Aqua Nano 40 Eheim 1000 Problem

[Vincero]

Hi all,

I've had an Aqua Nano 40 set up for about three months now. Today I decided to upgrade the stock pump to an Eheim 1000. (Double the flow).

My set up includes a skimmer (reef octopus ns-80) and with the previous pump, I had to push some sponge down into the central chamber to stop microbubbles from entering the return section and consequently, the DT.

Well, adding the Eheim has caused the water level in the return section to drop massively. (I guess because of the flow restriction caused by the sponge in the adjoining chamber?) To the point where I've had to remove some of the sponge, because the outlet into the DT wasn't submerged any more!!

I've turned the pump down a little, removed some sponge, but I'm not completely happy with it just yet. The Eheim is periodically spitting bubbles, even though it's plumbed to the bottom of the tank. The return section water level is also still a little lower than I'd like it.

Lots of people run this pump at full capacity, in the same tank, but without microbubbles and problems with the return chamber.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Vincero]

Okay, part of my flow problems were solved by removing the bag of sand I put my new pump on. This was butting up against the baffle, severely restricting flow.

Still though, when I turn the pump up to full, the water line in the return section drops below the outlet by maybe an inch. Is this acceptable? (It just feels “off” to me…)

I’ve included pictures of where the water level is when the pump is turned down to half way. This is roughly the water level I operated at with the old pump.

I can raise the water level by removing some of the sponges in the next chamber, but the microbubbles from my skimmer return with vengeance!! Also, I can’t just add more water; the weir/overflow grates are nearly covered.

So, I guess I need help fixing the bubbles from my skimmer, so that I can take the sponges out? In theory, this should allow me to turn the return pump up??

I just don’t know what to do… I’ve put the skimmer as far as possible from the return pump but it isn’t enough to stop the bubbles.

http://imgur.com/a/RoV80


Help!!