Micro bubbles are going to make in quit

[Eddie Rogers]

ok, this is my first experience with a saltwater aquarium and every thing is going great, except for my skimmer. I have a reef life R5i skimmer, that's been running for about 3 weeks now and no matter what I do I can't get it to stop producing micro bubbles. It's been in 10" of water then 6" and currently in about 4" and so far its the best. It does have a adjustable pump so its currently on the 3rd fastest speed but I have tried all the different speeds and i still get micro bubbles in my tank.

Has anyone dealt with this skimmer/issue before?

any help would be greatly appreciated
pics

 

[Labridaedicted]

Put a sock over the skimmer discharge with the top above the water. This fixed this problem for me in a previous system.

 

[thinktank]

I can't tell from the photos, but what part of your sump is the skimmer in? In order to eliminate these microbubbles, a skimmer should be behind a series of baffles that eliminate the microbubbles before getting to your return pump.

Take a look at the linked image below and you'll see that the skimmer is the first in line, then it flows over the refugium and through a set of baffles. As the water flows through these baffles the air bubbles rise up and are eliminated before the water gets to the return pump. In my sump, I have the skimmer in the refugium. Many say this is a bad idea because it removes the nutrients used by the refugium, but in all reality, it has neglible effects. Refugiums use dissolved nutrients, while a protein skimmer removes visible chunks and largely undissolved waste that is trapped by the bubbles.

And, besides, even if your skimmer is after the refugium, it's skimming the same water from the same system anyways. There isn't THAT much useful waste coming in through your overflow that hits the refugium that a skimmer would remove if it were in front of the refugium VS after it.

https://goo.gl/images/4trRcf

If you can't change your sump setup, then the next best option is as Labridaedicted suggested and put a sock, or somehow put a sponge filter or something over the skimmer discharge.

Oh, and one other thing. I've had microbubbles like this in my display and it was because my return pump had a low water level in that chamber (due to evaporation from the system) and it was sucking in a bit of air. Not enough to hear it gurgling or noticeably running "dry", but enough to make the display tank look like yours. Just a suggestion to make sure your return pump has at least two inches of water over its upper-most part.

 

[jsker]

I have the same exact skimmer. Rlss recommends the skimmer sit in between 5 and 7 inches of water. Have you gone back through the assemble of the skimmer? Can you please take a picture with the skimmer off? I will look at mine in a few, to see if the long part of the gray T is down or up.

 

[Eddie Rogers]

Thanks for the reply's
@thinktank - my sump is set up that exact way
@Labridaedicted - the bubbles are coming out of every where, the return is closed and some come from there, they come in the back where the cord is and around the gray intake piece
@jsker - i adjusted my stand again its now sitting in 5 1/8 inchs of water. I have taken it apart 3 times today and moved the white disc around, I tried to flip the T but, the return pipe only goes in one way.

again thanks for help, at this point I'm willing to try anything
pics

 

[jsker]

Thanks for the reply's
@thinktank - my sump is set up that exact way
@Labridaedicted - the bubbles are coming out of every where, the return is closed and some come from there, they come in the back where the cord is and around the gray intake piece
@jsker - i adjusted my stand again its now sitting in 5 1/8 inchs of water. I have taken it apart 3 times today and moved the white disc around, I tried to flip the T but, the return pipe only goes in one way.

again thanks for help, at this point I'm willing to try anything
pics

Turn around the white plate with the hole so that the solid part is over the black in take hole under the white plate

 

[Eddie Rogers]

jsker i moved the white plate so that the solid part is covering the intake hole. Its getting better, what are your skimmer settings? Right now I have mine at speed level 2 and the return pipe is closed

 

[DarkSky]

Can you snap a few photos of your entire sump setup?

 

[gcarroll]

Turn around the white plate with the hole so that the solid part is over the black in take hole under the white plate

First thing that caught my eye when I saw the pics.

 

[jsker]

jsker i moved the white plate so that the solid part is covering the intake hole. Its getting better, what are your skimmer settings? Right now I have mine at speed level 2 and the return pipe is closed

Setting 3, 6" of water with 1/2 open.

 

[skim]

First that skimmer looks very clean and you say it's been about 3 weeks. From the looks of the skimmer it looks like you have a light bio load and some skimmers take much longer to break in. That solid area on the bubble plate should be over the output of the pump. I would put the skimmer in 7 inches of water and set pump 1 notch below full and open return full. Give it time and let it do its thing the bubbles will go away. Just think you are lucky there are lots of people adding Microbubbles to their tanks, they will not harm anything. I added this pick to show the proper bubble plate position.