Skimmer micro bubbles

[maxi]

My tank has been up and running for almost 4 years and out of the blue my skimmer starts putting out micro bubbles into the main tank. I have a DAS internal filter box with the skimmer inside the box. The bubbles are just streaming out the return. What causes this and what do I do to fix it?:notsure:

 

[gregvabch]

what do you have in the return section to break up the microbubbles? i'm not familiar with the brand of prefilter box you have, but i'm assuming your return water goes into a separate chamber of the box before returning to the tank. i'd add some filter floss, you don't need a whole lot of it in there. even if the return is going directly back into the tank, wrap some filter floss around the return slide and that should fix your microbubble problem.

 

[maxi]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it a try. I am still wondering why this started. I have never needed floss in the past 3 years. Is it possible that my pump is failing? I have also read about a change in surface tension causing bubbles. What would cause that?
FYI: Main tank water goes into filter box, through the skimmer chamber first, then it passes through a 1 1/2 sponge filter, then into a return chamber and out into the tank. DAS stands for Dutch Aquarium Systems.

 

[gregvabch]

do you take your pump apart and clean it periodically? never heard of surface tension changes causing microbubbles.

 

[maxi]

The first thing I did when the problem started is clean both pumps. This truely is a mystery.

 

[maxi]

Would you believe I did a water change and the bubbles have stopped! :cheer:

 

[gregvabch]

cool...