Stupid Micro Bubbles!!!! Please Help - Page 2

JSeymour · 05/06/2012, 03:31 PM

That is one crowded sump.

To answer you question about salt creep. It's just dried salt outside of the tank. If your return line is pulling air(venturi), there will likely be some salt creep at the connection. Not always though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demariners

I wonder. Could a pump produce micro bubbles? Maybe my main return pump is causing them. I look near the return pump with a flash light and I do not see the bubbles. If that is the case how could you even begin to diagnose it? I do notice when I unplug the pump and plug it back in the pump spews out a ton of bubbles initially.

Definitely possible, although your pump is being damaged if that's the case. This would be due to cavitation around the impeller. I don't think this is the case though, as it would have gotten worse when you slowed the flow even more.

As others have stated, without a set of three baffles, you'll likely keep having bubbles in the display. I think your sump needs a remodel. Looking at the pictures, it looks like you have two reaction chambers. If you can, try to mounts these outside the sump(shouldn't be an issue). This will free up a lot of space to install three baffles, one inch apart. Scrap the maxijet for circulation too, shouldn't need it.

Put all equipment and reactor outputs in the big chamber, The small chamber will have your return pump and your ATO switch.

demariners · 05/06/2012, 04:03 PM

Try to mount what outside the sump? I bought the acrllyc and I am going to make the baffles. I have plenty of room to make the baffles. I bought a new skimmer also. I brought it into the LFS and it looks like the impeller in the pump was bad. I have ha this skimmer forever so I just decided to get a new one.

Sk8r · 05/06/2012, 04:53 PM

I cured mine (not as big a problem as yours) with a huge wad of cheato in the fuge. It's a pretty good bubble trap.

demariners · 05/06/2012, 10:05 PM

So I made a three way baffle. I am hoping this will fix it. I also got a better skimmer. Here is the pics. I hope the baffles work. I put small sponges in between the baffles to help and slow down the bubbles.

JSeymour · 05/07/2012, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demariners

Try to mount what outside the sump? I bought the acrllyc and I am going to make the baffles. I have plenty of room to make the baffles. I bought a new skimmer also. I brought it into the LFS and it looks like the impeller in the pump was bad. I have ha this skimmer forever so I just decided to get a new one.

Your Phosban Reactor and and whatever the blue lid thing is. If you can get some of the equipment out of the sump, the water will flow "slower" through your sump as well as cause less turbulence, i.e. fewer bubbles making it to the pump. Since you replaced the skimmer, remember, new skimmers create a lot of bubbles until they "break in". Out of curiousity, what skimmer did you get?

Quote:

Originally Posted by demariners

So I made a three way baffle. I am hoping this will fix it. I also got a better skimmer. Here is the pics. I hope the baffles work. I put small sponges in between the baffles to help and slow down the bubbles.

Awesome, that will help immensely. Not to be too nit-picky, but you should have spaced them one inch apart. Fewer bubbles will make it passed, but the sponges will help. Make sure you clean them regularly, atleast once per week.

Let it run for about a week to see how well it's working before trying any other tweaks.

demariners · 05/07/2012, 04:26 PM

Sounds good. The blue thingy is a media reactor and it is a shorty so it actually does not hit the water. I also removed the phosban reactor and placed in on the outside of the sump. Hopefully the baffles work.

demariners · 05/07/2012, 08:33 PM

I got a vertex IN-80. Seems to be working great and it wasn't too pricy. I took a look at the tank when I got home today and there are still MINOR bubbles but not even close to as bad now.....Hopefully the baffles did the trick. When cleaning the sponges what should I clean with?

JSeymour · 05/07/2012, 11:45 PM

Good choice. I've never used a Vertex, but they have great reviews. You don't need to clean the sponges with anything special. Just rinse them out with water until clean. Who knows, once the skimmer breaks in, you might not even need the sponges.

demariners · 05/08/2012, 08:47 AM

Yea, still have some minor bubbles. Hopefully the skimmer stops producing many. I have an ozone reactor that also spits out a little but not much. Mainly the skimmer is producing the bubbles.

demariners · 05/10/2012, 09:34 AM

Well I still am experiencing these stupid bubbles. They are only noticeable when the lights are on at 100% brightness. When they are dim I barely notice them. Still I am not sure the bubbles are getting "trapped". I have the baffle as you can see in the pictures. I put a sponge right at the lip of the output of the baffle and low in the beginning baffle because there are slits in the baffle. Not sure what else to try now.

JSeymour · 05/11/2012, 07:49 PM

There probably isn't much more you can do short of slowing the flow in the sump. If you can only see them at peak brightness(I have a few tanks like this), I'd say try not to stress about it.

rreveron · 05/11/2012, 10:02 PM

What happens when you turn off the skimmer? Do the bubles go away?

demariners · 05/12/2012, 12:46 PM

Yea they do. I am pretty confident they are mostly from the skimmer. I have bought some more sponge to see if that helps any.

demariners · 05/15/2012, 09:04 AM

Well it seems I was able to cut down the bubbles quite a bit. Now however I am getting some sort of "soap suds" on the surface of the sump. This interacts with the auto top off so I need to figure out why I am not getting these and how to remove them. Any ideas?

05/06/2012, 04:53 PM	#28
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	I cured mine (not as big a problem as yours) with a huge wad of cheato in the fuge. It's a pretty good bubble trap. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

05/07/2012, 11:45 PM	#33
JSeymour Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Spokane Valley, WA Posts: 513	Good choice. I've never used a Vertex, but they have great reviews. You don't need to clean the sponges with anything special. Just rinse them out with water until clean. Who knows, once the skimmer breaks in, you might not even need the sponges. __________________ - Jason Seymour Current Tank Info: Saltwater only? It takes two buckets of salt to do a 10% water change...

05/11/2012, 07:49 PM	#36
JSeymour Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Spokane Valley, WA Posts: 513	There probably isn't much more you can do short of slowing the flow in the sump. If you can only see them at peak brightness(I have a few tanks like this), I'd say try not to stress about it. __________________ - Jason Seymour Current Tank Info: Saltwater only? It takes two buckets of salt to do a 10% water change...

05/11/2012, 10:02 PM	#37
rreveron Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 20	What happens when you turn off the skimmer? Do the bubles go away? __________________ Building a 210G in wall room divider, 2 x ATI Powermodule 10x39W. "Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: Starting a build for a 210G, 2 X ATI Powermodule 10x39W.

05/06/2012, 04:03 PM	#27
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Try to mount what outside the sump? I bought the acrllyc and I am going to make the baffles. I have plenty of room to make the baffles. I bought a new skimmer also. I brought it into the LFS and it looks like the impeller in the pump was bad. I have ha this skimmer forever so I just decided to get a new one.

05/07/2012, 04:26 PM	#31
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Sounds good. The blue thingy is a media reactor and it is a shorty so it actually does not hit the water. I also removed the phosban reactor and placed in on the outside of the sump. Hopefully the baffles work.

05/07/2012, 08:33 PM	#32
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	I got a vertex IN-80. Seems to be working great and it wasn't too pricy. I took a look at the tank when I got home today and there are still MINOR bubbles but not even close to as bad now.....Hopefully the baffles did the trick. When cleaning the sponges what should I clean with?

05/08/2012, 08:47 AM	#34
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Yea, still have some minor bubbles. Hopefully the skimmer stops producing many. I have an ozone reactor that also spits out a little but not much. Mainly the skimmer is producing the bubbles.

05/10/2012, 09:34 AM	#35
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Well I still am experiencing these stupid bubbles. They are only noticeable when the lights are on at 100% brightness. When they are dim I barely notice them. Still I am not sure the bubbles are getting "trapped". I have the baffle as you can see in the pictures. I put a sponge right at the lip of the output of the baffle and low in the beginning baffle because there are slits in the baffle. Not sure what else to try now.

05/12/2012, 12:46 PM	#38
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Yea they do. I am pretty confident they are mostly from the skimmer. I have bought some more sponge to see if that helps any.

05/15/2012, 09:04 AM	#39
demariners Work In Progress Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arizona Posts: 972	Well it seems I was able to cut down the bubbles quite a bit. Now however I am getting some sort of "soap suds" on the surface of the sump. This interacts with the auto top off so I need to figure out why I am not getting these and how to remove them. Any ideas?