Bio balls, sump, skimmer and micro bubbles.

[CubanPete]

First, forgive me for I am new. I have done some searching for the past few days and can't seem to nail down a few answers.
Ok. So here is my situation. I have only a sump, no top in it. The overflow empties onto a piece of filter floss, which sits atop bio-balls. It ever so gently cascades down, past the baffles, through a thicker piece of black meshy piece past a little more live rock, then into the return pump. No skimmer.
I found a set up where the overflow would empty into a PVC pipe and go straight to the bottom, which would eliminate not only bubbles, but bio balls. My questions are plenty....
Can I replace the bio balls with base rock (submerged) and get the same effect?
If I replaced the balls all at once, would that shock the system?
If the water drains from the tank, through the pipe and then directly into the water, would I still be able to get an O2 exchange with the water and the overflow in the back? Lots of questions...thanks!
I'm just trying to get rid of these micro bubbles. I see that they are coming from the sump and am trying to figure it out without running out and buying a ton on new stuff. I can't upload any more pics with tapatalk, so let me get some to my computer.

 

[CubanPete]

 

[CubanPete]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[3Twinklets]

By the look of the photo, you sure have a lot of foam going on there.... How old is your setup?

 

[trogdor]

I don't see why you would have micro bubbles with the way the water is traveling...if your water is too low where you have the return pump, you will get MB too.

If you want to remove the balls, to it slowly over 1-2 months...you could possibly dose some bacteria from a bottle as you remove the bioballs to compensate the loss of bacteria.

 

[CubanPete]

Are you talking about the top of the bio balls? That's filter floss. Don't know how old the set up is. The pump is almost too strong I think. I took it apart a few months ago, and I think cleaning it may have made it faster. Lol. Tank was clear when I bought it in Oct, and clear up until about 4-5 weeks ago.

 

[CubanPete]

I don't see why you would have micro bubbles with the way the water is traveling...if your water is too low where you have the return pump, you will get MB too.

If you want to remove the balls, to it slowly over 1-2 months...you could possibly dose some bacteria from a bottle as you remove the bioballs to compensate the loss of bacteria.

The water level hasn't changed from when I first got it, when I started getting the bubbles. I added more into the sump, thinking I would cushion the water dropping. I may just remove them and go back to half or less of what you see in the pic. I had originally had them in my overflow box. I may put them back there? Am I nuts? Lol.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yea, nuts. Don't put em back in the system, put in Cheato or some other marine algea or plant life, this will clean up the water much better than those things ever could. Also, I'd ditch the big ol loop ya got there, no reason for it, you could run a smaller flex line to that sump without 10' of hose I think. =)

 

[trogdor]

Are you running a fish only or reef tank? You Never want bioballs with a reef system (so I hear from the pros). Can you for a larger/longer sump under your tank? Removing the bioballs and having the water dump into a sock will dissipate the bubble a lot.

 

[CubanPete]

Yeah, overkill on the hose for sure. It's what came with it. The whole system is, and it was running great for like 5 months, no bubbles, which is what's driving me batty. I know a longer sump would work, but I'm tapped out for cash at the present. Was looking for some quick and easy fixes.
I do want to go to chaeto, but don't I need lights for that then? More heat etc. ughhers. Lol.

 

[CubanPete]

And yes, fish and coral. I heard socks could be bad too because of the constant changing etc, but I guess it would be the same as the floss. May try that too.

 

[trogdor]

The only bad thing about socks is leaving them in for too many days and not changing it, will raise nitrates

 

[Reefing Madness]

The only bad thing about socks is leaving them in for too many days and not changing it, will raise nitrates

 

[Wildman926]

I run something similar. Below is an old pic, as I have a different skimmer as of this week, but other than that, it is the same. I remove those pads and put clean ones every week. You can do the same, move all of your live rock under the filter pad, then replumb your piping to go directly onto it. Then you are able to put a skimmer in where the live rock is currently.