microbubbles

[seltzerd]

Okay, I just got my rr 90 up and running. I have an AGA 90 rr. I have a 20 gal sump, with 1 inch drain to sump. My return is all 3/4 inch driven by a Pan World 150PS. I realize my sump must be too small, but my flow is so fast I cant seem to totally reduce my bubbles. I have a very fine sponge on my intake and a bubble trap on the outflow.
My question is, how much microbubbles can be tolerated? I dont have a ton (enough to not make water crystal clear and annoying to me) but I dont want to hurt my fish/coral
Thanks

 

[prime311]

Bubbles will only hurt things they build up on. Like the underside of your rock might accumulate bubbles and nothing can grow in the pockets and pockets that form on live stuff will kill it. You'd need an awful lot of bubbles to harm fish, enough for pockets to be present on their gills.

 

[rldavisou]

Yeah, I have a skimmer that returns LOTS of bubbles, and I have them building up on the bottoms of rocks, etc. I just go in every few days wave my hands around under there, and the bubbles are gone. My fish don't even seem to notice them.

 

[aztec reef]

Sounds like you may need more flow in DT.

 

[ntracy]

One of the things I've learned to fix this problem is by turning UP the airflow on the skimmer. It creates a stronger cyclone effect, and minimizes the stray bubbles. Give that a try... turn up your airflow and wait like 30 mins... if they aren't considerably less by then, then it's something else.