Microbubbles From Skimmer

[brennickfish]

can you put another elbow on the outlet so that the water pools in the outlet line a little before it goes into the sump.

 

[Aquadan88]

I set super skimmers up on a daily basis... If it's your sump, get a large filter sock, and push the stock bubble diffuser into it, make sure it's not too tight a fit, as when the sock gets gummed up water will shoot out from the gaps and possibly make a mess.

By the stock bubble diffuser you mean the whole plastic setup, correct? That would be a good idea. I'll see what I can get from work tomorrow and try it.


Brennick, as for the extra elbow thing, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. But I think what you mean is add an elbow on the end of the skimmer return. If I do this, I fear it will be too loud. My goal is to keep everything as quiet as I possibly can, as the tank is in my bedroom.

 

[Aquadan88]

Now, here's a question. Do micro bubbles effect corals or fish in any harmful way? Or is the desire to eliminate them purely aesthetic?

 

[biggyclops]

There can be harm but its prett rare for fish.. I believe greg hiller said something about in the forums

 

[Aquadan88]

Here's what I did. I put the filter media bag on the return hose very loosely, and left it in the skimmer box. It's reduced about 90% of my micro bubble problem.

 

[Aquadan88]

Still having issues with the darn thing. I'm going to try to move it further away from the return pump. Maybe the micro bubbles will dissipate before they reach the return.

 

[Salty71Cuda]

FWIW, I just had the same micro bubble issue with mine. It also wasn't skimming vey well. I just ripped it out from under the tank last night. I had had enough.

 

[Aquadan88]

I'm about ready to do the same. Problem is, because of the limited space in my sump, I need to find a skimmer that I can hang on the back of my sump and still have it work. I'm pretty sure many skimmers can do this, I just don't have a lot of experience with decent skimmer brands.

My goal is to get a decent skimmer for less than $70 for this tank. Anyone have any suggestions for brands?

 

[Joel A]

less than 70 dollars does not belong in the same sentence as "decent skimmer".

Your best bet for that price range however would be looking into a used skimmer.

 

[Aquadan88]

lol, Of course I was referring to getting a used skimmer. And decent is a relative term, perhaps I should have been more specific. I'm looking for a "decent" skimmer for the money.

 

[JayM]

you could also replace your filter sock with a filter bag. It will make the bubble problem go away. If you work for chuck, he used to stock them at all things fishy...and CRA stocked them the last time I was down there

it is still a workaround for a POS skimmer.....but that's just in my experience with it before I got frustrated and stuck it back in the box.

 

[Aquadan88]

Lol, I tried the filter bag, Worked worse than the sock did. I tried sticking the whole return box in the bag, didn't work.

I've pretty much tried everything I can think of. If you know Chuck, you know how he thinks. Lol, He trained me to think of every possible fix using pretty much anything I can think of.

Just wish I knew how much of a POS this thing was before I got it. :-/

 

[coralcor]

FILTER FLOSS. i use it in the back of my max to keep the bubbles from going in my tank

 

[Aquadan88]

Tried it.

 

[coralcor]

Tried it.

oh have you tried a bag of chemi-pure? that cures everything!! lol

 

[Aquadan88]

Hah, i have not tried that, however, that may solve some other problems in my tank.

 

[coralcor]

Hah, i have not tried that, however, that may solve some other problems in my tank.

never no it could rely work.

 

[Joel A]

do you have to run your skimmer HOB, or can it be in sump?

i didn't realize your tank was so little... a decent skimmer for 70 dollars that can skim a 15 gallon nano is not really unreasonable =0

 

[Shenlung]

My HOB skimmer is sitting in-sump right now and I just put the output so it pours into the filter sock my overflow is using....ended my microbubbles for good

 

[Aquadan88]

Yea, there is absolutely no room in my sump, which is why it has to be HOB. My sump is divided in 1/2 into a sump section and a refugium section, which is why my space is so small.