Ugh.... Came home to micro bubbles today.

Yup. I'm mad, but it's my own fault.

I was hoping to get away with it, but the sump doesn't have any baffles. The tank is a 40 breeder with a 20H sump. The tank is shown here.

There have been alot of set backs with this tank. My LFS took around 3 months to physically get the tank/stand in stock for me. By this time I was very anxious to get the tank running. Days after getting the tank I had the TEK light. It then took me about 3 weeks to get bulbs for it (2.5 weeks waiting for a different LFS to get in a shipment of ATI bulbs that never came. It only took from Friday-Monday to get the bulbs shipped from CA to NJ by ReefGeek).
I was given a 20H sump by a friend and local reefer. For some reason, right after offering the tank to me (I didn't ask) I never heard from him again. I waited another 2 weeks to finally break down and buy a brand new 20H. I still haven't heard back from the local reefer I mentioned.

I bought the 20H and I was planning on adding baffles. Another friend offered to help me do so, since I've never done it before and I wasn't 100% sure on how to make the glass baffles and acrylic fit just perfectly. Instead of waiting I just went ahead and plumbed the tank, and filled it with saltwater.

Immediately after filling it with saltwater I put a filter sock onto overflow pipe. The tank had been dusty, and I have a furry dog and her hair gets every where. I just wanted to sock to help remove anything in the water that shouldn't be. I don't plan to really ever use socks, but without them my DT gets filled with micro bubbles. Even with them, the sock eventually gets filled up and overflows- and I have microbubbles in my DT.

I CANNOT remove the sump and add baffles. The sump was placed into the stand through the top and I can't get the sump out of the stand any other way.

2 options I am considering:

Option 1:
Make an open top box out egg crate that tightly fits a portion of the sumps inside diameter. The box would be resting on the bottom of the 20H (sump), and would extend above the water level. The box would then be filled to capacity with live rock rubble (pieces 2" all the way up to 3-4" pieces). Do you think that the rock would help remove micro bubbles as the water travels though it?

Option 2:
I am currently using a Mag7 with a Glass-Holes 700GPH overflow. I am ordering an MP20 at the end of the week. I have a few other Mag pumps around. Should I try using a Mag5 instead of 7?

I also have another idea to create a similar structure to option 1. Instead of it just being a box it would be an egg crate structure with acrylic zip-tied or super glued to it in certain areas, very similar to a sump with baffles. The important part about this structure is that it would have 3 6" pieces of egg crate right before the return pump. Acrylic could be glued to these pieces, 1 so the water has to overflow over it, then go under and back over the last piece- just like a bubble trap. I just can't figure out how I would get a good seal with the egg crate. I'm sure as long as the acrylic is a tight fit, the water would flow through the bubble trap. Also- this structure would have an area of live rock and an area for chaeto before the bubble trap.

Any input? I'm looking for an easy and affective fix for micro bubbles. I'm going to grab some egg crate on the way home tomorrow and give it a try.

 

I would empty the sump as well as the stand. Then install the baffles while the sump is in your tank. No matter what you do, your sump will not be efficient and you might as well just us a canister filter and hang on skimmer

 

The micro-bubbles aren't making it less efficient. Once I beat them, IMO, the sump will be just as efficient as any other.

..besides the fact that I won't have something to control water levels in compartments like I would need if I had a skimmer. But I have an ATO, and I probably won't even run a skimmer and if I do it will be HOB.

Not sure why it's not efficient.

 

A very large sponge can help with microbubbles. Put it before the return pump.

 

get a pair of those tank dividers that you can cut to size and add to the sump as baffles. maybe take some silicone and fill the holes in the divider.
It's not the best solution may buy time for a better one.

 

All good ideas. I'm probably going to to try stacking 2 large, tight fitting block sponges before the return pump like blackraven said.

 

All you should need to do is keep the filter sock on your overflow as the first line of defense, build a wall out of live rock between your overflow and the pump (this should trap all remaining bubbles), then make sure your return pump is placed as low as possible in the sump (any bubbles left will be at the top, bottom should be bubble free).

 

Even 2 walls of some live rock, along with filter sock and sponges and you may have it beat!

I swapped out a sump in my tank once that wouldn't fit out the doors...I removed the doors and braces slid the sump out, put the new one in and replaced everything....while the tank was full.

I of course used other reinforcements while the doors and dividers were off...but it can be done. A few people on here have done it.

 

Simple solution, but should you do that, be careful not to impede the flow too much.

 

Good point. I just put the block sponges in. Not sure if they're working yet but I don't see why they wouldn't.

This will be a temporary solution until I am able to make some compartments out of egg crate.

Thanks for all of the input.