Microbubbles driving me crazy!

[tdubrow]

Not the water depth in the sump as the pump intake is definitely in plenty of water. Maybe the ball valve im using? I did have this exact ball valve on my freshwater tank and it was fine. I just did a water change today and cleaned out my mag 9.5 and checked my return line for leaks. Everything looked fine to me. Maybe the skimmer was the problem? So I turned the skimmer off for about 2 hours and there is still microbubbles. Not as much as when the skimmer is on but still present. I can understand a few microbubbles with the skimmer on because I dont really have much of a bubbletrap after skimmer. But why do I still get the microbubbles when skimmer is off?

The only other stuff I have running is a Koralia powerhead and a vortec mp20. Can it be the Vortec? This is driving me crazy lol. Can it be the type of salt I'm using. I recall reading somewhere that some salt mixes are known for having microbubble problems. Has anyone else ever heard of this? I'm using reef crytals

[DevilBoy]

i really doubt it is your salt mix, if it is your salt mix then it would be calcium precipitation and not micro bubbles. All it takes is the slightest little leak for micro bubbles to appear. Are you using any locline for your returns into the tank. I have seen where the locline does not connect well and will release the micro bubbles. It could be the skimmer since you dont have a bubble trap. My best suggestion to you if you would like to find the issue, is turn one piece of equipment off at a time and leave it alone for a few hours and see if the bubbles subside. HTH

[tdubrow]

i really doubt it is your salt mix, if it is your salt mix then it would be calcium precipitation and not micro bubbles. All it takes is the slightest little leak for micro bubbles to appear. Are you using any locline for your returns into the tank. I have seen where the locline does not connect well and will release the micro bubbles. It could be the skimmer since you dont have a bubble trap. My best suggestion to you if you would like to find the issue, is turn one piece of equipment off at a time and leave it alone for a few hours and see if the bubbles subside. HTH

Well I think I figured out that its definitely the return pump and or the return plumbing. If I shake the pump and plumbing it shoots out tons of bubbles. So I figure there must be some type of reason why the bubbles are accumulating and shooting out ever so often. I guess I will redo the plumbing and see what happens.

Any ideas why the bubbles would accumulate like this? I have a prefilter on the return intake. Could this be a problem?

[freeswimmingfis]

I had been going crazy with micro bubbles also (Oceanic 90g RR w/megaflow durso) when this was a fairly new tank, only a few mushrooms at the time. I set it up using 175 lbs of live rock, 75 lbs of live sand and about 50 gals of water from the tank the rock and sand came from. I made the remaining water from "Watermill Express". I also use a mag 9.5. After replacing the return pump and ALL the plumbing, I figured out it was NOT my pump or plumbing at all. Over the course of a few weeks, I did the following to troubleshoot the micro bubble issue:
Used Micron sock on drain.
Replaced pump, ball valve, all fittings and vinyl hose to bulkhead.
Replaced bulkhead and pvc from bulkhead to LocLine.
Replaced LocLine.
Took LocLine off letting water pour into tank.
Used different return plumbing (plumbed hard PVC and used just a vinyl hose).
Replaced drain hose.
Put sponges in bubble traps.
Wrapped Sponges with micron pad.
"snaked" micron pad through bubble traps.
Placed micron pad in return pump section so water from last bubble trap fell on pad.
Turned skimmer off.
Turned power heads off and took them out of tank.
Reduced flow to tank from mag 9.5 using 2 different ball valves (was almost nothing at one point).

Finally turned everything off except lights (return pump, power heads, skimmer).
With pumps off but lights still on, I noticed I was getting bubbles coming up from rocks and sand, a few hours later I had red, green and hair algae forming on rocks, sand and glass. They were rising up through out the tank. I turned the lights off for the night. The next morning when I turned the lights on, the tank was clear of bubbles. I turned the power heads on and a few minutes later....I had a display full of micro bubbles!

I tested my water and found I had VERY HIGH Phosphates! I now know I was feeding the tank phosphates from the fresh water I was using.
After a few weeks of running PhosBan and water changes the algae is almost gone, as well as the micro bubbles.
There are still a few bubbles, but it is 90% clear now! Every 10 mins or so I get a burst of bubbles from one of the power heads.

Check for Phosphates.

[tdubrow]

I had been going crazy with micro bubbles also (Oceanic 90g RR w/megaflow durso) when this was a fairly new tank, only a few mushrooms at the time. I set it up using 175 lbs of live rock, 75 lbs of live sand and about 50 gals of water from the tank the rock and sand came from. I made the remaining water from "Watermill Express". I also use a mag 9.5. After replacing the return pump and ALL the plumbing, I figured out it was NOT my pump or plumbing at all. Over the course of a few weeks, I did the following to troubleshoot the micro bubble issue:
Used Micron sock on drain.
Replaced pump, ball valve, all fittings and vinyl hose to bulkhead.
Replaced bulkhead and pvc from bulkhead to LocLine.
Replaced LocLine.
Took LocLine off letting water pour into tank.
Used different return plumbing (plumbed hard PVC and used just a vinyl hose).
Replaced drain hose.
Put sponges in bubble traps.
Wrapped Sponges with micron pad.
"snaked" micron pad through bubble traps.
Placed micron pad in return pump section so water from last bubble trap fell on pad.
Turned skimmer off.
Turned power heads off and took them out of tank.
Reduced flow to tank from mag 9.5 using 2 different ball valves (was almost nothing at one point).

Finally turned everything off except lights (return pump, power heads, skimmer).
With pumps off but lights still on, I noticed I was getting bubbles coming up from rocks and sand, a few hours later I had red, green and hair algae forming on rocks, sand and glass. They were rising up through out the tank. I turned the lights off for the night. The next morning when I turned the lights on, the tank was clear of bubbles. I turned the power heads on and a few minutes later....I had a display full of micro bubbles!

I tested my water and found I had VERY HIGH Phosphates! I now know I was feeding the tank phosphates from the fresh water I was using.
After a few weeks of running PhosBan and water changes the algae is almost gone, as well as the micro bubbles.
There are still a few bubbles, but it is 90% clear now! Every 10 mins or so I get a burst of bubbles from one of the power heads.

Check for Phosphates.


Wow! Thanks for the reply.

Very interesting as I too have red/green hair algae growing on some of my live rocks. Been battling that for a few weeks and Ive been using phosgaurd by seachem. My Phosphates are undetectable but that, I guess, doesnt really matter because the algae is probably consuming it. My nitrates are also very low at 5ppm.

Going to try what you did and turn all my pumps off and see what happens. Thanks so much.