stopping micro bubbles (1 Viewer)

[Style23]

i am wondering the best way to stop micro bubbles...both my refuge side and my sump/skimmer side there are alot of bubbles going through the bubble trap into the return section...

this is the sump, baffles are 1" apart, and the center baffle is 1" off the bottom

at first i had the pipe on the skimmer side down about 1.5" off the bottom (13" water level) and the bubbles were pretty bad...

then i cut the pipe off so it was like 3/4" under the water and i seemed to have less bubbles...

THEN i built an acrylic box with slots in the bottom and filled it with LR rubble like Melev does on alot of his sumps, but this seems to have made things worse, im not sure if the rock chunks i used are to large and they arnt packing tight enough or what...

then on the refuge side i have a contraption ive seen people use and it does not seem to be preventing enough of the bubbles

the only thing left i can think to do is put a ball valve on the return and tune it back untill no more bubbles make it into the display, but i am running flexable pipe up to the top of the stand to go into the rigid, so i dont have much room to do it....

this pic shows the flexable pipe im running from the pump head to the back of the tank...

i will get more pictures to describe what im talking about, but fornow hopfully someone can help keep me from pulling out my hair, starting to annoy me alot....

 

[boogaman]

You could use a filter sock to cut down on the bubbles. Also when you fill your refuge with cheto or whatever it will help as well.
It worked for me.

Gavin

 

[Style23]

there is a pic of the box i made...first put LR in it, then was thinking the LR was to big so tried adding some aquarium gravel i had laying around, but was way to small it all came out the holes and thats all thats left in it....

i am working on growing out the cheato, i have a small clump i put in there but im waiting for it to get big enough to do something like that, thats what i was hoping, but im not sure what to do on the other side...

 

[melev]

Brand new plumbing will create microbubbles for up to 14 days. After that, it will settle down.

Tell us how much flow is going through your sump in GPH.

 

[Style23]

the plumbing is around a month or so old, for sure over 2 weeks...

i am using a mag 9.5 as the return pump, so by the time you calculate head pressure i figured it was around 800GPH or so...

 

[melev]

What size is the sump?

 

[Style23]

converted 55 gallon

 

[Cathman]

If you dont mind changing them out and getting a few of them, filter socks work miracles. I have a couple and change them every 5 days or so. They trap a lot of crud also so having a few around is good. I wash them in the washing machine and they come out nice and clean ready for re-use. There is a place online that sells them in bulk so to speak, but it is very cheap compared to buying a couple at a store.

 

[melev]

With a sump that is 48" long, you really shouldn't have microbubble issues at all.

The Mag 9.5 isn't too much flow for a 125g reef either.

The bubble tower you made - was it tall enough to keep all the water inside the tower so it could only flow out the base, or was it overflowing the top as well?

Hopefully I can help you work this out.

 

[Style23]

it doesnt overflow unless i crank like 80-85% of the flow through it, so no it didnt overflow with normal conditions, but it wasnt stopping very many of the bubbles, i was just watching them shoot out the slots in the bottom...

and i hope so too, thanks for the help ahead of time Marc....i tried designing my sump with alot of things you pointed out on your site...

it if helps at all each chamber is 14"

 

[melev]

Where the water drains into the bubble tower, do you have the plumbing submerged about 1"? That is plenty.

I would break up the rock to make it all about grape to golfball size.

On the refugium side, don't submerge the pipe at all. Instead, the fitting should be at the water's surface, half submerged.

 

[Style23]

i will try the refuge side, also now that the bubble tower has been running over night, and the rock probably settled in some from the water flow the water level in the chamber is 4" above the water where it empties in to, and the rest (2" or so) is foam that is starting to bubble over a bit

 

[melev]

Let us know how it works out.

 

[Style23]

i will be trying some of these things tonight and i will get back to you...anothing thing i have been pondering lately is that i have 1.5" pipe ran on the skimmer side, i was thinking that this being so large there is alot of air in there along with the water, giving more area to mix together and give me the bubbles. would it help if i used a smaller size pipe?


i will get back to you with the refuge side fix....

 

[melev]

Well, yes and no. You could step it down to 1" as it gets closer to the sump, but that also creates a perfect spot for things to snag and become an obstruction at some point.

 

[Style23]

the refuge side seems to be working pretty well, but now i have to push more water through the refuge because the smaller rock pieces are restricting the flow more and it is wanting to overflow....

 

[melev]

Perhaps your bubble tower is too small. I make those 3.5" x 3.5" x 12" (with the water line at 9").

 

[Style23]

mine is 3 1/2" x 3/14" and 17" tall with a 13" water line...

 

[melev]

That should work fine. I'd just give it a little more time, or break up the rocks a bit more. And remember, the drainline should only be submerged 1".

 

[Style23]

well as of right now everything is exacly how you said it should be to work i will let it run overnight and see if anything changes....i still have alot of bubbles in the refuge but they are bigger and dont seem to be making it through the bubble trap so i shouldnt worry, correct?