Micro Bubbles

[Danhall]

Hi all, looking for a suggestion on how to get rid of micro bubbles. Ive located where they are coming from and it is the line of the overflow coming into the sump. I'm looking for a solution to this issue. Im looking forward to hearing from ya!

 

[jrgilles]

In my sump, the tank drain goes into a bubble tower. The bubble tower is just a square box of plexiglass that is raised an inch or so off the bottom of the sump. I made from plexiglass scraps and added to the corner of the sump. Train goes into the bubble tower, maybe an inch or so under the water line, then water exits out the bottom of the tower. This allows all the bubbles to separate from the drain water before entering the main part of the sump.

You could also put in baffles. Even 2 baffles should do the trick, water goes over the first, under the second. Bubbles stay high and don't make it through.

Anyway, what do you have going on in your sump? This is an early picture. I have since removed one of the baffles, so I now have 3, and the drain pipes are cut to be just below the surface, but you should be able to get the idea...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-.../-O9ygHk-QVs/s640/2010-01-04%252017.18.46.jpg

 

[Danhall]

Thanks! that makes a lot of sense. ill try to find some plex or glass scraps and try one out. i already have a set of baffles with 1 inch spacing going from the overflow tube/skimmer portion of the sump to the return portion. but the bubbles are still making it over the 3rd baffle.
Upon doing some more reading i see that some people use a "sock" of some sort. Is this a viable option? or is it a less than desirable fix?

 

[jrgilles]

That could work, and was part of my original plan. I ended up not really doing it though for a few reasons:

1) was a pain to take on and off for cleaning inside of the bubble tower.
2) without cleaning, was afraid of bildup of junk that would lead to chemistry issues

You can see besides the baffles and the bubble tower, I also put in a little deflector shield, so the drain water couldn't go straight from the bottom of the tower into the baffles, kind of made it take the long way around, giving a bit more time for the bubbles to get out before going over the baffles.

Tower and the 'deflector' were just made from scraps. They don't need to be sealed in that well, just present. Once assembled (out of the tank) could even just be set in the sump, or roughly stuck in place with frag glue or something.

Really, it is whatever works. If a sock is easy to take off to clean in your setup, I think that would totally do the trick. Would just require a bit more maintenance maybe

 

[Danhall]

Ok thanks a ton for your help. im gonna try a few things and see how they work out and ill let you know what i did if it does work! I really appreciate the help, and the picture helped out a lot as well for a visual reference.

 

[jrgilles]

NP, glad to help. That is a pic of my first and only sump, so still a bit new at this myself. Good luck fixing your bubble problem.

Another thing you could do it putting a piece of filter sponge in the baffles (I have a large filter block sponge thing that I divided in half). That would block the bubbles. I put it in when I am stirring up my tank or something. Again, it would be something that would have to be rinsed out frequently, so I never leave it in.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out

 

[Danhall]

Alright i figured out what the problem was. the flow through my sump was much faster than what it should have been. It was also the skimmer that was making them. The microbubbles have disappeared. All was worked out. thanks for all your help!

 

[jrgilles]

Glad you fixed it. Yea, I guess slowing the flow would help a lot, since it gives the bubbles more time to separate from the water