I recently added two 18" bubble bars to my 55 gallon tank. I figure they'll add air to the water and I like the way they look/sound, but do they have any other beneficial uses? One of them is pumping out a lot of bubbles, and the other one only has a few spots where a lot of bubbles come through. I have also heard of bubble bars becoming clogged over time(although they're both only a few days old). Is there any thing I can do to make the other one as effective? And is there any regular maintenance I should do to keep them going strong (i.e. not clog)?

Thanks for any responses...this site has been really helpful as I am new to goldfish and I'm sure my goldfish are so happy that I found it! Thanks a bunch!

How big is the air pump(s)?

I'm not really sure, I have one Profile 1500 air pump running both. Im not sure how much air that is rated for, it was leftover from one of dad's previous aquariums where an undergravel filter was used. I have another one, I could hook the other one up to the other bubble bar, but I figured they would be getting an equal amount of air sharing one pump.

I tried looking up your air pump and I think it's meant for 10g tanks. You may need a larger capacity air pump.

I run the Whisper 30-60 for most of my 55gs.

The most powerful airpump I have is a double output Petcetera airpump, I think its made for 20 gallon tanks, but gosh, that thing would work just fine for a 60 gallon tank on low power, maybe a 80 gallon tank on high power!!!!! I use a tetra 10-30 for my 46 gallon

You know I just thought of something. If it's an older air pump it may be a bit worn out too.

Quite possible that they are worn out. I'll hook up the other air pump to the other bubble bar in the next couple of days and see what happens.

I had the same problem before when i was using 2 bubble walls on 1 pump...the pump was too small to run both.

I have a big Rena air pump now (i forget what size, but it was the largest one they sold), and i run 3 large bubblewalls off of that 1 pump! I love that thing!