air bubbles (??) in tank

[markk]

Hi,

100 Gallon tank with 250W MH lighting. When MH go on, you can see a lot of tiny bubbles (believe they are air bubbles). Have a calcium reactor and output trickles into sump. Also skimmer sits in the sump and output, from both skimmer and Calcium Reactor, are going through a poly filter. Initially I thought perhaps the skimmer is causing the bubbles so I turned it off but same results thus it is not the skimmer. Not sure if the CO2 is causing this. The return (pump) is about 2 feet from the skimmer.

Kinda puzzled to where the bubbles are coming from...There are thousands of them, they are very small but if you look closely you can see them. Is this normal? Any recommendations, suggestions are welcome....

Thanks,
Mark K.

 

[White-Queen]

How long has the tank been up for? Did ou just set it up or is it well established?

Angela <><

 

[markk]

It has been up and running for about 8 months. Have some corals, fish etc. They seem to be fine for a while now.

I initially thought that this is perhaps normal, perhaps if I would have went with 20K MH lights I would have "masked" these bubbles. I currently use 2 x 250W Iwasakis.

Mark K.

 

[markk]

These are some recommandations that I found on the net. Not sure which one will fix my problem with my Berlin Classic skimmer. BTW, I just noticed something....I stated that the output of the skimmer + calcium reactor go through a poly filter. They are NOT, I just used regular aquarium media filter (white stuff sold in sheets, I just cut it up)....

1) Placing your skimmer outflow at the opposite end of your sump from the
return will reduce bubbles.

2) The bubble problem can be fixed by placing a poly filter pad over the inlet
to the return pump. You can also try putting a right angle PVC fitting on
it facing the bottom of the sump so it will intake only from the bottom.

3) Most likely there is a tiny micro-hole in the plumbing on the intake
side, that will do it every time. Put a double layer of teflon tape on
all threaded connections, and goop some extra PVC cement around all of
the slip joints.

4) while i'm not toally familar w/ this model all of these hang-on-the-backs
have a small problem w/ bubbles goingback into the tank...they 2 ways
companys reduuce the out flow of bubbles is to build a small box where
they place a small sponge in it and the water leaving the skimmer pours
over this sponge, or they put a 90degree elbow and direct the water along
the water line, and the bubble quickly rise.BUt if the skimmer is under a
week old it may take some time to "breakin" the skimmer and maybe the
bubble amoounts will be reduced.

5) Here a good way to get rid of all fine air bubbles from entering the tank from
the sump. Go to a fabric or hobby/crafts store and get several sheets of needle
point backing material. This stuff is sold in sheets for about $2 each, and
looks like a white flexible plastic grid with small square holes. Cut up maybe
5 sections small enough to fit over the intake of your bulkead or your return
pump intake and tie them together with nylon tie-wraps. Offset them slightly so
that you can't see through it when you are done. Place this plastic grid over
the bulkhead or pump intake so that the water has to pass through it before
getting drawn into the pump. This plastic grid will diffuse all the bubbles
before they get to the pump, and make almost no difference to the pump output.