microbubble's heaven

gkw · 02-16-2006, 12:32 AM

for some reason, there is air going in my return line. there are lots of micro bubble in my tank right now. I have glued and telfon type everywhere but in 2 places out of the water. I have attach a diagram of what I did.

The siphon break above the water level, but I covered that up with my finger and microbubbles still shoot out from the return.

HELP! Please!

Thank you!
GKW

JohnO · 02-16-2006, 09:27 PM

Is it possible that your return pump is sucking air through its inlet fitting? Sometimes if the inlet to the pump is close to the water surface in the sump you can get a whirlpool effect which can suck some air into the pump. The air then gets chopped up into micro bubbles by the pumps impeller. Even if it is not the whirlpool effect I would strongly suggest that you investigate the sump water and see if any air is being introduced into the pump.

John

NUGIO · 02-16-2006, 09:31 PM

Thats what i'm thinking too cause the water levels seems really low in your diagram.I've got mine about 4-5" above the pump

gkw · 02-16-2006, 11:54 PM

that is not the problem because i put in 90* elbow in the inlet and it's about 3/4" from the bottom of the tank. The water is at 5". I tested the whirlpool effect and it's about 2" from the bottom of the tank.

I am still doing some work to the overflow. I will glue the rest of the PVC after that. I hope I don't need to take the return line apart later.

Thanks!

dancin_trancy · 02-17-2006, 10:22 AM

This is probably a very ignorant question, so let me apologize in advance...but what are the ill effects in having microbubbles. I seem to have a "issue" with them as well, but never considered it an problem per say.

Thanks, Stef

gkw · 02-17-2006, 10:29 AM

The problem with micro bubbles in the main tank is that they will kill the bacteria on the surface of the LR when the bubbles "attach" to it. Could also kill your corals and fishes. Plus it looks like your tank is cloudy.

gkw · 02-20-2006, 12:22 PM

ok, i was wrong, after silicon them and microbubbles still exist, i then look carefully at my sump and found out there are microbubbles in there. the micro bubbles flow to the return chamber from the skimmer chamber and water drain chamber. the flow is so high that the current carry the bubbles under my baffle and into the return chamber.

what can i do?

dancin_trancy · 02-21-2006, 07:06 PM

Wow...I did not know that. Thanks!

dancin_trancy · 02-22-2006, 07:34 AM

Okay, sorry to steal this thread, but on the same subject of bubbles, I just recently did a water change, all is well, per. great, sg 1.26, temp 78, but I came home from work the day after the water change, and there were a bunch of large bubbles on the surface of the water, not foamy, but almost looked like there was soap in the water (during the water change I cleaned all my equipment, but of course, didn't use soap of any kind, just warm water)
nothing seems unusual in the tank, behavior, eating habits all the same, corals look the same....the bubbles seem to be made from the spill over from my hang on tank filter. I have a swivel powerhead that at times point directly to the filter. Not sure if that might cause it, but large bubbles are made just under the surface of the water and rise up to the top, and stay there. As if my water consistency has changed, not allowing the bubbles to pop. I hope my explaining this right.

Does anyone know what could have caused this, if it is a bad thing? I no longer have microbubbles in my tank, only larger bubbles on the top, accumulated on the sides and a few in the middle. Any incite would be appreciated. Thanks!