Simplicity skimmer with to many bubbles?

[Wick]

Hello all, my dc240 simplicity skimmer is making a ton of bubbles on the lower part causing my tank to get micro bubbles. Anyone have a solution to fixing this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Rlreefing]

how long has this skimmer been on the system? did it recently get cleaned?

 

[Wick]

how long has this skimmer been on the system? did it recently get cleaned?

Good questions. I just cleaned it today after seeing to many bubbles prior. I have been using it for 5 months. I used water and a toothbrush to clean

 

[Rlreefing]

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.

 

[Wick]

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.

Interesting about the hight thing. Will they to raise it or try to adjust the water inlet tomorrow. Just frustrating lol

 

[Angrywalnut]

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.

 

[Wick]

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.

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

 

[Wick]

Just a fyi for future people, just let it run for a full day so far and bubbles have cut down a ton.

 

[Hemmdog]

Do you have the Venturi completely snug with the pump body.

 

[Wick]

Do you have the Venturi completely snug with the pump body.

Looks like some bubbles come out from there

 

[Hemmdog]

Looks like some bubbles come out from there

Yea that shouldn’t happen.

 

[Wick]

Yea that shouldn’t happen.

The pump is a screw but this is a push in. Should there be some sort of gasket?

 

[Hemmdog]

The pump is a screw but this is a push in. Should there be some sort of gasket?

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.

 

[Wick]

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.

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]

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!

 

[Wick]

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!

It was me that called. going to give this a shot and be patient. Nice chatting with you!

 

[Simplicity Aquatics]

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?

 

[Wick]

Absolutely! Anything for the community! Have it turned off for some time and just turned it back on as my tank is fallow right now due to ich I will try when I get home

 

[Wick]

Still getting bubbles in that lower chamber.

 

[Simplicity Aquatics]

Could you shoot a video and post it here or email it to us?