Little Giant pumping bursts of air bubbles

[shine~on]

I just set my 75 up and I got this new Little Giant pump. It sits outside the sump (non-submersible) and is hooked up via pvc pipes. It is pumping fine but it seems to be pumping air bubbles into the tank. My skimmer is not hooked up so that is not a problem. What is going on?
Thanks.

 

[mudplayerx]

There is air entering the system somewhere, whether is be loose-fitting piping, or a leak in the pump.

 

[shine~on]

If there was air entering the pipes wouldn't there be a leak somewhere? I can't find any leaks. There's no option on the pump for air to enter the water is there?

 

[birdy]

Sometimes you get very small amounts of air leaking in at the joints, occasionally you will get salt creep around it which is a tip off but a lot of times you have no idea how the air is getting in.
My other question is how big is your sump. I have found that trying to push a lot of water through a sump is a good way to get microbubbles in the tank, do you have baffles in the tank, do you see bubbles in the section where your pump is pulling water. If that is the case the only solution I know of is to cut back the amount of water.
In all my future tanks I will be pushing minimal water through the sump (less than 1000gph in a 50gal+ sump) and using closed loops and pumps for water circulation.

 

[shine~on]

Yea there is bubbles in the sump. I have a lever to cut back on the flow and it is already not fully open.

 

[cowfishrule]

yo, is that avatar the big boss man????

 

[acrylic51]

Just like Birdy said it could be possible that you have a bad seal or glue joint on your plumbing allowing the line to suck air causing the bubbles. Air is lighter than water so it's very possible you could be sucking air and not seeing any water leakage. I've seen it happen in the past... I took some simple silicone and started dabbing my connections on my plumbing till i found the culprit and then redid my connections at the point. Have you also checked where your pump is pulling water from... Sometimes if it creates to much of a suction and it might not happen all the time it might create like a vortex and suck air from that point as well in your sump????? I tried just running a straight bulkhead, but had to add a strainer to keep it from doing this as well and it will cause bubbles at times.. HTH

 

[jcarroll]

My powerhead was pumping a ton of air bubbles and all I had to do was decrease the air flow

 

[nkrbkr77]

JCARROLL:
I have been looking all over for a thread on aeration, and was wondering if it is detrimental to have the powerhead putting to many bubbles into the water.
Can you give it too much oxygen?
thx

 

[jcarroll]

unfortunately, I'm not sure, but those bubbles are very unpleasant to look at, so personally I would rather have multiple powerheads than one working overtime. I don't think you can aerate too much because you're purpose for good flow from powerheads is to get rid of dead spots in your water. People have 2 or 3 powerheads so they can direct them at different areas of their tanks. Hope that helps

 

[nkrbkr77]

Thanks for the reply,
Ive got 2 550's in my 55 with just one of them hooked up to an airlline thats pumping in the bubbles, dont really like the way it looks either, but figure it has to be beneficial.

 

[shine~on]

Originally posted by COWFISHRULE
yo, is that avatar the big boss man????
John Goodman from The Big Lebowski (1998)!

 

[jcarroll]

try cutting back the air flow a little though, mine was shooting out the bubbles, but even after I cut it back a little I'm still getting a great ripple on the surface of my water. My fish aren't freaked out anymore either, they didn't like the bubbles

 

[shine~on]

I think I might just put a sponge in the sump intake to prevent bubbles from coming in. I don't know what else to do. That's what I had to do w/ my skimmer

 

[acrylic51]

Originally posted by Nkrbkr77
JCARROLL:
I have been looking all over for a thread on aeration, and was wondering if it is detrimental to have the powerhead putting to many bubbles into the water.
Can you give it too much oxygen?
thx
You shouldn't have the powerheads blowing any bubbles period into the tank... Not good for the corals....

 

[acrylic51]

Originally posted by Nkrbkr77
Thanks for the reply,
Ive got 2 550's in my 55 with just one of them hooked up to an airlline thats pumping in the bubbles, dont really like the way it looks either, but figure it has to be beneficial.
Bubbles are detrimental and you don't need the bubbles for aeration in the tank!!!!