New fuge not working so well

[Ladybug5234]

Hi guys & gals. I need help figuring out what is going on with my new fuge, please.

I run two 60 gallon deep blue frag tanks, both sharing the same fuge made out of a 40 breeder. Up until now I ran a 40 breeder sump (not a fuge), but I switched that out about 3 weeks ago. Since then, not only has the cyanobacteria taken over my egg crate and some frags, but I am also having to top off daily, sometimes more than once. I have a Jebao doser which would pump 1000 ml of water per day into the sump and that kept it topped off well and the salinity stable. Now with the fuge, those same 1000 ml are not anywhere near enough and I am constantly topping off manually. Here's a crude drawing of the new fuge.



The water first goes into a chamber filled with rubble rock, then it overflows from there onto the next chamber which holds two 4" filter socks. The water passes from there to the refugium part thru 3 circles that were drilled on the wall of that chamber. Then from there it goes thru a bubble trap and then to he return pump. I'm thinking the bubble trap is not really doing its thing cause the tank is full of micro bubbles. Any ideas would be most welcomed!

 

[Ayates]

Just a couple of questions for you, is this an accurate drawing of the placement of your skimmer? If so have you tried setting on the other end near the overflow to allow the MB a chance to dissipate? Also do you truly have only the two walls for a bubble trap or do you actually have the recommended three (one low, one high, one low) set up? As far as the increased evaporation I'm not sure what would be different other than the increased water movement (i.e. moving through the overflows) that might have affected this.

 

[Ladybug5234]

Yes, the drawing is an accurate representation. I can definitely move the skimmer to the other end of the fuge and you're correct, that should help a little. As far as the walls go, I was wrong. I thought there were only 2 but there are 3. One low, one high with about an inch or two gap and then a lower wall.

 

[Ayates]

It could be that your skimmer just needs to resettle or needs a bit of tuning. With the water level changes going from a sump to a fuge you probably just need to retune it.

 

[Ladybug5234]

Skimmer has been running in this tank for a few months now. It is also at the exact same water level as it was in the sump since there it was elevated.