micro bubbles-aarrgh

[Tabasco1]

So, as the title says I have micro bubbles. I am not 100% sure where they are coming from. Initially I thought they were from the skimmer. My skimmer section travels through 3 baffles to get to the return pump so I was hoping that this would have taken care of any micro bubbles from the skimmer. But I still got them. So last night I put a filter floss medium between the space created by the last two baffles. I am still getting the micro bubbles.

So maybe they are not coming from the skimmer after all??

They come in a pattern, they get pushed out every 10 seconds or so. Then there will just be a flush of micro bubbles. Any ideas?? Below is a pic of my sump.

 

[swannyson7]

Do you have powerheads/pumps relatively close to the surface in your DT? A buddy of mine had an issue with a whirlpool forming as the pump sucked in water. Occaisionally, the whirlpool would go down far enough that the pump would suck in an air bubble and chop it up with the impeller into microbubbles.

 

[Troylee]

Did you use any threaded connections on your plumbing?? Mainly your return pump.. If so go back and use Teflon paste not tape it will suck air in and cause the problem you describe... It won't leak water or drip just suck air in lol...

 

[Tabasco1]

Nope. The bubbles clearly come from the link loc splitter on the return line. It will be running clear and then it will shoot our a quick burst of micro bubbles. Is there some way that the return pump could be creating them? It is a mag 5. It is not close to the surface of the water, I'd say about 3-6" from surface. It has a sponge on the intake too. Does not seem to change whether there that chamber is completely full or has had some evaporation.

 

[Tabasco1]

:squigglemouth: Yep. That is exactly what I used. There are three threaded parts on the return. The connectors on both side of a ball valve and the connector to the lock line splitter. If I use the putty will it be a permanent connection then?

 

[Troylee]

Remove the sponge on the return pump and see if it goes away...

 

[Tabasco1]

Really? A sponge can do that? I will give that a go and keep my fingers x'd. Certainly alot easier than getting to all the threaded parts again.

When I ran it with freshwater to test the system there were no bubbles. I know freshwater acts a little different than salt. But I did run it for several hours.

Thanks Troy... or Lee.

 

[Tabasco1]

Well, ran home at lunch and removed the sponge from the return... that was not it. Resulted in a steady stream of micro bubbles instead of intermitent. So I'm thinking the bubbles are probably still from the protein skimmer?

 

[Troylee]

Hmmmm.. Does any of the lockline sit above the water level??? It might draw air in... Also how old is the plumbing?? Sometimes it just needs to build a slime coat like a skimmer and it goes away...

 

[Tabasco1]

Plumbing is brand spanking new! Seems better today. This is day 7 of the plumbing running water.

One of the loc line nozzles does sit out about 1/4". I'll try to get that submerged.

Thanks!