will) out of plexi-glass. Basically I would make a thin box with screen on either end to let water in/out. It would be 1" below the water surface so the bubbles would only travel 1" after exiting the box.

Any thoughts?

 

[cthulhu77]

Please do not take this the wrong way...but, it seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Whether bubbles are, or are not, a danger to captive cephs is still a matter for speculation, but I would probably say that going with the safety side of not having them would be the wisest course.


Yoda

 

[bassman]

You are probably right. So should a person have ANY bubbles or airstones in the tank then? I was under the impression that octopus require some sort of aeration via a airstone.

 

[monty]

normally, your filtration circulation should be enough to aerate the water enough for it not to be a problem for the octo... if you have a skimmer and a wet-dry filter that can handle the waste, it should be enough that separate airstones and such aren't needed. However, as Nancy has mentioned, some people have wanted to use an "air lift." If you want to be safe from the octo messing with it, though, it might be better to put an airstone in the sump or refugium rather than the actual tank... if you have good circulation, I'd think that oxygenated water going from the sump system back to the tank would give a boost to the O2 levels in the main tank without exposing the octo to bubbles... (although it's possible I'm wrong on this... I'd expect that disolved O2 stays in the water for minutes or hours, so that's plenty of time for the water to be mixed from the sump to the main tank, but if it's more like seconds, maybe the O2 would largely diffuse out before the pumps move it back to the main tank.)

In any case, between overflows, spray bars, skimmers, and wet/dry filters, there is usually plenty of air-and-water mixing during the circulation for the filtration you need for your octo.

 

[Nancy]

The best way to provide plenty of oxygen is to use a wet/dry filter, protein skimmer, and then add a (well-protected) powerhead. Mine is near the waterline, aimed at the water coming out of the return.

That way you don't have to worry about bubbles.

Nancy

 

[Jean]

We had an air lift in the octopus tank a few years ago (after a refit) it was OK but we had an octopus who liked to sit at the surface and it got air in the mantle and died. It seemed incapable of expelling the air and couldn't submerge properly and thus couldn't hunt, it ended up exhausted from trying to submerge. We tried to treat it by submerging it in a pot (this often works with fish with swim bladder issues and seahorses with bubble disease) but it was no good. We now have no bubblers of any sort in the tank and rely on water movement to keep it aerated.


I would remove the wand.

J

 

[Nancy]

Thanks for this information, Jean - so even an airlift isn't safe for octopuses. Better to oxygenate in other ways.

Nancy

 

[nickcoletti]

Alright, heres my issue... I have a 75g set up with a fluval 404 canister filter. Its got an intake and outtake but no air in between. I have a power head that is pretty octo proof and between that and the outtake it makes a pretty nice current. i have an air block made of wood with a little pump connected to it that was for a ten gallon tank. I an new to owning a octopus and hear that air is an important issue with the octo having 3 hearts and all. My octo hangs out in the bubbles everyday. He does not spend a lot of time in them but it makes it a point to go thru them and sit for a while. After reading this i took the air block out but am now worried about lack of air in the water. Should i be and is so whats the best way to fix the problem?

 

[Nancy]

Octos like bubbles, whether or not they're good for them.

What you might add is a protein skimmer, which would help in general keeping your tank in good shape and help oxygenate the water. We recommend protein skimmers for all octopus tanks.

Nancy

 

[Thales]

We had an air lift in the octopus tank a few years ago (after a refit) it was OK but we had an octopus who liked to sit at the surface and it got air in the mantle and died. It seemed incapable of expelling the air and couldn't submerge properly and thus couldn't hunt, it ended up exhausted from trying to submerge. We tried to treat it by submerging it in a pot (this often works with fish with swim bladder issues and seahorses with bubble disease) but it was no good. We now have no bubblers of any sort in the tank and rely on water movement to keep it aerated.


I would remove the wand.

J

I made an airlift that has undergravel filter protection screens (the kind normally at the top of the UG uplift) on both the top and bottom. The top is pretty even with the surface.
Jean, did the airlift you mentioned above meet at the water surface and did the occy got air in its mantle from the air lift or from hanging out at the surface?

RR

 

[Jean]

I made an airlift that has undergravel filter protection screens (the kind normally at the top of the UG uplift) on both the top and bottom. The top is pretty even with the surface.
Jean, did the airlift you mentioned above meet at the water surface and did the occy got air in its mantle from the air lift or from hanging out at the surface?

RR

Could be either, the point was the flow of bubbles attracted him to a fatal position in the tank, whether the air in the mantle came from being at the surface or from the lift.

I'm inclined to think it was the lift tho' we've had several who habitiually sit at the surface (& leave the tank ) but had no air in the mantle porblems.

J