Those $%^& Micro Bubbles....

[corydrysdale]

Kind of a plea for help here. I have a link for my system under the 120 gallon tanks or larger. There are photos there that show my plumbing setup etc. My problem right now is a huge amount of micro bubbles entering back into my tank thru my return pipe. There doesnt seem to be any bubbles in my refugium by the time it gets to my return line. Now I didnt drill the end of the tank, but ran plumbing over the side and into my pump ( reeflo hammerhead) The pump was cleaned throughly and still tons of micro bubbles. I hard plumbed everything , so I went back and applied repair tape that adheres to pvc to all my joints incase I had a small air hole. Still lots of bubbles!

Anyone have any issues with the hammerhead causing this problem?
Its a 2 inch drain and a 1.5 inch return line.

The bubbles are causing my zoas to close up and many others are getting irritated by them.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Gseclipse02]

hey cory its jt can you post better pics of your sump ???? i couldnt really tell the way it was plummed

[jrsatx20]

R u useing the hammerhead as a closed loop. I had mine like that before I drilled Sorry the dart pump. It would suck in air from the intake tube and make the lil bubbles. I had about 8 in of the intake in the tank with holes drilled all along it. How is yours.

[corydrysdale]

Kind of a plea for help here. I have a link for my system under the 120 gallon tanks or larger. There are photos there that show my plumbing setup etc. My problem right now is a huge amount of micro bubbles entering back into my tank thru my return pipe. There doesnt seem to be any bubbles in my refugium by the time it gets to my return line. Now I didnt drill the end of the tank, but ran plumbing over the side and into my pump ( reeflo hammerhead) The pump was cleaned throughly and still tons of micro bubbles. I hard plumbed everything , so I went back and applied repair tape that adheres to pvc to all my joints incase I had a small air hole. Still lots of bubbles!

Anyone have any issues with the hammerhead causing this problem?
Its a 2 inch drain and a 1.5 inch return line.

The bubbles are causing my zoas to close up and many others are getting irritated by them.

Anyone have any suggestions?

here are a few photos of how im set up.
there doesn't seem to be any bubbles in and around my intake. Most of the bubbles dissapate after going from one end of the sump to the other end where it is picked up and sent back to my tank.
Am I using too many elbows, connections? Ive wrapped most of the joints with repair tape (home depot...stuff sticks to pvc to totally fix leaks and last for ever) and still i have it at every locline return.

I think there is a picture of just how many bubbles im getting in my tank.

[corydrysdale]

Yes to using the hammerhead in a closed loop system.

[RayAllen]

Is the 2nd and last picture your drain line?

If so the air is not escaping your sump fast enough before its gets to the return line/pump. I took a look at Ross and Eves tank when I was having plumbing issues. If you have the drain line just slightly in the water and partly out this allows air to escape which dramatically cuts down on micro bubbles. I hope this makes sense.

I do not see a skimmer in any of the pics, but if you do have one they could be coming from the skimmer to. Micro bubbles will be much harder to see in your sump because of the dim lighting, but they have to start there.

[StevenSeas]

What size pvc are you using? you said your return line is 1 1/2inch does that mean all if its that much? it appears as if there are 2 diff size tubing but I cant tell.

[jrsatx20]

After seeing the better pics water is moving way to fast through the sump. Your defeating the purpose of having a sump with the intake of the closed loop in the sump. I would route the intake up over the top of the tank. If you want I have the intake I used that way if you want it.

[Big_Pun]

I agree with jrsatx, your closed loop needs to feed off your tank and use a separate smaller pump for return to tank, the fuge needs to be calm so lil critters have a safe area to multiply

[corydrysdale]

Here are some more pictures , hopefully showing a little more detail

first shows my return from tank into sump
2nd, show sump and compartments
3rd..sorry its on a stupid angle..shows my inlet from sump into pump and my outlet from pump back into tank
4th is my setup showing returns etc
5th is the sump area. Really, with the amount of water returning to the sump on the far right side, flowing from right to left, there is very very minimal bubbles in the area of the sump with the inlet to the pump. If i use the ball valve on the inlet pipe going into the pump, it seems to produce more bubbles then leaving it wide open. I have no ball valves limiting the amount of water flowing from the tank to the sump (remember I have 2-2inch bulkheads draining) and yes it flows fast.

If you can guys, give me a better understanding of how to route my system for a closed loop. I have a coralife 1090 pump that i can use to move water from sump to tank.

thanks

[jrsatx20]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/jrsatx20/SU1HMDAwMDctMjAwOTAxMDEtMTk0MC5qcGc.jpg
Here's a pic of how I had mine. Its the large tube on the far right it sits in the tank over the back and into my sequence dart. Never had a problem with it like that. My returns were a mag 7 and mag 3 just in case one pump fails. I still have the PVC tube if u want it.

[corydrysdale]

so basically what your saying is, the pipe with the holes is sucking in water? and then travels down into your pump and then is fed back up into your tank

It appears that I have a much larger pump (hammerhead) then i need on a return!
I will give it a shot and reroute my return directly into my tank then use my smaller pump to feed my locline returns. This should slow down the flow of water ?

[jrsatx20]

that will work. Yes the pipe with holes is sucking water to my pump and back up. These pump are used as a return when the pump is located in another room far away.