9002 micro bubbles

[Chief Hill]

I'm using a 1 year old 9002 that I bought from a guy. I read all the things here regarding the cause of micro bubbles from the 9002.
I took it apart and cleaned it there is no kinks in airline and Yes the motor is installed correctly and elbow is clean clear etc etc etc.
I hooked it up in the dt to observe in my 29 g oceanic biocube.
I wore a 220 lumen led headlamp to observe where the bubbles were coming from and it's at the bottom plate from the impeller intake.
The bubbles travel through the bottom plate up into the main water stream.
It has been running for 2 weeks and hasn't. Changed.

Any ideas?

 

[rvitko]

Strong flow near the skimmer could draw bubbles out by a venturi effect. If the airline drapes infront of the nozzle it could bounce bubbles out. If the skimmer is immaculately clean and the pump is running at full performance some bubbles may be normal until it gets to more of a normal slightly fouled operating condition. Water chemistry can also be a big cause, surfactants, oxygen saturation, etc will all cause bubbles.

 

[Chief Hill]

I narrowed the majority of the possible causes out which is why I set it up in my DT to watch it.
But many things I can't control like o2 saturation.

The tunze website says the 9002 is micro bubble free which is confusing. If the bottom of this skimmer had a rubber gasket on the bottom it may reduce the bubbles that are allowed to escape.
It would be cool for a manufacturer to reduce all possibilities of the bubbles escaping knowing that each reef aquarium could have as many variables causing the condition as described above.

 

[rvitko]

I have used several types of skimmers and have yet to find one that never releases bubbles, even with the various bubble traps some manufacturers offer, I just don't think it is possible.

O2 saturation is a dead giveaway when the longer the lights are on, the worse the problem gets. New tanks may also have this as cool tap water tends to be super saturated and as it is processed, salt is mixed in and it warms up, it starts to degas, not to mention the algae cycles in new tanks tend to further exasperate it. It goes away, it just takes time. Reducing the photoperiod and removing algae can help.

 

[Chief Hill]

It's a 6 of 1 half dozen of another I guess. Have an aquarium but only run the lights for a few hrs because of bubbles or run the lights for a normal period and get bubbles.
Let's see how this goes when it gets really dirty. I'll keep my lights running for a normal period because I have fish and corals that need to grow. And I don't want an Alaska aquarium. 6 months of dark 6 of light. Lol.
Nobody likes staring at a dark aquarium. I'll deal with the bubbles.

Thanks for helping Roger.

 

[rvitko]

It doesn't need to be anything that extreme, shave a half hour off the morning and evening and a one hour midday break will make a huge difference when this is happening. Dennerle was a big proponent of this broken daylight cycle for plant tank in the 80's and 90's as the algae cannot adapt as well as higher plants and invertebrates and it does work for oxygen bubbles as well as algae reduction. If you do find the bubbles are less in the morning and more in the evening, it is worth a try and you then slowly increase the light period as the gas levels balance out.