9010 micro bubble question

[jsong]

I just installed the 9010 and have it placed in my sump.

Water flows out of the skimmer from both the PVC return pipe and a small hole in the back of the skimmer.

The issue I have with microbubbles is from the water flowing out of the hole in the back of the skimmer. Can I plug this up?

thanks.

[rvitko]

This should diminish over time. How far does the water fall in sump?

[jsong]

the water falls about 4 inches. I noticed that the skimmer 'stalls' from time to time as well and then seems to restart. Is this normal as well?

[rvitko]

The best solution would be to position the skimmer so the water trickles down the side wall of the sump, if necessary you could put a pad between the skimmer and sump wall to further stop any bubbles but plugging the hole could cause problems, it makes the skimmer very sensitive to water level.

Does the foam stall (stop rising) or the pump stalls?

[jsong]

the pump seems to stall...it stops creating foam altogether.

I have chaeto in a section of the sump before the skimmer and it seems that some small strands get stuck in the pump. Skimmer works fine after I clean it out but it's driving me a bit nuts because I've been taking apart the skimmer about 3-4 times a day...I'll have to find a way to prevent strands of chaeto from getting into the skimmer

[rvitko]

The Chaeto could be the source of both problems. I would try placing the chaeto after the skimmer. The way it is now the algae can get in the skimmer and the water is highly oxygen saturated so the skimmer is degassing the water and this is creating a lot of bubbles. A trick a local maintanence company showed me once was what they called a chaeto box. They zip tied some eggcrate into a box shape, wrapped it with fiberglass windowscreen and left an open top a few inches above the water surface so it could be easily thinned and harvested,