Simplicity skimmer with to many bubbles?
- Thread starter Wick
- Start date
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Sometimes my reef octo get really bubbly after being cleaned or being off for any long period of time. Give it a few days and see what it is doing then. Make sure that the skimmer is in the proper depth according to the manufacture. Low water levels will not allow the bubbles the time needed in the lower chambers to release.
Angrywalnut
Active Member
That skimmer works well but I could never get mine to stop the micro bubbles even at the proper depth. The deeper it was the more bubbles it pushed out. I think it flows a bit too much water thru it for design. My sump bubble trap (with sponge) did stop them though.
OP
OP
Wick
Well-Known Member
I have a bubble trap and hasn't been stopping em cause they are so tiny. I even put filter floss and the sponge still getting through. I think your right though about to much water getting in but we see other people with it working perfectly which I don't understand
Hemmdog
10K Club member
Yea that shouldn’t happen.Looks like some bubbles come out from there
Hemmdog
10K Club member
No but it’s normal to need to twist back and forth while pushing in with a fair amount of force to get it snug.
This is general skimmer advice, I don’t have that skimmer exactly but my RO has had that same issue before.
OP
OP
Wick
Well-Known Member
Cool and thank you for the help! I just called up simplicity and left a message to see their thoughts and if they ever had this problem with the skimmer. I just don't want to break it lol
Simplicity Aquatics
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Hey folks I just spoke to one of you regarding microbubbles on our skimmers. This wasn't something I have heard of before so I wanted to investigate.
We typically run into a few causes of micro bubbles:
Brand new skimmer - Not yet broken in
Too deep of water - Tuned incorrectly due to the skimmer being in water too deep
Incorrectly tuned in general
Medications or supplements - many items people dose changes the surface tension of the water and make bubbles stick around longer than usual. Usually this also makes a skimmer go crazy and overflow but not always. Cyano meds, clarifiers, bacterial supplements and many other items are notorious for causing this. One of the beauties of a DC pump when this happens is you can simply slow the pump down until the cause is resolved. By doing so you don't have to completely de-tune a skimmer when you change a filter sock and forget to rinse it (as an example, because this can make your skimmer go crazy).
Maybe these tuning steps will help one of you or others to get your skimmer working well:
1: With the pump at 100% and the wedge pipe arrow to arrow (wide open) slowly close the air valve.
2: While slowly closing the air valve, keep a close watch on the level of the foam and bubbles in the skimmer body.
3: Make very tiny changes (open and close) until you get the absolute peak height of the bubbles in your skimmer body.
4: Next, very slowly turn the wedge pipe valve (black knob) either direction.
5: When the bubbles start to reach the bottom of the collection cup, stop.
6: Wait 60 seconds and then make minor adjustments to keep the bubbles near the bottom of the collection cup.
7: After 10-15 minutes, you should start to see larger possibly brown bubbles forming at the top of the bubble column / foam head.
8: After 1-2 hours, the bubble column should rise and you should have a foam head that is at or near the top of the collection cup where you will start to collect skimmate.
As always don't hesitate to reach out to us! We have live chat during business hours, as well as phone and email support!
We typically run into a few causes of micro bubbles:
Brand new skimmer - Not yet broken in
Too deep of water - Tuned incorrectly due to the skimmer being in water too deep
Incorrectly tuned in general
Medications or supplements - many items people dose changes the surface tension of the water and make bubbles stick around longer than usual. Usually this also makes a skimmer go crazy and overflow but not always. Cyano meds, clarifiers, bacterial supplements and many other items are notorious for causing this. One of the beauties of a DC pump when this happens is you can simply slow the pump down until the cause is resolved. By doing so you don't have to completely de-tune a skimmer when you change a filter sock and forget to rinse it (as an example, because this can make your skimmer go crazy).
Maybe these tuning steps will help one of you or others to get your skimmer working well:
1: With the pump at 100% and the wedge pipe arrow to arrow (wide open) slowly close the air valve.
2: While slowly closing the air valve, keep a close watch on the level of the foam and bubbles in the skimmer body.
3: Make very tiny changes (open and close) until you get the absolute peak height of the bubbles in your skimmer body.
4: Next, very slowly turn the wedge pipe valve (black knob) either direction.
5: When the bubbles start to reach the bottom of the collection cup, stop.
6: Wait 60 seconds and then make minor adjustments to keep the bubbles near the bottom of the collection cup.
7: After 10-15 minutes, you should start to see larger possibly brown bubbles forming at the top of the bubble column / foam head.
8: After 1-2 hours, the bubble column should rise and you should have a foam head that is at or near the top of the collection cup where you will start to collect skimmate.
As always don't hesitate to reach out to us! We have live chat during business hours, as well as phone and email support!
going to give this a shot and be patient. Nice chatting with you!
Simplicity Aquatics
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Wick how is your skimmer doing now?
We are working on a blog post, would it be OK to use your photos at the start of this thread?
We are working on a blog post, would it be OK to use your photos at the start of this thread?
Simplicity Aquatics
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2015
- Messages
- 176
- Reaction score
- 172
Could you shoot a video and post it here or email it to us?
