fuge picture...is this ok?
- Thread starter peckhead
- Start date
hurt
Active Member
I'd reverse your design, that is simply switch the location of your return pump and skimmer in your design. You want the bubble trap to be right after the water enters the fuge. This prevents the air bubbles from covering your fuge light with salt creep.
And having a bubble trap right before your return pump doesn't do a thing, I found this out the hard way. This is the diagram of my fuge. At first I also had another bubble trap at the end of my fuge right before the return pump using 5 baffles. Once I realized they served no purpose at all, other than taking up valuable real estate to otherwise grow macros', the razor blade went to work leaving only 3 baffles. You can still see some of the silicon from the two baffles that were taken out. Of course you can reverse this design from left to right if you wish, the key is that the bubble trap is directly after the water enters the fuge. HTH
And having a bubble trap right before your return pump doesn't do a thing, I found this out the hard way. This is the diagram of my fuge. At first I also had another bubble trap at the end of my fuge right before the return pump using 5 baffles. Once I realized they served no purpose at all, other than taking up valuable real estate to otherwise grow macros', the razor blade went to work leaving only 3 baffles. You can still see some of the silicon from the two baffles that were taken out. Of course you can reverse this design from left to right if you wish, the key is that the bubble trap is directly after the water enters the fuge. HTH
peckhead
Active Member
not to try and like prove you wrong or seem like im trying to argue...but wouldnt putting the bubble trap at the end eliminate the bubbles too and it wouldnt matter where the trap is because they will be eliminated before it gets to the pump? or am i wrong? because i have a pretty big skimmer and i dont want alot of baffles near it because im going to have trouble getting it out. and since im going to run the water higher then the baffles...it probabbly wont make alot of bubbles i dont think.... am i wrong about this?
hurt
Active Member
No problem and no offense taken by any means. If you put the bubble trap in first, you deny air bubbles/salt creep from covering your fuge light and blocking it of course. You also deny any air bubbles from entering your return pump as well.
The only way you could possibly get air bubbles back into your return pump chamber this way, is if you let the water drop 3+inches back into your return pump chamber, which I never understood why some people did that, but I have seen quite a few that do drop this much. As long as the drop between the last baffle and return pump is not that great(less than 2 inches), you will have no problems at all. I never get air bubbles returned to my DT and my fuge has 600gph going through roughly 15g, which of course is a 40X turnover.
The only way you could possibly get air bubbles back into your return pump chamber this way, is if you let the water drop 3+inches back into your return pump chamber, which I never understood why some people did that, but I have seen quite a few that do drop this much. As long as the drop between the last baffle and return pump is not that great(less than 2 inches), you will have no problems at all. I never get air bubbles returned to my DT and my fuge has 600gph going through roughly 15g, which of course is a 40X turnover.
hurt
Active Member
As far as worrying about space to take your skimmer out with, that won't make a difference at all. You still will have 3 baffles total, just different placement. Placing the trap first will eliminate all bubbles from blocking your fuge light and returning to your DT.
and since im going to run the water higher then the baffles
This statement has me confused a bit, you are going to have your normal operating water level above your baffles?
and since im going to run the water higher then the baffles
This statement has me confused a bit, you are going to have your normal operating water level above your baffles?
hurt
Active Member
I wouldn't do that. Basically you are depleting the whole purpose of putting the baffles in, in the first place. If you do such, you will surely have microbubbles going back into your DT as the bubble trap doesn't have a chance to function, your fuge light will be covered with salt creep blocking out the light, and you will have no organized flow, through your macros.
hurt
Active Member
They don't all have to be above water, as such it would not function. What I meant was your highest baffle(part of your bubble trap) where the water goes under, the top of this baffle should not be submerged at all. This is what separtes the water flow. If you are plan on using your design, then the very last baffle before your return pump, the top of this baffle should not be under water.
hurt
Active Member
First how large is your DT. Take the L*W*D/231 to figure out how many gallons extra will spill into your fuge when the power goes out. The D in the above formula should be 1. As in the depth your tank will drain in the event of a power outage. Most overflows won't drain a tank more than 1 inch, and that is really a safe figure to use. Once I know this, I can help you out with the height of the baffles.