Microbubbles everywhere

[NaCl_H2O]

That's wierd :? Use the light to verify no bubbles in the others too??

You said you used flex PVC right? I'm not familiar with this stuff, but could it be contributing? Maybe if it is bent in too tight of a bending radius, cound it have a small crack that's giving you the venturi? Or maybe air trapped in the return plumbing - I have no idea how you would determine this, or fix it? What if you shut off the pump and let the siphon try to clear the return lines, but start it back up before the siphon breaks and give you more air in the return plumbing.

It is kinda fun sitting here trying to solve someone elses problem when I really don't have a clue :lol:

[wkopplin]

Hehe. I know. Try sitting in my shoes trying to solve this. I did shut the pump down and re-checked all of the connections. It might be the flex pvc, but I put so much pvc cement on the joint that I doubt any air could get through there.

I looked closely at my coral frag tank and there are bubbles going through the return there too, the water is just going so fast you cannot see them and they go to the surface pretty quick in there.

I will put a bright light on the sump and see if there are any bubbles getting to the intakes. This new pump draws more water than the old one so maybe it is somehow causing a stronger current in the sump and pulling the bubbles in.

[scuba_steveo]

Well Blake I am affraid that I do not have any good theories that have not been discussed yet. The only thing I can think is to get Dan to make you a bubble eliminator for your sump like mine. The thing works like a charm.

[reefer]

the cavitation could be caused by a number of issues. cavitation in the pump housing can destroy the impeller, btw. but if its the result of bubbles escaping the skimmer, there may be little yoou can do, except reduce the air being intaked into the becketts. one way you can check if its coming from the skimmer is to shut off the air intakes completely, and let it run in that state for a day or so. if the bubbles disapate in the tank, then you know the root cause of your problem. then your choices will be to either reduce the output of the pump, or reduce the air intake. just some ideas..... hth!
8)

[wkopplin]

Thanks! That is my next experiment.

[matt]

Hey, don't go blaming that skimmer! :-D

Seriously, you were using the skimmer before, soooo......