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Bubble bar/wall - not a air stone

J

James Varga

Jan 1, 1970
0
Okay - I've got a home made bubble etch tank that I think is pretty
effective. That is until the other day when the bubbles started to stop. It
seems that my airstone which I thought would work fine - doesn't :) - its
almost completely disolved sitting at the bottom of the tank.

I was going to make a bubble bar out of a series of small holes in some pvc
pipe but when doing some searching I found a reference to a 'bubble bar' -
anyone know where I can pick up this sort of thing in the UK?

Cheers!
 
B

biggles

Jan 1, 1970
0
you could try an aquarium shop in particular one that deals with marine fish
(salt water)
biggles
 
S

steamer

Jan 1, 1970
0
--Etching, eh? What liquids must the thing survive? I'm thinking
you might want to use stainless. IIRC there are some widgets available at
pneumatic supply places, basically "mufflers" for noisy exhaust ports on
air motors, etc; these are a sort of porous metal. Not sure if they'd work
for your app but you might see if they're available in corrosion
resistant metals.
 
J

James Varga

Jan 1, 1970
0
--Etching, eh? What liquids must the thing survive? I'm thinking
you might want to use stainless. IIRC there are some widgets available at
pneumatic supply places, basically "mufflers" for noisy exhaust ports on
air motors, etc; these are a sort of porous metal. Not sure if they'd work
for your app but you might see if they're available in corrosion
resistant metals.

Stainless wouldn't work - pretty much any plastic would be okay. The etching
solution is ferrich chloride which is an acid. I have been trying to think
of some ways of making this other then drilling a lot of holes into a pc of
tubing and was wondering if some plastic mesh (like mosquito netting) would
work rolled up into a tube. There would have to be lots of layers but would
this give the effect I'm looking for?

I would like quite a bit of air if possible.

J
 
J

James Varga

Jan 1, 1970
0
tubing and was wondering if some plastic mesh (like mosquito netting)
would
work rolled up into a tube.

Also - do you think some breathable nylon fabrich would work?
 
C

Captain Rick

Jan 1, 1970
0
Okay - I've got a home made bubble etch tank that I think is pretty
effective. That is until the other day when the bubbles started to stop. It
seems that my airstone which I thought would work fine - doesn't :) - its
almost completely disolved sitting at the bottom of the tank.

I was going to make a bubble bar out of a series of small holes in some pvc
pipe but when doing some searching I found a reference to a 'bubble bar' -
anyone know where I can pick up this sort of thing in the UK?

Cheers!

Try one of the white ceramic airstones, available in 1cm diameter
(ish) and 4, 6 or 8 inches long. I have used one of these in ammonium
persulfate etchant for a few years and it is still OK.

I also find that it gives more, finer bubbles than the cheaper blue
sandy ones.

Feeding it from a good pressure pump (I have a small Fisher laboratory
pump) makes the etchant foam - works really well and gets into all the
gaps. Watch it doesn't foam over the top though.

Rick.
 
C

Clint Sharp

Jan 1, 1970
0
James Varga said:
Okay - I've got a home made bubble etch tank that I think is pretty
effective. That is until the other day when the bubbles started to stop. It
seems that my airstone which I thought would work fine - doesn't :) - its
almost completely disolved sitting at the bottom of the tank.

I was going to make a bubble bar out of a series of small holes in some pvc
pipe but when doing some searching I found a reference to a 'bubble bar' -
anyone know where I can pick up this sort of thing in the UK?
James, you can buy something like you intended to make from some
aquarium shops, it usually comes with little sucker-posts to hold it in
place in the aquarium and is about 2 foot in length.
 
S

Steve

Jan 1, 1970
0
James Varga said:
Okay - I've got a home made bubble etch tank that I think is pretty
effective. That is until the other day when the bubbles started to stop.
It
seems that my airstone which I thought would work fine - doesn't :) - its
almost completely disolved sitting at the bottom of the tank.

I was going to make a bubble bar out of a series of small holes in some
pvc
pipe but when doing some searching I found a reference to a 'bubble bar' -
anyone know where I can pick up this sort of thing in the UK?

Cheers!
Aquarium shops sell "bubble bar" its a plastic foam pipe perforated to let
the air out. I seen it in 6" - 18" lengths

Steve
 
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