Refugium Return Creating Air Bubbles

[gliderjohn]

I'm just setting up my tank. The water is in it and I've just started my Aquafuge2 refugium for the first time. As the water is returning to the main tank, it is sucking air bubbles in with it. I'm sure this is not a good thing.
The product's tech support website indicates that this is a result of the design of the fuge. In a message on their board dated 12/11/06, they say (and I quote) -
"You have one of the new AquaFuge 2 refugiums. The new outlet has a "free-flow" design that does not require a siphon tube like the older models. This new improvement removes the posibility of an overflow as there is no siphon that may break. This way, if the pump stops running, the water will level out at the outlet baffle and not rise any higher.
We also came out with the new Bubble Eliminator that will contain the turbulence bubbles that come from the outlet."
They go on to say -
"Another thing you can try is adjusting the outlet on the Fuge so that about 50% of the outlet is exposed above water. This allows most of the air that is drawn in through the outlet to "release" inside of the elbow as ithe water exits. You can adjust the height of the outlet by raising and lowering the elbow and/or flipping it around (one end is longer than the other). Also, some users have found that they can achieve similar results by adjusting the angle of the the outlet tube (rather than having it go straight down."
I've tried adjusting it to no avail. Has anyone else had this problem? Have you tried the bubble eliminator? Any other solutions?
Thanks.

 

[nycbob]

anyway to reduce the flow from the powerhead? there should be a knob where u can turn it.

 

[gliderjohn]

I'll check tonight when I get home.

 

[nycbob]

bc i hv the one without the skimmer. i know the water is pump into the fuge with a powerhead. not sure if the fuge with the skimmer is built like that.

 

[gliderjohn]

This one also does not have the skimmer. I tried reducing the flow from the powerhead, but it didn't make a difference. I thought I might get some PVC parts from Home Depot to jury rig a solution, but they didn't have the right sizes.
Tonight the the amount of bubbles being produced has diminished, but is still significant. I'll look into the Bubble Eliminator Aquafuge makes for this. It seems to be some sort of filter that needs to be attached to it. However, posts on the Aquafuge site indicate that a number of people using this have had problems with the filter easily clogging from stuff coming out of the fuge resulting in the fuge overflowing onto the floor.
Thanks for your input.