450 Gallon Peninsula Display

[mcrist]

I noticed this on Deltec's website the other day.

Use of a Deltec Skimmer on a New Aquarium Setup.

Excessive Bubble Syndrome

We get many calls and emails from people new to the hobby or to Deltec skimmers about high levels of foaming or micro bubbles that are returning to their aquariums from their new Deltec skimmer.

This can be quite normal and is a result of the salt water that they have produced not as yet being mature enough for the high performance of the Deltec skimmers.

Many brands of salt used for aquarium water are made up from component parts to reproduce the elements found in natural sea water.

One of the additives introduced to many salts is a conditioning agent which is put in to react with heavy metals and toxins in the water and neutralise their negative effect.

The down side of these additives is that they can increase the surface tension of the water and enable bubbles to hold their form much longer than would be natural with mature salt water.

This effect obviously disappears as the water stabilises and reacts with waste in the system but until it does it causes many people concern which results in a call or an email to us.

To convince yourself of this fact just look at the bubbles in the skimmer cup. They effervesce like when you open a bottle of fizzy pop, which is not how mature water reacts in a skimmer. The bubbles also smell very clean and when you watch them in the tank you will see that they do not burst for an unusually long period of time.

Once the water has matured or the conditioners have been skimmed out then the problem will go away.

Problems reported are:

- My skimmer is producing excessive foam and filling the cup with a clear liquid

- Lots of small bubbles are returning to my aquarium.

These comments are most often reported on the MC500 and MCE600 models, probably as these are more often bought by people new to Deltec Skimmers or with new tank setups however both of these issues are indicative of the water maturation issue detailed above.

This problem is uncommon on many basic skimmers and is indicative of the incredible amount of air produced by the Deltec units.

What can you do?

The only solution to this issue is to until the water matures so that the surface tension drops and the bubbles disappear.This process can take from a few days to a number of weeks to clear completely but can be accelerated by observing the following tips.

- If the water is very new and there are excessive bubbles which continue to fill the cup with a clear liquid then the best initial course of action may be to switch the unit off for a week or so and then try it again. Most people having bought a nice new skimmer are reluctant to do this however during the initial stages there is little in the

water to skim and the waste helps greatly to react with the salt compounds and mature the water faster.

If the cup is overfilling with bubbles try smearing a little Vaseline around the top of the cup and air vent to burst the bubbles and to run the clear liquid back into the skimmer.

- If the problem is not as acute than this and it is only excessive small bubbles returning to the tank then either live with it for a while whilst the water matures or again switch the skimmer off or only run it on a night when you can not see the bubbles.

Please note that the pumps on the MC500 and MCE 600 either pump water, when the air tap is closed, or an air water mix when the tap is open. Many people when they start seeing bubbles appearing in their tank instinctively close down the air supply which reduces the air intake but also increases the water flow and washes the everlasting bubbles out of the skimmer and into the tank.

- In both cases feeding the tank reasonably heavily will add waste products for the sterile salt solution to react with - even if there are no fish or creatures in the tank.

- Do not carry out large, (if any), water changes at this point as you are just adding to the problem by introducing more of the conditioning agents.

And finally

Of all of the people that we have explained this to - none have come back to us after 2-3 weeks and said that it had not gone away.

This sounds like the problem I am having. I am at the end of my third week so I will see if it made any difference.

 

[tony13]

mcrist if the problem continues the only thing I would try different would be to change your "Y" to a "T" having the water flow go straight down towards the skimmer and the excess overflowing to the sump. There's a good schematic of the plumbing design on the Deltec forum under gravity feeding skimmers.

 

[mcrist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8554688#post8554688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
Hey mcrist.

Love the tank, you did a fine job! :thumbsup:

Another AP902 via Gravity feed user here.
A couple things you might want to check on:

For starters, Unplug your eheim pumps and remove the collection cup, leave everything else running as normal. Watch the water level inside the skimmer body for several minutes and see if your getting any surge from your drain line (water level going up and down). If your drain is sucking air it can cause surging once and awile, that could cause random overflows of the cup.

How long is the run from your skimmer drain line and is it uphill at all?
Much back pressure could also cause overflows.

If all else fails you might want to try reducing the water input slightly?

I unplugged the two Eheim pumps and I did get some surges from the drain line in the protein skimmer. I tried a couple of modifications to the overflow but nothing stopped the surges. Any suggestions?

 

[scarletknight06]

you need a ball valve or gate valve after the TEE on the return line and before the input into the skimmer. that way the input to the skimmer is always constant and the surges and other water flow get directed in the other direction of the TEE

 

[mcrist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8593381#post8593381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scarletknight06
you need a ball valve or gate valve after the TEE on the return line and before the input into the skimmer. that way the input to the skimmer is always constant and the surges and other water flow get directed in the other direction of the TEE

That's exactly how I have it set up but I have the ball valve all the way open. I guess I will try adjusting it to see if I can get it the way I want. My concern was that I wouldn't get enough water through a 1 inch PVC to allow for 800 GPH for the protein skimmer. So I had the one ball valve going to the sump completely shut and the other one going to the protein skimmer completely open.

 

[scarletknight06]

you need to allow for more flow through the drain than the amount you want through the skimmer, so you can have the amount you want through the skimmer, and the excess and surging going to the sump.

I would replumb the drain line that I see you have feeding the skimmer. get rid of the 45 degree elbow at the top and put the Tee there with the ball/gate valve on the bottom, then have this part feed the skimmer. have the water going at 90 degrees from the drain line go into the sump. you dont need a valve on that line unless you really want one. This should allow for a constant water flow to the skimmer.
HTH

 

[mcrist]

I was thinking that I might need to do that. Bummer, I hate plumbing.

 

[scarletknight06]

I know what you mean. I had the same problem and had to replumb last time I set up my tank, however on a much smaller scale.

 

[hatfielj]

Very nice tank. I really like how you left the tank open on top. My wife wants me to do this with our new 120 I'm setting up in a few months. She really likes the look of no canopy with a light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The only draw back to it is the glare from the light when you're sitting down looking at the tank. But, I think I can live with that.

 

[mcrist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8593871#post8593871 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hatfielj
Very nice tank. I really like how you left the tank open on top. My wife wants me to do this with our new 120 I'm setting up in a few months. She really likes the look of no canopy with a light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The only draw back to it is the glare from the light when you're sitting down looking at the tank. But, I think I can live with that.

I don't have any glare from my tank because of the 4' width. I also have less light than what most people want.

 

[Treg]

You can try slowing down your drain some. Then, if needed, close the ball valve on the skimmer exit to raise the water level inside the skimmer.

 

[thor32766]

thats a beautiful tank for sure.

 

[thor32766]

thats a beautiful tank for sure.

 

[tcmfish]

you said before that you have two of the three drain pipes open maybe in the overflow make the one operating the skimmer the lowest so it gets as much flow as possible and then have the other one your using pick up the extra and the third still be a backup that way you have more flow in the pipe leading to the skimmer with more pressure. also make the valve as close to the skimmer as possible to build up some pressure in the line to keep the flow consistent. i suggest this because i think one 2'' drain could handle your 1500 gph and that way you would have more flow going through the pipe so all the flow from that pipe wouldn't lead to the skimmer

 

[tcmfish]

i also must say i love the tank i really like the nice large corals

 

[rubysmomma1]

First off, great tank!!! I can only imagine having a tank that size.

Secondly, I have a question that will take you back to sand. We are getting ready to upgrade from our 75 to a 210. How long did you let the sand settle before moving over the live rock, fish, corals, etc? We were afraid of what effect the new sand would have on our livestock. We don't want to kill anyone in the move!!!

Thanks!! And thirdly, beautiful tank!!

 

[drummereef]

Tank is amazing. Love the two outcropping rock structures. Great! :thumbsup:

 

[mcrist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8597432#post8597432 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rubysmomma1
First off, great tank!!! I can only imagine having a tank that size.

Secondly, I have a question that will take you back to sand. We are getting ready to upgrade from our 75 to a 210. How long did you let the sand settle before moving over the live rock, fish, corals, etc? We were afraid of what effect the new sand would have on our livestock. We don't want to kill anyone in the move!!!

Thanks!! And thirdly, beautiful tank!!

Thank you for the compliments. The most important part of having a tank of this size is an understanding spouse. :love2: If it wasn’t for my wife I would never have built this tank. She actually got me in this hobby (obsession). She told me that I needed to get a hobby and brought home a freshwater beta. I told her that this was a mistake to get me a fish since I always wanted to have an aquarium. She never realized what she started until it was too late.

Oh the sand…I still have nightmares about the sand. :mad2: It wasn’t really bad getting it to settle and I even just dumped the sand in the tank without rinsing it. What helped me a lot was the perforated tubing I have for my drain on the closed loop. I used a large filter pad and wrapped the perforated tubing and turned on my closed loop. I also need to point the returns of the closed loop straight up so that I didn’t disturb the sand bed but it worked. I took about a week before it was completely clear. I still use this idea when I blast the junk off of my rock and it works very well.

By the way, the perforated tubing was James’s idea from Envision Acrylics. Thanks again for a great tank. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[mcrist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8597801#post8597801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
Tank is amazing. Love the two outcropping rock structures. Great! :thumbsup:

Thanks…My last tank was the standard wall theme and I never did like it. I really wanted to break it up a little.

 

[rubysmomma1]

Oh the sand…I still have nightmares about the sand. :mad2: It wasn’t really bad getting it to settle and I even just dumped the sand in the tank without rinsing it. What helped me a lot was the perforated tubing I have for my drain on the closed loop. I used a large filter pad and wrapped the perforated tubing and turned on my closed loop. I also need to point the returns of the closed loop straight up so that I didn’t disturb the sand bed but it worked. I took about a week before it was completely clear. I still use this idea when I blast the junk off of my rock and it works very well.

Thanks for the tip. It will be very helpful once we begin undertaking this project. Did you use the sand from your 1st tank for the sump sand or did you purchase more sand for the sump too?

:fish1: