Ziss Bubble Filter - Glug, glug, glug

[Theresa_M]

Hello,

installed my new filter yesterday and cannot stop the boiling water type bubbles coming through it. Huge bubbles are glugging out of the top. I’ve taken it out and apart, reinstalled the rigid tubing on the back to ensure it’s straight and tight, and messed about with the air valve and no matter what I do, I’m just not getting those fine bubbles coming out of the top that I’m seeing in other people’s aquariums.

Please advise.

Thank you!

[Anita]

12 minutes ago, Theresa_M said:

Hello,

installed my new filter yesterday and cannot stop the boiling water type bubbles coming through it. Huge bubbles are glugging out of the top. I’ve taken it out and apart, reinstalled the rigid tubing on the back to ensure it’s straight and tight, and messed about with the air valve and no matter what I do, I’m just not getting those fine bubbles coming out of the top that I’m seeing in other people’s aquariums.

Please advise.

Thank you!

So by "Ziss Bubble Filter" do you mean an Aquarium Co-Op Coarse Sponge Filter and a Ziss Never-Clog Air Stone? 

  

It took me a bit of fidgeting to get the bubbles the way I wanted. So I hope the following explanation helps!

See the fiber disks (they may be a different color than green) sitting between the two black, plastic parts of the air stone? Those fiber disks are what create your bubbles. Grasp the top plastic part of the air stone and twist the bottom part clockwise (to the right). This tightens the gap between the top and bottom plastic parts and squeezes the fiber disks together. The tighter you squeeze the fiber disks, the smaller you make the bubbles. I have a weak grip, so I need to hang on really tight to both parts and crank hard. That said, I would not recommend using pliers because you could easily damage the plastic threads and ruin the air stone.

Also, try turning your air shut-off valve way, way down until the air is barely bubbling from the outlet tube of your sponge filter. Then, very gently, nudge the shut-off valve open just a teensy bit at a time until you get a fine stream of bubbles. You want just enough air to create a stream of fine bubbles. The faster you push air through the air stone, the more likely it is you will end up with big, boiling bubbles. 

Aquarium Co-Op also has a video on optimizing your sponge filter. 

 

[Theresa_M]

5 minutes ago, Anita said:

So by "Ziss Bubble Filter" do you mean an Aquarium Co-Op Coarse Sponge Filter and a Ziss Never-Clog Air Stone? 

  

It took me a bit of fidgeting to get the bubbles the way I wanted. So I hope the following explanation helps!

See the fiber disks (they may be a different color than green) sitting between the two black, plastic parts of the air stone? Those fiber disks are what create your bubbles. Grasp the top plastic part of the air stone and twist the bottom part clockwise (to the right). This tightens the gap between the top and bottom plastic parts and squeezes the fiber disks together. The tighter you squeeze the fiber disks, the smaller you make the bubbles. I have a weak grip, so I need to hang on really tight to both parts and crank hard. That said, I would not recommend using pliers because you could easily damage the plastic threads and ruin the air stone.

Also, try turning your air shut-off valve way, way down until the air is barely bubbling from the outlet tube of your sponge filter. Then, very gently, nudge the shut-off valve open just a teensy bit at a time until you get a fine stream of bubbles. You want just enough air to create a stream of fine bubbles. The faster you push air through the air stone, the more likely it is you will end up with big, boiling bubbles. 

Aquarium Co-Op also has a video on optimizing your sponge filter. 

 

Thank you so much for replying! I do have the Co-op sponge filters and Ziss air stones in all of my tanks and love them. However, in my 75, I was only running one large sponge and thought my tank could benefit from an additional filter, so I added the Ziss https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/filtration/products/ziss-bubble-bio-moving-bed-filter. This is the one I’m having issues with. Sorry for the confusion! I should have added the photo to my original post.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Theresa_M

[Anita]

20 minutes ago, Theresa_M said:

Thank you so much for replying! I do have the Co-op sponge filters and Ziss air stones in all of my tanks and love them. However, in my 75, I was only running one large sponge and thought my tank could benefit from an additional filter, so I added the Ziss https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/filtration/products/ziss-bubble-bio-moving-bed-filter. This is the one I’m having issues with. Sorry for the confusion! I should have added the photo to my original post.

Ah, I have that one too! I am afraid I have never been able to get fine bubbles from that one. And yes, mine also produces very LARGE and very LOUD bubbles. I believe this has to do with the mechanics of the tumbling media, aka the moving bed. I believe a faster airflow is needed to keep the filter media tumbling properly. For example, I discovered the USB Nano Air Pump does not push enough air to keep the media tumbling. Hence my conclusion that the moving bed filter needs a higher and faster airflow. And as I said, the faster the air flow, the larger the bubbles. 

Sorry I couldn't be more help! If you come up with a solution, be sure to let us know! 😁

[lefty o]

try tilting the filter like 10 degrees.

[Anita]

@lefty o has a good suggestion. I am going to try it myself!

I forgot one more thing. Haha! The plastic media beads are designed so that when covered with a good growth of biofilm, they have almost neutral buoyancy. When the filter is new, the "naked" beads are slightly buoyant. Because of this, they tend to float up and clump together at the top of the filter column rather than tumble evenly throughout the entire filter column. This clumping media seems to make the air bubbles coalesce and "burp" out in eruptive spurts rather than in a continuous stream of bubbles. As the media beads get closer to neutral buoyancy, they stop clumping at the top of the filter. You can run less air and still get nice tumbling action. 😁

[Andy's Fish Den]

I have not used this particular filter myself, but I have heard that it takes some time to "break in" and that the bubbles become smaller and less noisy after it is broke in. 

[Colu]

I have found only way to make it less noisy is to have it as close to surface as possible