Surge Question.

[zhewitt04]

I am thinking about doing a irge in my tank. It is a in the wall tank and the back half is in the garage so noise is not a issue. The bubbles are but I am curious if i use a larger pvc pipe and do not sumerge it if the air will travel to the top of the pipe and not be released in the water. I was going to take it out of the sump then dump in the tank. Water level wouldn't go up much because overflow can handle a lot more water and will catch up quickly.
Any ideas for a bubbless surge is appreciated!
Thanks

[kcress]

Why specifically do you care about bubbles?

[CyclistMT]

I am thinking about doing a irge in my tank. It is a in the wall tank and the back half is in the garage so noise is not a issue. The bubbles are but I am curious if i use a larger pvc pipe and do not sumerge it if the air will travel to the top of the pipe and not be released in the water. I was going to take it out of the sump then dump in the tank. Water level wouldn't go up much because overflow can handle a lot more water and will catch up quickly.
Any ideas for a bubbless surge is appreciated!
Thanks

I think the only way to do a bubbleless surge is with an actuated ball valve. My last surge is about as bubbless as it got but it still had bubbles which led to salt creep.

As kcress alludes to, bubbles won't harm your tank inhabitants but salt creep is a problem. Even with the minimal bubbles I had, I was still getting enough salt creep that it was pitting the paint on the far wall from the surge.

To answer your question, I used 2" pipe that exited just below the surface of the tank. Yes it was slightly submerged but had it not been, I think the bubbles would have been even worse.

If it helps, here is the thread to my old tank which had a modified Borneman surge on it. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1037854 I'm installing an actuated ball valve for the surge on my new tank, specifically to avoid bubbles.