# Declining bubble count. What's going on?



## Iwagumi_Scaper (13 Aug 2018)

Hi all,

So as the topic title suggests, my bubble count seems to drop over night. I set it to 1 bubble per second, then the next morning I need to adjust it again. It appears to slow down over night. No apparent leaks anywhere (tested when I set it up) and so I can't figure out why this would be happening. Could the atomiser be getting slightly blocked over night? Is it a case of adjusting daily until it settles down? Has anyone else experienced this?

Many thanks,

Chris


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## doylecolmdoyle (14 Aug 2018)

The co2 bottle could be starting to run low, what is the bottle pressure gauge showing?


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## roadmaster (14 Aug 2018)

Maybe just increase bubble count if livestock permit's.
One bubble per second is fairly low .
If the diffuser is clean,and rated for or sized for the volume of water your dealing with ,then no ,it should not become clogged overnight.
If diffuser isn't kept clean for extended period's, then yes,it could become clogged over time.
Might also try soapy test at all fitting's once again ,and see if leak may be present.


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## alto (14 Aug 2018)

Definitely an oddity - if you can’t find an explanation, consider returning system for troubleshooting 
(some years back, there was an issue with a production run of Xbrand regulators, as I recall retail company just replaced product)
Even if gas cyclinder is low, this should only occur when gas is about to run out (gas cyclinder should be switched out re impurities “concentrated” in that last bit of gas) 

Of course if you’ve a slow leak ....


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## Iwagumi_Scaper (14 Aug 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> The co2 bottle could be starting to run low, what is the bottle pressure gauge showing?



It's a bran new cylinder, only a few days old and the pressure is reading 850psi from the cylinder and working pressure of 40-50 psi when the system is on (60 when off).


roadmaster said:


> Maybe just increase bubble count if livestock permit's.
> One bubble per second is fairly low .



It's a 25L tank, Roadmaster so 1bps is pretty high for this tank. Actually it needs to be lower before I add live stock, probably 0.5 bps or so. I'm just dosing high to let the plants settle down. The system is all very new so it's a bit confusing. I thought clogging was a possibility but not this quickly :/ The diffuser/atomiser is rated for tanks of up to 100L so it should be completely fine.




alto said:


> Definitely an oddity - if you can’t find an explanation, consider returning system for troubleshooting



I've shot an email off to the company I got the system from to see if they can help me diagnose a cause as well. If not then I'll ask about returning it.

Could it potentially be the change in temperatures? If the temperature drops, the pressure in the system would drop slightly wouldn't it? It's been cooler here the last couple of days.

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll test for leaks again to be sure.


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## doylecolmdoyle (14 Aug 2018)

850psi is probably pretty much full so shouldn't be a low bottle.

Dont think the temp would effect it that much, I run a co2 on my outside aquariums and it drops down to 3 degrees some nights (in australia that isnt that common) but the bubble counter keeps on ticking at about 1bps, i know if my bottle is running low the bubble count starts to slow, some times when the co2 kicks back on it can take awhile push water back out of the atomizer, this could perhaps effect the bubble count.

As a test run you co2 24/7 for a while and see if it holds the bubble count, if it does then its probably a issue with the atomizer needing to build up pressure again / push out water that gets into it when the co2 is not running


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## Iwagumi_Scaper (14 Aug 2018)

Update: The bubble counter did seem to be slightly loose where it attaches to the needle valve. Tightened it up a little (scared to go too far incase anything cracks) so I'll see if that's solved the issue. The working pressure seems a lot more stable now. Holding at bang on 40 instead of fluctuating between 40-60 when on/off respectively.


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