Quote:
Originally Posted by slief
In a case with only 5 fish, that skimmer is like 10x oversized. What people don’t realize is that the proteins in the water from the dissolved organics created by the fish are what allow the bubbles to stick together in chains that create the foam. That sticking together helps the bubbles rise to the surface. In the absence of enough dissolved organics (proteins), you end up with bubbles that blast around the inside of the skimmer. Many of which won’t rise to the surface and end up coming out of the effluent pipe like you are experiencing and with only 5 fish in there, you might as well have no fish in there since you just don’t have much in the way of dissolved organics for that size skimmer. I would reduce the pumps speed some and close the wedge pipe more. That should help reduce the amount of micro bubbles. The other thing you could do is install a bubble trap in your sump or add some foam around (not on) the return pump so as to create a wall around it to prevent micro bubbles from getting sucked in.
|
Anyone who has the same issue as me with micro bubbles and with a low bio load... ignore the above advice it is incorrect.
After getting a lot of advice from other forums and lfs, I was told it doesn’t matter if the skimmer is oversized... you shouldn’t get Microbubbles...
I have 3 fish currently in my tank with a over sized skimmer and I am no longer getting Microbubbles. I took everything apart and took apart the pump and cleaned it out and finally I no longer have Microbubbles leaking into the tank
I think cleaning the pump solved the problem. Yes the skimmer is foaming but obviously not a big amount due to the low bioload but it is working