SEIO820 Creating MicroBubbles??

[sticky]

I just adjusted everything in my ref, now there are little to no microbubbles in the ref, however I am still getting MicroBubbles in my main tank?? It looks like this may be coming from the powerhead, but I am not sure if it is just blowing the MicroBubbles out as it takes them in.

My antisiphon hole is below water level by about 2 inches and is not taking in air, my powerhead is about 6 inches underwater and while it will occasionally create a vortex, it only shows on the surface maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size then goes away in a couple of seconds without ever reaching the powerhead.

I checked the baffle for the return pump and I have to study for several minutes to locate any microbubbles so I can eliminate that.

The last thing I think it could be is the actual external return pump causing air pockets/bubbles to form.

The question is how to I correct this issue?

Is there something I can do the Seio or the pump to stop or eliminate them as possibilities?

Thanks

[davejnz]

Unless that vortex is getting sucked into the SEIOS intake,then i doubt the pump is your problem.Shut it off for a while so you can confirm it.Most likely,the bubbles are making there way through the sump to your return pump.There's a couple things you can do to stop them,do you have a pic of your sump?

[sticky]

Give me about 10 minutes and I will post some pictures of it

[sticky]

Skimmer and first baffle


Baffle with LR and a filter I adapted to help reduce bubbles



Return pump baffle

[sticky]

Here is the return PVC in the main tank



You can't quite see the microbubbles because they are mixed in with "pods"??

[davejnz]

Nice Sump,it looks to be free of microbubbles at your return area.Did you unplug the SEIOS to confirm if it was the source of the bubbles?

[sticky]

Yes, I am giving some time and keep checking to see if the bubble amount increases or decreases.

I worked hard on that ref and it is driving me insane as to where the microbubbles are coming from!

[sticky]

I hope I don't have to keep the sponges in place. After my Ich problem, Once I get tank settled down and cleaned up again I would like to be able to remove all but the 1 sponge infront of the bulkhead. I am going to try removing them 1 by 1 until I get down to zero if possible and just use the LR piled up around the bulkhead. I have to admit 1 thing about the sponges it cleared up my sandstorm in a matter of no time with sponges catching the debris.

[sticky]

Well after thinking, planning and working on ideas this is what I came up with

Created Baffles and use a natural type of filtration. With my new setup I have tons of room in my refugium as well the cheato now acts as a microbubble filtration system.




Just a simple little PVC/Egg Crate stand now puts my cheato where the overflow from the ref heads into the next baffle creating a nice filters. Now there are NO SPONGES in my tank to worry about.

Maybe this will help some of you, or maybe some of you have already done this.

[jerryc]

Looks like a good setup and no sponges is always good