SQUIDD micro bubble help

kingspade

kingspade

Member
i am getting micro bubbles in my tank and they wont go away. what could be causing this? what can i do to solve the problem?
i have a 125 RR with dual corner overflows, 4 seio M1500's, ASM G3 skmmer 40 gallon long sump/fuge, skimmer bay in the middle, mag 18 return with foam prefilter and i run filter socks on both darins
i think i found the problem, look at the pics and let me know if you are thinking the same. if so (which im sure you are) what can i do to stop that?? its only the left side as you can see there are A LOT of bubbles pounding outta there. second pic is of the return, there is some bubbles in there too, more than i thought but they may be hard to see with the resized quality of the pic.
did you see that huge mass of bubbles comming off my left drain? i think that is the root of my problems, the only reason there is the waterfall in the return bay is because i havnt topped it off, it usually isnt that big of a waterfall. how can i stop all those bubbles comming off my left drain pipe?

 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
Hey squidd - doing my tap water test (again) and I am having the exact problem. No need to post a pic as it will look the same as KingSape's a whole bunch of bubbles coming from the pipe into the skimmer chamber.
My husband had a little luck messing around with the stockman pipe stands we built - but the best result was with no air hole in the cap at all. Can it be ran with no air holes??? Even so still some bubbles there just not as much with the air holes open!
Please help us.
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
KingSape a stockman or durso pipe stand might help with the bubbles a bit, I had alot more bubbles (and noise) when I ran the system a few days ago without them. But a reply from squidd will definately be more helpful then my suggestion!
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
will do, i am almost thinking that i will have to cut a gap into my drain and install ball valve to control the drain a little but i am going to wait for squidd first before i do anything
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
I was thinking about the ramp idea on the baffles mentioned in your first post, but my husbands two cents worth is that bubbles will just get trapped under the ramp in the pump chamber.
Do you have air valves or air holes on the top of your durso? It seems to me (and of course I have NO clue what I am talking about that adding air valves and adjusting them to the exact point that the bubbles stop is a better option then choking down your flow with ball valves.
 
kingspade

kingspade

Member
i have my air holes about as big as i can without the water level getting too high in my overflow. the water is already past half of the street ell, almost over top of it
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
We had our airholes open pretty big as well, but when we covered them up the bubbles seemed to be reduced. (actually we closed them pretty much altogether) I wasn't suggesting the air valves to allow more air, I was suggesting them to allow less. Don't know if it would work over the long term (maybe build up too much prussure or cut to much flow) but for the few minutes we reduced our air holes it was less noisy and almost no bubbles!
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
No matter what you do, you will have some bubbles coming from drain line to overflow chamber...that is normal and to be expected...but you don't want "surging" or instability in standpipe/overflow function...
Containing the bubbles in the overflow/drain/skimmer chamber is the job of the first set of baffles prior to return pump...
You don't want bubles "traveling" to the return pump and back to tank...
Can try adding a 1/4" hole 4" up the drain line prior to entering sump...reduces pack pressure and allows standpipe to function smoother...
 
jrang

jrang

Member
I read this on another post but couldnt figure out how to add the picture he had:
"I had huge bubbles in my sump when I first set up my 120. Plumbing comes out of my tank, into my stand, then through the wall behind the tank where my sump is sitting on the floor. Originally, I just had 90 degree fittings on there with a section of pipe going into the intake compartment of my sump and got the huge bubbles. I decided to see if I could help this by venting some of the air off that the dursos suck in from the holes in the caps in the overflows. So, I added a short riser pipe. This reduced the huge bubbles to just a fizz, but still had a little noise coming out of my dual "exhaust pipes". So I added caps on these as well with holes drilled in them like the dursos. Worked just fine, bubbles and noise are significantly reduced. Here's a pic from when I first was testing the whole thing a couple months ago. (my first plumbing job, please excuse all of my purple showing"
He basically has two vent pipes running off his sump intake pipes. I was going to add this feature when I built my sump. Dont know if this would help but it sure looked good in his diagram.
Hope this can give you addtional ideas
 
jrang

jrang

Member
I am trying to add it as an attachment. I have not figured out yet how to post photos :notsure:
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Can try adding a 1/4" hole 4" up the drain line prior to entering sump...reduces pack pressure and allows standpipe to function smoother...
Same principal as the riser tubes...without the tubes...

Air hole releases pressure...= less bubbles...
 
jrang

jrang

Member
Squidd,
Looking at KingSpades photo where would you recommend making the hole above or below the elbow????
Stupid question but would water shoot out of that hole because of the pressure?
I just want to make sure that I dont flood out my house when I build my sump. The "boss" would not be happy if I ruined her rugs

Thanks
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Looking at the top pic #1 post, I'd say just above the elbow...as long as it's still located "in" or "aimed" at the sump shouldn't get the rugs wet...
And no, water really doesn't "squirt" out..it want's to take the path of least resistance (down the tube) the hole just allows air to pass (for the most part)...
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
Hi Squidd! As always thanks fo reply! I am also having trouble visualizing where the 1/4" inch hole should go! Are we talking 4" from the bottom of the spillover or underneath in the sump 4" up from the skimmer chamber water line. Finally if you mean 4" from the end of the pipe in the skimmer chamber I believe my pipes are submerged about 5" inches in water. Maybe a pic or one of those diagrams you do so well would be helpful.
Should said hole be on top part of pipe side or bottom?
Should this hole same hole also be drilled into the pipe going into the fuge so their is equal water distribution or does this not matter!
 
moorea2

moorea2

Member
Ok - just read the post better. In my pic were would you put the hole and should it go on top bottom or side of the pipe.
Also I turned my skimmer around so the gate valve was facing away from the the return chamber hoping this would give bubbles coming from there time to dispapate. Does this 1/4" hole mean that I can face it foward again???
Finally should an identical hole be drilled on the pipe to the the fuge to even things out!
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Somewhere in here is fine...4" is not a magic number, but you don't want to be right at water level either...
 
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