Help please

[scottatmiles]

Ok so I changed my sump out the other day and put in a bigger skimmer. Everything is running pretty god except .... I have micro bubbles now. The only place there are bubbles is in the first chamber. The one the overflow box emptys into. My skimmer is also in this chamber. It's an octopus 1000sss. Then bubble trap then fugue then bubble trap then return. Like I said the only place I have bubbles is the first chamber. No bubbles in the return chamber at all. I didn't drop the pump or anything. I very carefully took it out, then put it in the new sump. When I fired it up bam bubbles. I waited two days for slime coat still bubbles. I took pump out and put it back in still bubbles. I shut the flow down to almost nothing and they almost go away. But then I don't have enough flow. I close off one side of return.... Still bubbles. .... I'm losing my mind here what gives. How do I fix this other than buying a new pump and crossing my fingers. Im lost please help.

 

[mr. limpid]

Its sound like you have no bubbles entering into your DT? Then there should be a problem with them in your sump, probably coming from your new skimmer, may go away in time.

 

[njbillyv]

Do you have a sponge in the bubble trap between your refugium and the chamber your pump is in?

 

[scottatmiles]

The bubbles are in the display tank not the sump. If I put floss in the bubble trap it slows flow to much. This causes skimmer chamber depth to change which then the water flows over the trap. When built I wanted to stay away from floss in the traps. Today I retightened the hose clamps. Still bubbles in dt. I don't know what to do at this point.

 

[scottatmiles]

I said there are bubbles in the first chamber where the tank drains but the bubble trap stops them. The pump chamber doesn't have bubbles. But the dt sure does.

 

[njbillyv]

I had this same problem when I built mine. It didn't look like there were any bubbles in the pump chamber, but I was still getting micro-bubbles in my DT. The only way I stopped it was with the sponge, now it runs great. If it's not a pump sucking air somehow deal, then you may have to alter your design slightly to allow for a sponge between the last two sections.
Good luck.

 

[flower]

I'm no expert but...The DT is above the sump, the skimmer is in the sump in chamber #1, and water flows over the bubble trap to the return chamber and flows up to the DT...if there are no bubbles in the sump chambers but only in the DT, then the bubbles are not coming from the skimmer. (I have that very skimmer, no microbubbles at all)
There is air in the return line somehow...like what very low water would create. You might have to raise the water in the sump a little, not enough to create a flood if the power is off, but high enough to cover the retun pump to not have air intake...also watch for evaporation, my pump has a whole 1 1/2 inches before it is exposed and starts pumping microbubbles, an ATO is the answer if that becomes an issue..
But try it and see if it helps.