Skimmer/Sump Change - Observations

[Rockym]

A week ago I changed the skimmer and sump on my 75G. Nothing else has changed, I'm still using a large CPR HOB fuge. Here are my observations after 1 week.

Old setup: 20G tall tank under stand, Coral Reef skimmer (ASM G2 knockoff) using Sedra 3500, Sedra 9000 return pump.

New setup: Precision Marine custom sump in BASEMENT, PM Bullet 2 using Genx PCX40, another Genx PCX40 for return. I also moved my Typhoon III ro/di to basement and set up 2 50G plastic barrels and auto topoff system.

Pros:
Can/do keep tank at 78* +-.2* without fans! (formerly had a 5-6* temp change daily) Still using 2x400W MH.
Skimmer pulls out 10-20 times more gunk than before! (I thought the old skimmer was doing ok).
Water is crystal clear! (I thought ot was clear before)
All corals seem to be loving it!(especially SPS)

Cons:
Overflow considerably louder.
Very tiny micro bubbles.

Any advice comments are very welcome.

Mike

 

[JonTarutis]

Mike-
Where is the sound coming from out of the overflow box? Is there a large drop from the water surface down into the box? What size drains? Is the Bullet 2 dumping before a sponge or into a sock?
How is your macro algae doing? I'd wager a bet that it will start to shut down with the bullet. That skimmer is a beast!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I bet the heat was comming from the Sedras.

The bullet 2 is a much better skimmer then you had before, so I am not surprised you are seeing better performance. I am currently only running a bullet 1 on my 135g, but not for long! Stay tunned for details. Your return is louder because you have more flow I would assume.

THe tiny micro bubbles are either from a very very tiny hole in one of your return lines, or more likely, from the bullet 2. Where is the output of the skimmer in relation to the intake fo the return pump. For my bullet 1, I added an extension to drop the water as far away from the return pump as possible. I also have it drop onto a sponge. The is pretty effective with the microbubbles.

Hope so of this helps.
Ken

 

[Rockym]

The tank is not drilled so its a hob overflow, very similar to a CPR style(vs. U tube). I'm not sure about the rating but I'm guessing about 600gph as it has a single 1" return. I'm sure it is at capacity because when I tried to insert a piece of tubing as I've done in the past the tank water level rises too much for my comfort. Maybe I'll experiment with differant lengths of pipe inside the back of the overflow. The noise is coming from the top of the pipe and is bearable if I cover the back of the overflow, very loud when uncovered. As for the skimmer, the tank return and skimmer both dump at the back end of the sump and the return pump and skimmer feed both exit through bulkheads in the front aprox. 30 " away. There is one baffle near the front. Btw I am running the return full bore open, but I do have it plumbed so that I can divert some water back to the sump if desired for less flow. I haven't tried this yet. The micro bubbles are so tiny that you have to really look when the halides are on, but stand right out with actinic only. Thanks.
Mike

 

[JonTarutis]

How long have you had this new setup running? You might be getting bubbles from the new pipes not being coated inside with some slime... Return pump drawing from the bottom (elbow on the inside of the sump?)
Try making a mini dorso for the overflow?

 

[Rockym]

One week. The return bulkhead is on the bottom under about 6" of water. Mini dorso? Great idea! Thanks Jon.

 

[cmhollis]

Rocky,

If you still have microbubbles after your new piping has had time to slime up, then look into a couple of filter socks. I was having the same problem, and I added 3 filter socks. One on each overflow drain, and one on the skimmer return to the sump. Cleared it up immediately. So I have 6, 3 in use, the other 3 get washed with a little bleach (no detergent - detergent contains phosphates). I change them out every week when we do the water change.

Check out www.filterbag.com. Most people use 100 micron socks.

Mike

 

[Rockym]

Thanks for the link Mike. Which ones did you get?

 

[cmhollis]

I got these:

http://www.filterbag.com/items/PONG100P1P.html

I just cut out the plastic ring and ty-wrapped them directly to the piping.

Mike

 

[NoSchwag]

FWIW I took care of my microbubbles by sump design and creative plumbing..

You need something to slow the water down.

Can you take a picture of your setup?