Bubble trap.

Danniekopacz · Feb 18, 2020

I’m building a 75 gallon sump for my 125 build. I’m have a general question that I can’t seem to find answers to. Bubble trap. What’s a common measurement for each wall? Spaces between and the spaces for the water flow to go under a few. I plan to have 4 walls today. Any advice is appreciated.

RocketEngineer · Feb 18, 2020

You only really need 3 baffles. The purpose of a bubble trap is to drive the bubbles to the water surface. The first baffle is an over to minimize the distance to the surface. The second baffle is an under, which means the water is flowing the opposite direction as the way the bubbles want to go. This means any bubble that gets under that second baffle will want to go up, which is why you need the third baffle that again places the bubble close to the water surface. The buoyancy of the bubbles adds to their momentum up, increasing the chance they will contact the surface.

In terms of dimensions, the first and second baffles can be the same size with the gap under the second one creating the wall at the water surface. The third baffle should be shorter than the first by 1/4 to 1/2”. I prefer 1” between baffles and a 1” gap under the center one. In the two sumps I’ve built, I installed the middle baffle first, let it set, then installed the other two.

Good luck.

Reef-junky · Feb 18, 2020

I did 1” between and 2” from the bottom for the under baffle. As stated you only need 3 baffles.

Danniekopacz · Feb 19, 2020

RocketEngineer said:
You only really need 3 baffles. The purpose of a bubble trap is to drive the bubbles to the water surface. The first baffle is an over to minimize the distance to the surface. The second baffle is an under, which means the water is flowing the opposite direction as the way the bubbles want to go. This means any bubble that gets under that second baffle will want to go up, which is why you need the third baffle that again places the bubble close to the water surface. The buoyancy of the bubbles adds to their momentum up, increasing the chance they will contact the surface.

In terms of dimensions, the first and second baffles can be the same size with the gap under the second one creating the wall at the water surface. The third baffle should be shorter than the first by 1/4 to 1/2”. I prefer 1” between baffles and a 1” gap under the center one. In the two sumps I’ve built, I installed the middle baffle first, let it set, then installed the other two.

Good luck.

Thank you! I planned on 3 baffles for the trap and was just curious with the dimensions of other experienced reefers. I’ll post my build once it’s all complete!