ppanther Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Okay thats weird.... Heres what I originally said: Hi All, The weirdest thing is happening in one of our smaller aquariums, its one of those all in one models that has the water outlet above water level, flowing steady streams of water straight down into the water. Anyway, I dosed the aquarium with melafix today as I'm putting in a couple of stressed fish - and ever since its been making these extremely weird "underwater bubbles", that rather than being bubbles of air within water, appear to be bubbles of water within water ... It seems a little crazy to my scientific mind but its happening... They look exactly like bubbles - except they are only very gently rising to the surface, and they frequently pop when touching plants of substrate - yet in the process of popping no other bubbles are formed! They just disappear (hence my assuming its bubbles of water within water). Weird as, but the guppies are having fun chasing and biting them only to realise there was nothing there :S Anybody else experienced this? I took a photo but it just looks like a normal bubble so I'd need to take a video to show it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Could be the oil in the melafix........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I have noticed that when you put Melafix into a tank, the bubbles that come from an air stone become smaller. As small as the same sized air stone as if it were running in salt water. I haven't seen the phenomena you are talking about. Perhaps it is somehow due to the Melafix not mixing fully with the water? Either was, it is not something I would be overly concerned about, and I realise you are not. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppanther Posted April 13, 2006 Author Share Posted April 13, 2006 Thanks for the replies, yeah its not something I'm concened about - just scientifically thinking about it seemed quite odd. There was not nearly enough melafix to be added to the water for it to be bubbles of oil - not to mention that if it had of been oil it would of still risen to the surface gradually... These bubbles were just following the current (and were quite large - about the size of a large marble). Additionally, when they "popped" on the substrate or plants, no oil or air was visibly rising to the surface. Next time I dose I shall take a video. Weird stuff indeed. But yes I get the much smaller bubbles in our 5x2x2 when adding melafix, almost as fine as the bubbles in soft-drink. Looks quite nice cascading over the large log ive got in there - maybe I should keep the tank permenantly dosed! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I'm not saying they are actually oil bubbles but the oil could be affecting it so that there is a different surface tension compared with normal air bubbles. After all Melafix is only 1% of the bottle's volume. When dosed it could be as low as 0.001% in the tank its not inconceivable that your eyes may not be able to see the oil at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuong Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I'll have a poke at this as I just had a few lectures on Surface Active Agents/Surfactants. The melafix has probably distributed itself primarily toward the top quarter of the tank, so as the water outlet pumps water out it goes through this aggregated layer of melafix. I'm assuming there are some surface active agents in with the melafix so that the tea tree oil can be dissolved in water for it to have any therapeutic effect. Then it's simply a matter of a weird air, oil, water, and surfactant mixture. You can have solutions with dispersions of water, in oil, in water which is probably what this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I find the same thing as craig. My side-drops bubble across the surface of my tanks and if I add melafix or the home made one, all the bubbles on the surface are much smaller than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve24cro Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 actually i think its the salt in melafix that changes the waters properties, makes it like salt water. If you look at a reef aquarium with a air stone, all the bubbles are much much finer, because of the salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Is there salt in tea tree oil? I certainly dont add salt when I make the home made one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 i dont think theres any salt in melafix ,even if there was the amount in a standard dose would be very small and ineffective,no the reason for the bubbles is that most oils will foam if agitated enough,hydraulic oil aftr passing through a pump is highly aerated and the bubbles dont dissipate easily,the same happens with melafix the oil will never fully disolve in water just separate into small globules each contaning thusands of micro bubbles which will go after a period of time but do look strange for the first few hours i often wonder how the manufacturers found out that if you pour relatively large amounts of oil into an aquarium it not only cures fish of a multitude of conditions but doesent harm the filter bacteria,some fish even enjoy swimming through it when its first put in , however brilliant stuff that no fishkeeper should be without or better still "alternafix" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve24cro Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 im pretty sure theres plenty of salt in it, its one of the bacteria killers in melafix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Anyone willing to do the taste test on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 yeah hold on ill do it------well just took a slug makes you tongue feel cool,lovely fresh breath couldnt taste any salt but the taste of tea tree oil is overpowering so you probably wouldnt -maybe its one of lifes mysteries- throats burning a bit now,may go and have a drink of water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 reminds me of "testing" the pure ethanol in highschool chem class! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wui39 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 reminds me of "testing" the pure ethanol in highschool chem class! ← Probably still affecting you till today!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trofius Posted April 15, 2006 Share Posted April 15, 2006 maybe the oil in the oil/sufactants etc are not actually forming a solid bubble but rather are coating the air bubbles foam etc and instead of being filled with air are actuall being filled with tank water. think about it , if you blow bubbles in air they are filled with air, if yoy creat bubbles under water they are filled with water! ...these are or are very similar to micels they dont raise in the water colum very well because they are filled with the same water as ouside them, they have the same specific gravity. the micels form due to the oil and water having differet densities, polarities, bonds, and water tension blah blah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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