[tonycip]

Hi everybody I seem to be having a problem with micro bubbles.
I have a 92 gal tank and the sump is in the basement . And by the time the water gets down there it crashing into quite a froth. I tried to dump the water into a filter sock and that held back a lot of the foam until the sock started to float.. the flow is so fast that the bubble trap is useless..I could cut down the flow but I thought the hole point was to have 5-10 times the tank volume turnover mines a about 6 . could the water just be too new?
not enough dirt (for lack of a better word) in it? any thoughts? thanks in advance. tony

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Could we see a pic of the entire sump?

[tonycip]

I took a small rubermaid and drilled some holes in the bottom,put some coarse filter media in the bottom and let the water drain into it to give the bubbles a chance to settle down.
but after a while it would build a froth that I could scoop out with my hand almost like soap bubbles? Do you think I could of somehow contaminated the water with some soap?
but doesn't salt break down soap bubbles? Vary strange I put my skimmer on to see what would happen,and as I thought it immediately started producing white foam.I guess I'll just let it pull it out. heres some pics theres not a lot of room to take them.
I Custom made the sump its 30"L x 16"W x 15"H . the sump. it might be hard to see but theres a bubble trap in the middle which I already added another chamber too and a shelf for some filter media to sit and catch whatever bubbles were left. but those tiny bubbles are still making it to the tank.. The suds are even coming out the tube as about 4' long!

I extended a small area on the sides to accommodate the heaters.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

While its not going to cure all your problem you need to extend your drain lines until they come out below the water line.
Your over under baffles seem quite small but that aside they are empty,you need to get som rock rubble in them.Fill them up.
Your skimmer needs some serious adjustment but its supposed to make bubbles.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I was looking at your over under baffles and they dont look like they go all the way to the tank wall and water is flowing past them.The water level on both sides of them seems to be the same.Thats not a good thing.

[tonycip]

I had the lines under the water and it just looked like an under water volcano. bubbling up I thought by increasing the pipe size and leaving it out of the water some of the air would purge itself out. I just got the skimmer up I was going to peculate all the suds out and adjust it tomorrow. Are those suds a normal occurrence?

[tonycip]

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

I was looking at your over under baffles and they dont look like they go all the way to the tank wall and water is flowing past them.The water level on both sides of them seems to be the same.Thats not a good thing.

Its hard to see but I needed the extra length for the heaters. but the water cant go around baffles. the baffle area just isn't end to end. its about 11" wide in the middle of the sump.
I got a little too fancy for my own good and might be concentrating the water, and causing it to flow a little too fast to allow for good bubble trapping. but I don't think thats the cause of my bubbles.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

The baffles dont cause bubbles they pop them when filled with rock rubble.Also if the water is falling straight down the pipe for a long distance.Putting a coupleof 45's in the line comming down could slow that down some.The real problem you have is 15 feet of drop.Your water is reaching incredable velocities.You need to slow that down.Increasing the drain pipe size was a mistake because its allowing great amounts of air induction.You have in effect created a very large protien skimmer in your sump.You might want to put a ball valve at the drain exit above the water line and extend those pipes below the water line.You may even do yourself some good by making the drain pipe smaller.

[tonycip]

Take a look at my other thread. salty dog. I have lots of pics of the whole project.
The pipe has some 90's its not a straight drop, and I only opened up the pipe size near the end the last foot, I thought it would let the air and water separate a little i even put a T in near the end and ran a pipe up about 6" to sort of act as a bubble trap . it definitely slowed the waters exit from the pipe kind of like a garden hose with a nozzle on it forces the water out at a greater velocity but with it wide open it just pours out. no?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Ok,I thought about this all night,well not all night but a lot of it.First I would put the ball valve on the end of the pipe at the sump.I would let the ball valve hold back enough water to fill half the pipe,this way some of the bubbles will be released back into the air inside the pipe.Next I would have the drain pipe enter the sump under water.Third I would fill the over under baffles with live rock rubble,and keep it in the back of your mind that the baffles may need to be opened up a bit.In fact if you have to drain the sump for any reason I would do that anyway,perhaps so they are as wide as the "L" they are attached to.

[tonycip]

sorry about that didn't mean for you to lose sleep over it lol.
But I appreciate all your help. I'm a little Leary about the ball valve on the drain.
if not set just right or something clogs it all the water from the sump would be pumped into the tank and cause a food.I like the rock rubble idea. I did make an area in the corner of the sump 3"x3" square for the drain to go with holes at the bottom but the flow was so much that it just came over the top. similar to this design this is a great site.
Melevsreef.com | A simple sump project
but mines a little bigger.
So this morning I went down there and the skimmer has settled down,according to the instructions the skimmer should of taken a couple of days to even to Begin doing anything and on a new set up without a bio load I shouldn't see anything.
Which makes me believe there was some soap contaminate in there.
and the sump got it out the return water doesn't foam anymore.
however the micobubbles are still making it unabated to the tank, I think the rock rubble will help and when I divert some of the drain water to the refugeim that will help cut down the flow going through the bubble trap . you can get a better idea of the set up if you view my other thread (old salty dog).. keep the wheels turning, and the ideas coming.. thanks again