micro bubbles from sump + 75g skimmer advice

[caz]

Hey guys... finally got my new 75 up and running.
I've got a 25ish gal sump/fuge. The tank drains by way of an overflow box w/ dual drains. One of the two drains splits off and goes to the fuge (controlled by a ball-valve). The other tubes go into the sump. My baffles go under-over-under and into the return and they (the baffles) are about an inch apart. The return pump is a Mag 9.5 and the return tubing is split and dumps back into the tank. What can I do to get rid of these bubbles?! I JUST set it up, so the water being stirred up, but still... Previously I had a filter sock that the drains in the sump drained into... it cured the problem. HOWEVER, I wouldn't have space for that and a skimmer if I did an in sump skimmer.
And besides, I don't have a lot of space in my sump for a skimmer as it is w/o the filter sock but what would you guys suggest? I've considered anything from a bak pak to a small in-sump. I didn't run a skimmer on my 55 previously.
BTW... my sump is setup like this
= drains
|.......................................................|
|...............................................................|
|...............................................................|
|.....Sump......|.......Return.....|.....Fuge.....|
|...............................................................|
Sorry my illustration sucks... lol
Let me know what you guys think! Thanks..

 

[caz]

 

[birdy]

I basically had the same setup for a 58gallon tank, I used a 29gallon sump/fuge, tons of microbubbles with a mag 9.5, I turned the flow down, and no more bubbles.

 

[vito525]

My 20 gallon refugium baffles have the water going over under over through fuge then under over. Overflow puts tons of bubbles in but by the time it's pumped back no microbubbles. I also reduced the flow.

 

[9lives]

You can also put a filter pad between your baffles and that will prevent microbubbles from getting to you return.

 

[caz]

Alright... I'm still lost.
I got my filter sock to put my drains into it. I had some foam filters that I jammed down in the baffles. AND I turned the mag 9.5 down a LOT. The bubbles are BETTER but are still quite visible. What do I do? Someone point me in a direction. At this point, I don't know if I need to replace the sump, overflow, or both. The overflow is a slim dual drain overflow I purchased off e.b.a.y. The sump was custom made (acrylic)
Let me know... quite frustrated.

 

[birdy]

Are you sure you don't have a air leak in your plumbing somewhere? I would check that.

 

[dadummy]

hello there,
I just set up a 90 gallon and the tiny bubbles were( are) a challenge.I have the same set up. overflow main is split with tee, supplies refugium and skimmer in sump. I even tried adding an extra baffle to slow down the bubbles, did not help, I checked all my return fittings to make sure that they were air tight.
My solution was to make two boxes out of acrylic, for the sump I made a box as large and deep as I could fit in and still have room for the skimmer.I then drilled as many 1/4" holes as i could in the bottom of the box. I took the filter pad that came with the mag 9.5 and sliced it thin to cover the bottom of the box.I now drain the skimmer and the overflow into this box, it greatly reduces the bubbles.I tried using polyfill first in the box, that seemed to clog up too quickly, I also stuffed filter material between the baffles, did not like that either, too dirty.My refugium drains into the sump through two 1" bulkhead fittings then over and under another set of baffles before the return pump.In the refugium I made an acrylic box this time drilling out the sides instead of the bottom.This worked great , without it the sand in the fuge was blowing everywhere.

 

[caz]

that's interesting... do you have any pictures of it I can see?
Originally Posted by dadummy
hello there,
I just set up a 90 gallon and the tiny bubbles were( are) a challenge.I have the same set up. overflow main is split with tee, supplies refugium and skimmer in sump. I even tried adding an extra baffle to slow down the bubbles, did not help, I checked all my return fittings to make sure that they were air tight.
My solution was to make two boxes out of acrylic, for the sump I made a box as large and deep as I could fit in and still have room for the skimmer.I then drilled as many 1/4" holes as i could in the bottom of the box. I took the filter pad that came with the mag 9.5 and sliced it thin to cover the bottom of the box.I now drain the skimmer and the overflow into this box, it greatly reduces the bubbles.I tried using polyfill first in the box, that seemed to clog up too quickly, I also stuffed filter material between the baffles, did not like that either, too dirty.My refugium drains into the sump through two 1" bulkhead fittings then over and under another set of baffles before the return pump.In the refugium I made an acrylic box this time drilling out the sides instead of the bottom.This worked great , without it the sand in the fuge was blowing everywhere.

 

[dogstar]

I have my fuge area in the middle and return/pump section on the end. Gives the bubbles plenty time to rise out befor being pumped back. Why have the return in the middle ?

 

[caz]

Originally Posted by Dogstar
I have my fuge area in the middle and return/pump section on the end. Gives the bubbles plenty time to rise out befor being pumped back. Why have the return in the middle ?
because I don't want so much flow rushing through my fuge...
nor (when I add a skimmer) do I want the water going into the fuge to be skimmed prior to going in there..
I think I may build a new setup with more baffles and a larger sump.

 

[dogstar]

I have two mag 9.5 going thru my 40g. sump/fuge and skimmer dumping straight in it too. No bubbles and a healthy tank. Its all the same water and flow is good.

 

[caz]

yeah... I'm retarded, but it drains in the left and returns on the right?
how big is your tank?
I think that may be a good setup for me... I think the fuge would help kill the bubbles... maybe I'll buy a cheap glass tank and have a few baffles fit into it and see how it works. Any suggestions before I do this? I also want to get a new setup b/c mine is total only 20ish gallons? I don't know... but not big enough for the 75g tank it's feeding.
Caz

 

[caz]

I think I may make something to this effect...
The intake chamber should help with the bubble problem, and I think my baffles are part of the problem b/c I can see that bubbles are getting past them.

What do you guys think?