Bah microbubbles galore, need some insight

[Wrassemeister]

Just finished setting up the tank and currently freshwater leak testing.. Everything is well accept for all of these microbubbles. Im currently running a mag 7 return pump. sump is divided into 3 sections... left section is skimmer, middle is return, right is fuge.

I did not have any space to put an UNDER baffle on the fuge side so im assuming most of the bubbles are coming from there. I have ball valves separating the flow from skimmer section and fuge; Skimmer section getting 70%, Fuge getting 30%.

Any insight would be appreciated, I would prefer not to put a foam block on the fuge b/c that would prevent pods from flowing over....
Here are a few pics so you guys can get an idea of the setup:

pic of the bubbles

pic of the sump

pic of the plumbing..

 

[Wrassemeister]

One of my options would be to go down to a mag 5, would that lower my microbubble production?

 

[demonsp]

If this is all brand new and just setup then give it a few days for break in . Usaully this disapates after break in.

 

[Wrassemeister]

would the fact that it has freshwater in it and not saltwater for now have an affect on bubbles? Would there be less bubbles with saltwater ?

 

[demonsp]

With any new system salt or fresh needs to break in . But adding water thats not mixed prior to entering isnt the right way , but can be done up front but never do this again. Also mix and circulate new batches of water atleast overnight before adding to your tank.
Also skimmer doesnt work with fresh water.

 

[Wrassemeister]

No im aware of that, I have other tanks running just not with sumps. I was asking if there is a difference in microbubble production in freshwater than in salt. like is water without salt in it more prone to microbubbles...and that is why my tank is filled with them and that when I switch over to saltwater, there will be less..?

 

[demonsp]

Everything looks new. This is normal. Let it break in. But i think whene you add the salt you may go thru another bubble period.

 

[wrott]

I bet it will degas and most bubbles will disappear after a couple of days.
IME, SW will hold more bubbles than FW, probably due to less surface tension from decreased hydrogen bonding.

 

[Hop]

Well I think that it's going to be very hard to eliminate micro bubbles from that sump with that kind of turn over. Keeping the 3-5 times the tank volume through the sump rule, you are about 7X more than you need. Things will settle in a bit, but once you get the skimmer in there, there is just no time for the bubbles to dissipate before hitting the return. You can try the typical foam and filter socks, but I don't think it's going to work.

There will be more bubbles with salt water.

I would get rid of the fuge, add another baffle and move the pump over after downgrading it to a pump pushing about 120gph at the tank.

JMO

 

[Wrassemeister]

no not the fuge lol! I tried soo hard to incorporate one into my sump. Dam this stupid stand, I cant fit anything in there, I had to get that sump built to fit in there and its still tiny.

 

[Wrassemeister]

also reason for such a high turnover rate is that this is meant to be an sps dominated tank, so I was hoping to get a little extra flow through the scwd :-(

 

[Hop]

Use the sump for added volume and hiding the goodies. Use closed loops and powerheads for the flow. Without the fuge, you can get a bigger skimmer which will do more than a tiny fuge.

The more I read about fuges, the less I like them. Basically you need the nutrients to sustain a fuge that you want to omit from keeping of a low-nutrient reef. Better to remove the nutrients than keep them around. Arguments both ways, but I think over the next two years you will see a decrease in the number of people running fuges

 

[Wrassemeister]

ahhh, I had the sump built so the left chamber is exactly the perfect size to fit the tunze 9015, I think that its already overkill when speaking in terms of skimmer capability for my volume of water, so no need for a bigger skimmer. I guess I will downsize to a mag 3, and check the plumbing for any air leaks and see if it subsides, Ill wait a few more days and see if the bubbles go down as well............

 

[reefergeorge]

I read in another post that you can just switch the impellers on the 7 and 5. I don't know if it makes a difference, but worth looking into.
A mag 3 going up four feet, through a check valve, a scwd, and two 90s has a lot of head loss.

 

[reefergeorge]

You could also try raising the water level in the sump to calm the water fall effect.

 

[Wrassemeister]

yea you are right, a mag 5 is probably a better option, im just going to trade my 7 for the 5 locally. I don't think that just swapping the pump will be enough though to eliminate them totally because even when I turn the flow down about 70% I still get them. im afraid my only other option is to pull out the sump and add more baffles and move the pump where the fuge is like Hop suggested.