Help with micro bubbles please?

[LesPoissons]

Hi all,
I just swapped out my old sump.for a 55g tank. The design is 3 chambers with the return pumps in the center. So the left side has water from dispaly coming into a fuge then to the return. The right side has water coming in from display, going to skimmer, then to return. I removed my filter socks because I just cant keep up with changing them every few days and im trying to decrease maintenance. My old sump was 1 big tank with no chambers and I had no micro bubble (was using filter socks tho). What can I do (hopefully easily) to solve this? Really appreciated, thank you!
(I tried to take a picture but the stand frame is in the way and my light is off my fuge right now till my chaeto comes in.)

 

[W1ngz]

The water cascading over the top of the baffles creates bubbles, which are caught by the return pumps and chopped up into microbubbles.
You need a bubble trap, or piece of foam stood up vertically somehow against the return side of each baffle.

I'd redesign the thing to have the return at one end.

 

[LesPoissons]

Would the foam need to be changed out every few days like filter socks?

 

[WVNed]

Does air enter you drains at the top? If they are designed to run that way I would put the socks back in.

 

[LesPoissons]

Yes air comes in at the top of the drain. I was thinking if I raised the baffles up an inch, would the water flow under instead of over at the same rate, would that help? If the water going over the the baffles is causing bubbles, im not sure putting the.socks back on would help?

 

[WVNed]

If you mix air with water inside the drains you have to come up with a way to trap it and get it back out. The filter socks catch the bubbles and they rise inside the sock.

 

[LesPoissons]

Yes but then more bubbles are creates when the water flows over the baffles. So maybe both approaches? Is there a point to baffles? Is there a way to change the drain so it doesnt take in air?

 

[WVNed]

Yes there are ways to do it. Full siphon drains that run under water on both ends don't have air in them.
It is much easier to design these things in when you build a system though.
My baffles don't make bubbles.
In your pic it looks like the air is shooting out of the drain on the left.

 

[LesPoissons]

I see what you mean, like changing it to a Herbie drain from like a Durso that i have. Which is a great idea but would require drilling through glass in an established 220g. So i think ill put the <expletive> filter socks back on as suggested and try to diminish that way and then if it needs further help, adjust baffles +/- foam block etc thank you for the help and support!

 

[nereefpat]

Is there a point to baffles?

Yes. Baffles work as bubbles traps. You have no baffles, so bubbles from your drain are making their way into the return section, and bubbles from the skimmer are making their way into the return section from the other side.

An "under" baffle on the left side of your left divider and another "under" baffle on the right side of your right divider would eliminate bubbles from entering the return section.