Regal 250 Int microbubbles

[reely989]

Hey guys, looking for some help with microbubbles from my skimmer. It's been running about a month and it skims well, but it it shooting microbubbles out the return at a very high rate. I'm within spec on water level. I have it on a stand and from the base of the skimmer to the water level is about 8.75 inches. The return is under the water level, I don't know if that matters. I fixed a lot of the bubbles by putting a fleece sock over the return but that's an additional piece of maintenance that I really don't want to have to deal with if possible. I'm willing to swap skimmers, but these things get such good reviews that I'm convinced it has to be a "me" problem.

 

[Peace River]

That is a very nice skimmer! Where are the micro bubbles coming from on the skimmer? You may have a leak in the skimmer. The air being pulled into the skimmer through the venturi should only be exiting through the skimmate chamber.

 

[reely989]

That is a very nice skimmer! Where are the micro bubbles coming from on the skimmer? You may have a leak in the skimmer. The air being pulled into the skimmer through the venturi should only be exiting through the skimmate chamber.

When I shine a light in the skimmer chamber, I can see the return vent just blasting bubbles out. Like I said, I got them to largely be eliminated with a fleece sock over the return, but I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. I'm gonna try to raise the skimmer a bit more and see if that helps.

 

[00W]

When I shine a light in the skimmer chamber, I can see the return vent just blasting bubbles out. Like I said, I got them to largely be eliminated with a fleece sock over the return, but I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. I'm gonna try to raise the skimmer a bit more and see if that helps.

I ran the regal 150s int for years.
Made a few micro bubbles but I think they all make a little.
Didn't matter much as they were basically gone by the return section.
Make sure the bubble plate diffuser is on the right way and tight to the pump.
I ran mine in 7 inches of water.
Micro bubbles won't change with water depth.

 

[reely989]

I ran the regal 150s int for years.
Made a few micro bubbles but I think they all make a little.
Didn't matter much as they were basically gone by the return section.
Make sure the bubble plate diffuser is on the right way and tight to the pump.
I ran mine in 7 inches of water.
Micro bubbles won't change with water depth.

Yeah, I guess I'm not sure what's a normal amount. The skimmer section is pretty flooded with them when the skimmer is going. I even thought about just routing the return back to the filter chamber just to give the bubbles more time to pop before the return. I'll keep tinkering with it I guess.

 

[DanP-SD]

I have the same skimmer and had the same problem. Try closing the gate valve to increase the water level inside the skimmer. You will need to turn then pump down a bit to keep it from overflowing the collection cup. I found that by lowering the setting on the dc pump and then closing the gate valve until the skimmate consistency was right, I could get it to skim very efficiently without as many bubbles exiting.

If the tank isn’t at the upper edge of the skimmer’s capacity, it should have plenty of skimming capacity even with the pump notched back.

Alternatively, if your bioload is pushing the upper limit of the skimmer, you can get a neck extender. Then you’ll need to close the gate valve to push the water level up and get the right skimmate consistency by the time it reaches the collection cup.

Under either scenario, by raising the internal water level, you’ll reduce the air discharge.

 

[00W]

Yeah, I guess I'm not sure what's a normal amount. The skimmer section is pretty flooded with them when the skimmer is going. I even thought about just routing the return back to the filter chamber just to give the bubbles more time to pop before the return. I'll keep tinkering with it I guess.

I ran my pump on 2, then slowly turned it up to 4 over the course of a couple weeks.
I finally just ran it on 3 for years.
Big bioload/lots of junk in the water, run it on 3, low bioload just run it on 2, give it some time.
I had 3 neck extensions on mine and was able to run a bit more water and they really helped with contact time.

 

[reely989]

I have the same skimmer and had the same problem. Try closing the gate valve to increase the water level inside the skimmer. You will need to turn then pump down a bit to keep it from overflowing the collection cup. I found that by lowering the setting on the dc pump and then closing the gate valve until the skimmate consistency was right, I could get it to skim very efficiently without as many bubbles exiting.

If the tank isn’t at the upper edge of the skimmer’s capacity, it should have plenty of skimming capacity even with the pump notched back.

Alternatively, if your bioload is pushing the upper limit of the skimmer, you can get a neck extender. Then you’ll need to close the gate valve to push the water level up and get the right skimmate consistency by the time it reaches the collection cup.

Under either scenario, by raising the internal water level, you’ll reduce the air discharge.

How high is the water level in your skimmer while it's running? Looking at red sea's diagram they want it extremely high. My tank is 300 gallons without a huge bioload right now, so I should be fine on skimming capacity. I'm also running a reefmat that filters the water beforehand so I think size wise it should be plenty of skimmer.

 

[DanP-SD]

My sump level is 9” but I have the skimmer on a stand so I’d estimate about 6.5” or so. I wouldn’t aim for a specific water level other than possibly as a starting point. I think you need to tune the skimmer to get your best performance. You have four variables to work with — the height of the water level in the skimmer (which you can adjust by changing the sump level, putting the skimmer on a stand or opening/closing the gate valve), the flow rate of the pump (which also affects the water level), the length of the neck (if you add extensions) and the volume of air (if you restrict air, which I don’t recommend).

Reef Octo gives you a suggested starting point but you need to adjust the variables above to get your best performance. If you’re getting a lot of bubbles coming out with the effluent, it seems you have room to go higher with the internal water level. The goal is to get it to where the water low in the skimmer body is clear and the heavily aerated water is higher up. You will need to either slow the pump or extend the neck to do that without overflowing the collection cup with a wet foam.

 

[DanP-SD]

My sump level is 9” but I have the skimmer on a stand so I’d estimate about 6.5” or so. I wouldn’t aim for a specific water level other than possibly as a starting point. I think you need to tune the skimmer to get your best performance. You have four variables to work with — the height of the water level in the skimmer (which you can adjust by changing the sump level, putting the skimmer on a stand or opening/closing the gate valve), the flow rate of the pump (which also affects the water level), the length of the neck (if you add extensions) and the volume of air (if you restrict air, which I don’t recommend).

Reef Octo gives you a suggested starting point but you need to adjust the variables above to get your best performance. If you’re getting a lot of bubbles coming out with the effluent, it seems you have room to go higher with the internal water level. The goal is to get it to where the water low in the skimmer body is clear and the heavily aerated water is higher up. You will need to either slow the pump or extend the neck to do that without overflowing the collection cup with a wet foam.

Quick clarification: your question asked how high my water level was when the skimmer is running and I gave you an estimate of the water level when the skimmer is not running. I’m not sure how to determine the running level because there’s no clear surface. There’s a gradient of water and air. I also adjust the height in the beginning to get the skimmate consistency where it’s most productive.

With this skimmer, I do find that having it on the stand made it easier to tune. That might suggest a sump water level around 6-7” up the skimmer is a good starting point. I also think it’s enough skimmer to easily handle the bioload you describe while running below the max pump speed.

 

[MNCYC]

My regal 250 made micro bubbles for 2 months before calming down. Adjust the water hight in the chamber to get the vent hole on the output just barely out of the water that will help. The more you can open the valve helps as well. Lower speed will help with that.

 

[reely989]

I thought higher water level inside the skimmer would help more than an open valve, no?

 

[MNCYC]

I thought higher water level inside the skimmer would help more than an open valve, no?

It may if you’re bioload is really low. Just cut the pump speed until it breaks in. I have mine on a 300 as well. Heavy load I gave up on the various and run a sicce 1200 now. Its alot of power and a little loud but the skimmer is great. You will love it after you get it tuned in.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Used to have the same one up until like a year and a half ago when I upgraded to a a 250 ext (much better performance imo but i realize not practical for everyone). Used to get microbubbles CONSTANTLY and especially when I fed fatty foods like pe mysis or anything second soaked. Trick for me was to run lower flow through the skimmer and the sump. Too much flow through the sump and they get through the baffles. I also ran the outflow into a filter socket and that helped as well since it allowed more time for bubbles to rise (and they have a hard time getting through the mesh) plus since it's skimmer outflow it rarely needs changing since the water going in it is clean.