Closed Loop (same as on Melev's site) too many bubbles !! help!

[ray22]

i set up a cl on my tank and it is now up and running . it is set up just like on melev's site . it is creating too many bubbles in the tank .. has the squid been known to cause this ? can i get rid of the squid and if so can i just put a T in its place so i dont have to re do all of the plumbing . with one intake and two retruns on a cl using a Mag 7 will i get good flow ? thank you for any help

[stugray]

you may need to wait a while to see if the bubbles clear up. It could take a day or two.

If it is still a problem, then you may have a leak on the intake side.

If you turn off the pump for a while & inspect carefully, you might find a leak where water is now leaking out.

I built mine exactly like Melev's & it worked fine

Stu

[ray22]

it has been running for over a week now and they have not cleared up . i did turn it off and knock on wood no leaks. I love the design and it works great but for some reason there are just too many micro bubbles..

[orlenz]

The CL on that site is not the best design, I had the same problem also, air gets trapped in the top section of the "T" were you fill it, that caused alot of bubbles in mine.

one way to make it work better and get rid of the bubbles is instead of using the "T" were the input goes over the tank wall, just use another 90, then a foot or so down from that you can put a "T" and splice your main return into it with a ball valve.
anytime you need to prime the CL just open the ball valve, let it force all the air out of the CL, then just close the valve and turn the CL pump on.
works much better this way, no bubbles. :)

[grendl]

couldnt you just add a capped t in line to bleed air out?

[stugray]

I used the capped T and priming was easy.

If the bubbles never clear out, then it must be a leak ( or you are getting air bubbles into the intake from the tank ). Double check the cap used for priming. Be sure to teflon tape it well.

Mine had absolutely NO bubbles. I even injected air into it on purpose with a turkey baster to see how the flow was doing. Even that cleared up in a minute or so.

Stu

[mhj1580]

I had the same problem with mine. The problem was 1) the holes drilled for a siphon break were sucking air ( even though they were about ¾”-1” beneath the waters surface)

[scrager]

you shouldn't even need a siphon break on a closed loop.

[smmscott]

I had the same problem on mine. I was using a slip cap on the T and that was what caused all the problems. I switched to a threaded cap and taped the threads. All the problems went away. Good luck.