Can't get rid of Micro Bubbles. Any ideas

[rkm]

I have been fighting a battle with Micro bubbles for a few weeks. They are coming from my insump skimmer. The bubbles come out of the discharge tube. I tried to have the water run over a sponge. It worked a little. So I drilled a hole into the bio ball area in the wet/dry. This way I plumbed the discharge into this area. That way the water would run over the bio balls. But for some reason the little bubbles still get through the bio balls and through the foam block in the bottom. THe filter is a AquaClear, as well as the skimmer. Any ideas.:help:

 

[thomas712]

What about your return pump? Could be sucking air. Check to make sure all conections are tight?
Have you tried the sponge idea and raising the level of water in your sump?
Thomas

 

[rkm]

I did narrow it down to the skimmer. When I turn it off it is fine.(no bubbles) I can see the micro bubbles coming out of the skimmer into the wet dry.

 

[rkm]

The sponge is in it. The water level is up to the water mark. I cant go any higher. I might overflow the filter when I turn off the power.

 

[fish sense]

Try having the water outlet on the skimmer pour over a couple of layers of blue bond filter pad or the like. Works for me.

 

[rkm]

Thanks, I have some of that stuff. I will try it a little later today. I've had my hands in th e tank all morning.

 

[infalable]

Why are the bubbles bad. I have read many similar threads, but dont know what the concern is. Thanks.

 

[hirock]

Micro bubbles are more of an eye-sore for clarity reasons. Unless your tank(s) are stocked with sponges, it shouldn't hurt the over all progress of the system. Oxygen will help in tank respiration and keep PH levels up. PH is simply a measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. When the pH in a tank starts to drop, it is a good indication that the buffers are getting worn out. You can use a "quick fix" method by adding bicarbonate of soda, baking soda.
Acidity comes from several sources, the primary ones being: excess carbon dioxide (CO2) from respiration caused by insufficient gas exchange, nitric acid from biological filtration (nitrification), and organic acids from metabolic wastes.
Hope this helps

 

[rkm]

My micro bubbles are coming from the discharge of the skimmer. They are a eye-sore. They get sucked up to the display tank. When in there they get magnified by the lighting. The bubbles cling to things, and they get bigger. They create air gaps in my caves. They are not that good for the fish. It can cause problems getting under their scales. I have read this somewhere. I don't know how much of that is true.

 

[infalable]

Thanks. I thought there was a bigger prob than than that. But come to think of it, bubbles are a distraction. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[hirock]

Is your skimmer inside your sump (If you run one) or a hang on the back version? If it is in the sump, try placing a small plastic cup under the skimmer outlet. Fill the cup with a few small stones for ballast reasons. Baffling off the section inside the sump where the skimmer resides may also help. Move the inlet of the pump as far away as possible from the skimmer port. Making a dam for the water to flow over will help the oxygen escape prior to the return pump. If it is a hang on the back version, you may need to pick some more brains to help you with your dilemma.
Hope that this helps you

 

[rkm]

Here is a pic of the setup. The skimmer is an insump style. The discharge is put into the bio ball area this seperated the bubbles somewhat. They still get throught the foam block that seperates the bio area and the sump area

 

[rkm]

Something is wron with the pictures. For some reason I am getting a message saying my pic is bigger than 500x500. I never seen that before. Usually I see something that says it's to big file sizemore than 126k or wahatever it is.

 

[hirock]

A real quick question:
Inside the sump, the section where the skimmer is placed, is that section also filled with micro bubbles? I can tell by the picture that the skimmer is not running. Which may be a reason why the secondary baffle seems to look clear. If your not experiencing any bubbles in that section of the sump, you can almost guarantee that you have an air leak from the return line going into your system. Is your pumps return line well below the water level in the sump? If so, how far? It is hard to see because of the skimmer collection vat is in the way. Also removing that dense cellulose sponge and replacing it with something a bit more porous might help. Extending your skimmers return as far away as possible from the baffle may also be enough to separate the oxygen from the water.
:notsure:

 

[rkm]

The pic is whith the skimmer not running. I did this just to make sure the bubbles were definately comming from the skimmer. Some how the bubbles are getting through the foam block. The discharge is a few inches into the bio area. Maybe I will make the discharge tube longer.

 

[rkm]

The return line is very low. It is not taking on any air, or cavitating in any way. I have an elbow on the end of it. so it is picking up water from 1/2,to 3/4 of an inch from the bottom of the wet/dry.

 

[hirock]

Your somehow going to have to build some sort of diverter plate or baffle to diffuse the oxygen suspended in the water column. I am having a hard time trying to figure out the reason why so much oxygen is saturated inside the sump. One method that I have tried, when all else fails, is to place crushed coral under your bio balls. A layer sufficient to the height of the opening into your second compartment of your sump. Don't compact the CC, just layer it inside the chamber and level. I still think that sponge your using might have a small reason why this is happening. Small pores = only small bubbles can be released. Just a thought though...

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by Infalable
Why are the bubbles bad. I have read many similar threads, but dont know what the concern is. Thanks.
Not a very high possability but a possibility just the same is that the micro bubbles could cause popeye and an infection if one gets caught behind the eye ball. Can also be a problem if one gets caught in the gills of the fish and rubs the tender gill if it does not pop.
Thomas

 

[infalable]

Thx

 

[lady becca]

I also have an AquaClear Wet/Dry w/ Skimmer in sump.
We also get those tiny bubbles every time we turn on the skimmer and pump (which we always turn off during feeding). The only thing we do is turn it off and on until it stops spitting those tiny bubbles.
This is the first time we have had this type of filter and the first time we ever used a skimmer.
We have checked the water line in the sump, thinking that the air was getting sucked into the return pump, but return pump is completely covered in water.
Maybe it is a common problem with this brand of pump/skimmer?:thinking: