video : micro bubble problem

[Schplitter]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10949078#post10949078 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jarob
No but it catches anything that floats around in my tank, makes it a lot more clear.

Same reason I have one on mine...

 

[scbadiver]

I would suggest looking as Mark said. Need a mechanism to release the air being picked up on the drop from the tank. I'm assuming you went with a 2 inch pipe again but couldn't tell for sure. An extra fitting or possibly just a hole drilled about 1/4 above the water line may help tremendously. If you have a steady smooth flow into the sump you automatically start with a lot less bubbles to remove thru the baffles. I'd start there.

Gotta love Meatloaf!

 

[latazyo]

Mark and Robbie,

currently from the drain it goes into a 45 and then into the chamber...I should have realized that this is basically a fast free fall when I did it, but I didnt, so Im going to modify it

it is 1.5" PVC

the current set up has it entering the chamber and then I attached a PVC Tee to the end so that one end of it is above the water and one end is below the water, but the water still comes in really fast


this afternoon Im going to modify it by adding a Tee to split some flow to the "fuge" and the rest will enter the chamber as shown and I'll have a Tee on the end with a pipe extending above the water level to release air

here is a drawing

so hopefully the new dual split and 90 degree elbows will slow down the flow

Im running a mag 9.5 split between two tanks and a lot of plumbing and my drain is all 1.5" pvc, so I am nowhere near drain capacity, so I should be able to afford slowing it down a little bit

 

[frenchie]

dont mean to hijack but will filter sock on drain lines help slow down micro bubbles

i though of using these on my sump once i get it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+16746&pcatid=16746

can add to any sump, hangs on side of sump walls, new product at dr foster and smith website.

 

[latazyo]

it might a little, however the water is still moving and thrashing against the skimmer and sides of the sump, etc and creating bubbles

 

[scbadiver]

That is as good a place to start as any Leighton. That may be all you need. If not, you can keep tweaking it from there but a vented downpipe is a real good start IMO. Keep us posted sir!

 

[latazyo]

well I bought about 10 bucks worth of PVC fittings including another union coupling and it did absolutely nothing

I tried to cut back the pump but when I cut the pump back to the main tank, it just pushes more to the side tank, sooooooooo..........yeah

maybe I should switch to a mag7 or something

this is the setup now

 

[latazyo]

well, a miracle happened and I got an RC search at 7 pm (seriously, I didnt get a screen shot, but it happened, I swear)

anyways, I searched for micro bubbles...in many of the threads I saw people saying things like "sometimes new PVC will do that, in a few weeks it'll slime over"

so IM gonna keep my corals turkey basted free of bubbles for a few weeks and see what happens (although Im fairly certain the bubbles are due to the fact that Im moving around 800 gph through a 20L sump)

if that doesnt clear them up I see myself having a few options

1. down size pumps again to a mag 7 or something similar (or even smaller) and then put my seios back in my tank (Ive been told that an MJ1200 mod would be too much for my 3 foot tank)

2. keep this pump but add a SQWD to cut some flow back

any other options?

 

[scbadiver]

I agree with you that I don't believe it is just the pipes though that may be increasing the problem, it's not the cause. On my old 75 gal I had an issue with gurgling noise, years ago before before we heard of durso or stockman, so I put a S-trap in the drain line. Just like the bathroom sink. It caused the area to be full of water, without restriction and slowed it down enough it fixed the noise. I did the same thing on my 240 to prevent noise and it seems to work there too but I don't know if it would help with a bubble issue. Possibly something like that just above the sump would help? I just throwing stuff out here though. I really don't know anything.

 

[latazyo]

IM gonna slather some extra PVC glue on my joints to make sure that there are no air leaks

 

[breutus]

Just a thought... But wouldn't it make it better if before the tee's you increased the pipe size to easily separate the air and water and slow down flow. Then as the tee drops down reduce it to the smaller size. Maybe I'm still drunk but for some reason that seems like it wold force the air up and water down.

 

[Markk96]

Are you letting the air out of the overflow before it gets to the sump?

 

[latazyo]

I have a hole drilled in the cap on the stockman

should I make it bigger or take the cap off?

 

[Im Lon 2]

Change to bottom pipe to a 2" pipe that will allow the air to escape through out that pipe.

I have 3600 gallons per hour going through a 100 gallon sump with no Micro bubbles at all after my bucket thats there to catche the bubbles.

Top of drain pipe caps has small holes to help air escape before going down the pipe.

I go from 2 - 2" pipes up to a 3" pipe, then up to a 4" pipe. This slows the pressure in the pipes allowing the air to come to the surface of the bigger pipe. I also did this with Stupids reef tank and it works the same as mine.

This is when the tank is running wide open

 

[Im Lon 2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10958479#post10958479 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by latazyo
I have a hole drilled in the cap on the stockman

should I make it bigger or take the cap off?

Taken the cap off will only make it louder.

 

[latazyo]

well at this point the frustration level is only getting higher

I switched all of the post T action to 2" and it made no difference whatsoever

my sump is a 20L and the chamber that accepts the drain water is about 12"x10"x9" deep

I am thinking that this tiny chamber receiving this huge amount of water is the cause for my problem

I am thinking that I either need to re-route my sump to go "the long way" (instead of having the return in the center) or else downgrading my pump to a mag7 or comparible

 

[JxMetal]

why can't you just do.....from left to right chambers.

Rock/rubble ---->skimmer----->chaeto------>return pump.


rock rubble will slow down the bubbles a little, skimmer will run and obviously produce a few more bubbles, chaeto will stop a good load of bubbles, then you have the baffles to stop a few bubbles.

Only thing here is the first baffle is rendered useless, IMO. I could be wrong here.

 

[latazyo]

I only have 3 chambers

re-routing the sump is the last choice right now because I'd have to re-plumb my return line, that's all....but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes

 

[Schplitter]

Get it done and save yourself a headache ...

 

[JxMetal]

All you needs 3 chambers. I have the skimmer and chaeto in the same middle chamber. When I had my asm, i just had the pump at the left side, the skimmer body in the middle, and the chaeto on the right side. This was all in the middle chamber. Now I'm not sure what your dimensions are in your sump though. My sumps 36" long and probably about 18" in the middle chamber. It's a tight fit but, there's nothing else I can do.