Baffling problem

[jroescher]

How can I force the water coming over my baffles to go down the baffle? It goes out and away from the baffle at the top, and creates a lot of bubbles as it hits the bottom again. I want it to follow the glass down like the red line.

[hobogato]

can you add another baffle from the top like the middle one? usually, i make mine the opposite way yours is drawn so the water goes under - over - under. you can also put some live rock rubble wher the water flows over to break up the bubbles.

[Richard]

If it is acrylic you can file down the edge (so that it is like a wedge) so that the water drops straight down. That what precision marine does on his bubble less sumps.

[matt]

Rounding off the baffle edge like Richard suggests will help; the easiest way to do it would be with a quarter round bit on a router. In terms of helping with the bubble issue, slowing the flow will really help (may not be possible in your case) and keeping the post baffles water level high will also help.

[jroescher]

It's all glass. I know it's too much flow over the top. I am going to move my skimmer pump back into the same chamber as the skimmer. That should reduce the flow by half. Another problem is the height difference between the water level in the return area, and the top of the baffle. The water falls too far, causing it to pull air in when it hits the water. And make lots of noise.

I put a piece of split 3/4" tubing across the top, giving it a rounded surface to flow over. Now the water flows down the glass like it should, it's just still high.

It's hard to make any changes while it's up and running, and taking it all apart it pretty much out of the question.

[TexasTodd]

I agree with Matt. Can you raise the overall water height?

Todd

[NaCl_H2O]

Get a piece of acrylic and silicone it in as another (underflow) baffle about 3-4 inches past the last one. Add standoffs at the bottom and put a piece of eggcrate on the standoffs 1-2 inches off the bottom. Put LR rubble or filter floss on top of the eggcrate - also a great place for bags of carbon.

[MikeyBoy]

Yea, what Steve said!!!

[jroescher]

Yea, what Steve said!!!

Is that NaCL_H2O?

That's what I'm going to do. I have lots of scrap acylic. Just have to deal with the time it takes silicon to cure.

[NaCl_H2O]

Yup, Salt_Water_Steve here!

The baffle won't be holding any pressure, so it doesn't need to cure a long time. put a good bead down each joint, on each side, slide a wet finger over it to get decent contact, and let it skin over for an hour or two ... then fill-er-up! Since it will be sitting off the bottom an inch or two, put something under it to hold it in place while it dries.

The stand-offs for the eggcrate can be as simple as 4 1/2" PVC fittings glued to the bottom of the eggcrate with superglue ;)