Red Sea Reefer Bubble trap
- Thread starter Crrp73
- Start date
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Daniel@R2R
Living the Reef Life
@Broadfield any thoughts?
Broadfield
Red Sea Reefer Consultant... Non Affiliated
Most Reefer owners just remove it. If your skimmer is dialed in and broken in, then you shouldn't have to worry about bubbles. If you do retain it, I would rinse it once/week.
Pongo
Active Member
I didn't run mine for the first 5 - 6 months.
When I had chaeto I put it in to keep the chaeto out of the return chamber.
I cut it in half lengthwise so I had 2 pieces - easier to handle. I would pull one out for rinsing and replace with the other piece.
After rinsing the dirty one out in tap water it was left to air dry, repeat once a month.
It's back out now since my chaeto all died after treating the tank with fluconazole.
With or without I've had no change in nitrates if your thinking about that.
I have seen more detritus collect in the return chamber without it.
When I had chaeto I put it in to keep the chaeto out of the return chamber.
I cut it in half lengthwise so I had 2 pieces - easier to handle. I would pull one out for rinsing and replace with the other piece.
After rinsing the dirty one out in tap water it was left to air dry, repeat once a month.
It's back out now since my chaeto all died after treating the tank with fluconazole.
With or without I've had no change in nitrates if your thinking about that.
I have seen more detritus collect in the return chamber without it.
Circa916
Active Member
interested to see, cause I would gladly just move my marine pure plate into there and give me some more sump room in my 250
dlish89
Community Member
I was about to post this very question. Did a little search and here it is 
Kswan what did you discover?
jjencek
Active Member
Oops! I donť know if I should even admit to this, but I forgot about mine being there. It has been there for over one year. :-(
I am going to check it out during the next water change. If I am not back, something attacked me.
I am going to check it out during the next water change. If I am not back, something attacked me.
FWIW, I cut mine into 3 equal parts. I swap out the pieces everytime I swap socks. (Every 3 days). I rinse the 1/3 pad with a kitchen hose sprayer. Then it dries out for the next time. I bought a second pad and rotate all 6 pieces.I was about to post this very question. Did a little search and here it is
Kswan what did you discover?
Tastee
Valuable Member
I initially cleaned mine in my RSR 250 when I changed water (had come from a FW background). I then realised that it’s contribution to bacterial filtration in SW was negligible so I haven’t touched it in over 2 years.
I installed an RSR 525 at the start of this year and initially left the bubble trap alone. I realised a couple of months ago however it had clogged up with enough detritus that it was slowing flow into the return chamber and raising the skimmer chamber level. I immediately cleaned it in tap water and it was back to normal.
I agree that in most tanks they are unnecessary as the skimmer won’t produce many if any bubbles, but I still use them, just keep an eye on them during my weekly maintenance to see if they are reducing flow (i.e. skimmer chamber water level rising) and if so clean them in tap water. I’ve done that to the RSR 525 trap once since. The RSR 250 one is still fine and hasn’t been touched, probably because that system is more established than the newer RSR 525.
I installed an RSR 525 at the start of this year and initially left the bubble trap alone. I realised a couple of months ago however it had clogged up with enough detritus that it was slowing flow into the return chamber and raising the skimmer chamber level. I immediately cleaned it in tap water and it was back to normal.
I agree that in most tanks they are unnecessary as the skimmer won’t produce many if any bubbles, but I still use them, just keep an eye on them during my weekly maintenance to see if they are reducing flow (i.e. skimmer chamber water level rising) and if so clean them in tap water. I’ve done that to the RSR 525 trap once since. The RSR 250 one is still fine and hasn’t been touched, probably because that system is more established than the newer RSR 525.
burton14e7
Community Member
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I removed my bubble trap filter the day I set the aquarium up and haven't looked back! I do have a filter cup with filter floss to capture detritus as it comes into the sump that I replace the filter floss weekly though. I also have a nero 5 in the sump and a koralia nano in return pump section to keep all the detritus suspended for coral food when it goes back into the display.
Cjeippert
Active Member
My bubble trap gets clogged, then water slows way down to return chamber which causes 7 gallons of freshwater from ato. Messes up my water levels, flow, and salinity. Seriously considering removing it. Why are bubbles bad? Why do we need to prevent them from going to return chamber
Cjeippert
Active Member
Wouldn’t a marine pure slab host pods and provide bacteria surface?
Tastee
Valuable Member
Nothing wrong with removing it. Keeping small amounts of bubbles out of the display is just cosmetic.
This!! I have had my reefer 250 going for about 6 weeks now, still cycling.
I found this thread today as for the past two mornings I came down to find my skimmer overflowing due to the ATO dumping a load of water into the sump raising the water level in the skimmer chamber.
I couldn't figure out what was causing this all of a sudden, until I remembered I took the sponge out to clean it a few days ago for the first time. When I put it back in I think I must have pushed it down too far into its chamber or something. I raised it back up to be level with the top of the baffle and the level in the return chamber settled out. So I then just took it out, not worth the hassle if it isn't in correctly or gets clogged up.
>>klong<<
Active Member
Not feeling bad about kicking this old thread after looking at the history
My tank is coming up on it's 1 year birthday and I've never cleaned the bubble trap. I noticed tonight that the water level was really high in the refugium chamber. Sure enough, the bubble trap was completely blocked and water was flowing over the bubble trap baffle.
I cleaned the trap and removed it. I doubt I'll notice a difference.
My tank is coming up on it's 1 year birthday and I've never cleaned the bubble trap. I noticed tonight that the water level was really high in the refugium chamber. Sure enough, the bubble trap was completely blocked and water was flowing over the bubble trap baffle.
I cleaned the trap and removed it. I doubt I'll notice a difference.
MichaelReefer
2500 Club Member
I removed mine. Was tired of it getting clogged with sponges and messing up my ATO.
