Micro Bubbles

I have this huge micro Bubble problem. Did not really have the problem in the previous tank. It looks as if it is coming from the powerheads and wavemakers (and no- there is no venturis on them) or they accumulate all the air in the water and then "spurts" it out again. But there is nothing in the sump area. The fine bubbles stick to everything, and if this is not enough, it floats all over the water column, so much so that it looks like "plankton" which makes photographing difficult and even worse- merely viewing the tank.

The pumps are all a couple of months old and some was used in my old tank.


How do I get rid of these bubbles ????????

 

You will prob have a leak it the intake to the CLS, the reason you don't see water, is because the intake is sucking air. Had the sim problem as the intake to the pump did not seal properly. The air goes though the impellor thus making micro bubs.

 

how well submerged is all your equipment?it must be at least 1cm below surface to allow for water movement. if a strong ph or wm is too close to the surface the water may be sucked in faster than the surface can recover

 

It could also be that the pumps are "starved" for water. If, for some reason, the pump inlet or pipe leading to the inlet is partially blocked, of if the inlet pipe is just too small, the impeller will cavitate and cause lots of micro bubbles to appear in the water. If the pumps have been working without making bubbles for some time, and the bubbles than start without any changes having been made to the tank, I would suspect this to be the problem.

Hope you solve it soon.

Hennie

 

Sean I would check those cls pumps...

 

Only 1cm. You must be lucky mine were over 10cm and they still sucked air.

 

I had the same prob when I upgraded the cls. It toojk 2 weeks and it sorted itself.BE PATIENT.

 

remember my little outfit is all of about 48 litres and i use midget equipment

 

Sean the bubbles is part of your cycle I think. It will get better Lets build that new fluidised filter next week.

 

The pumps and wave makers are well below water surface, at least about 200mm. The closed loop system was tested and I know it does not come from there and the pumps feeding the main display from the sump is also well under water level. One thing I'll look at over the weekend is what you said Hennie, it might be that one of the return pipes are too small, hence waterstarving. Will have a look over the weekend after water change

 

I also note in my sump when the water falls over into the return chamber it sometimes makes a few bubbles which get into the return pump...

 

First thing to do is switch off all the pumps and Wavemakers, let the bubbles dissipate, then one by one switch things on until you see exactly what item is causing the bubbles, then work from there.

 

good suggestion

 

makes sence but a pic of guilty party in operation may help

 

How was it tested? if you tested it with normal water it does not count, sea water ok.

Mille has a good idea.

One thing we are never told it it looks like the feed to the CLS pump should be a bigger pipe that the outlet.

 

Think That could be the problem, will check it out over the weekend