Marco Vasquez
Community Member
Your pump is pretty shallow. My only thought is that you are getting a vortex every few moments. Can you place a sheet of plexiglass or glass horizontally above the pump to divert the water more broadly?
Return pump shooting micro bubbles
- Thread starter dwair
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Supa
Well-Known Member
Mine does the same thing after it turns back on it will occasionally spit bubbles then go back to normal sometimes spits bubbles every 5 minutes or so. I think it’s due to the levels in the sump having to equal out properly before working again.
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dwair
Valuable Member
How is it shallow? At least 3-4 inches above the pump?
Marco Vasquez
Community Member
Vortex can go that deep.
ying yang
2500 Club Member
Something is causing micro bubbles before the return pump and its getting trapped in pump then when big enough its spits large bubble out your nozzle which disperses into smaller bubbles.
Another possibility is that air can leak from a pipe but not water if somewhere not sealed properly and in this application air can get sucked into a pipe if small part tubing not sealed.and then go with the flow of water that return pushing back into dt.
But as you say you got a waterfall part of sump i suspect coming from here.( at night time try turn video on phone with light on and place onto sump glass and try zoom in and see if can see micro bubbles coming from waterfall before it hits return pump.if it is this you could add a bubble trap of some kind like foam/course fibre stuff like have in freahwater filters or some filter floss but would have to make sure doesnt get to clooged and slow the flow down etc.
Another option mess around with return pump speed and make fast for few seconds then dial back down to where you want it.
Also could add a baffle if it is micro bubbles before return pump..
But also as someone mentioned you got something that happens called cavitation but without googling it i forgot exact specifics of how and why it happens pfft
Good luck
Another possibility is that air can leak from a pipe but not water if somewhere not sealed properly and in this application air can get sucked into a pipe if small part tubing not sealed.and then go with the flow of water that return pushing back into dt.
But as you say you got a waterfall part of sump i suspect coming from here.( at night time try turn video on phone with light on and place onto sump glass and try zoom in and see if can see micro bubbles coming from waterfall before it hits return pump.if it is this you could add a bubble trap of some kind like foam/course fibre stuff like have in freahwater filters or some filter floss but would have to make sure doesnt get to clooged and slow the flow down etc.
Another option mess around with return pump speed and make fast for few seconds then dial back down to where you want it.
Also could add a baffle if it is micro bubbles before return pump..
But also as someone mentioned you got something that happens called cavitation but without googling it i forgot exact specifics of how and why it happens pfft
Good luck
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dwair
Valuable Member
Well I tried what @Billldg did and upped my water level in the sump. Stopped the waterfall completely and low and behold, haven't seen any bubbles yet for at least a couple of hours. What sucks is, my gravity fed ATO that Cade designed for this is now utterly useless. I'm going to have to put my old Tunze ATO on here and find an ATO container. Cause Cades is built into the back of the tank.
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I have a sump with no baffles and I battle this all the time. One, in order to avoid my pump creating a cyclone, I have to insure that my water level is maintained high enough to avoid the pump pulling air. That I solved with an ATO.
Second, I insure that anything returning water into the sump does so under water. This helps avoid micro bubbles but doesn't eliminate them, lastly i made a plexiglass screen that I have filter floss right before the pump intake that helps stop micro bubbles from going into the display.
Hope this helps.
Second, I insure that anything returning water into the sump does so under water. This helps avoid micro bubbles but doesn't eliminate them, lastly i made a plexiglass screen that I have filter floss right before the pump intake that helps stop micro bubbles from going into the display.
Hope this helps.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
I read thru the rest of the thread, and it reminded me that you can also try something else, and maybe, keep the water level at the same height as you normally kept it at. I installed a thick filter, that was originally meant to be used to filter debris before hitting the return pumps, between the 2nd and 3rd chamber to help settle any bubbles. Is their anyway of adding such a filter. I would, maybe, try to lay a filter across the top of the section that allows the water to flow from one chamber to the return pump chamber, and see if that settles out any microbubbles.
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dwair
Valuable Member
I actually have been doing that for the past month in an effort to stop the macro algae I had in there from going into the return pump. Still had bubbles. But I’ve since removed it cause now I only have Chaeto in there and it doesn’t move.
Think that only upping the water level is going to solve this.
Just did some research and it appears this is not a DC controllable pump. All you can do to turn it down is turn a knob on the pump housing to block off some of the input. This increases the negative pressure in the impeller chamber and promotes increased cavitation (makes more bubbles). You simply have way more pump than you really need for your tank. I'd recommend replacing with a much smaller (maybe 1/3 - 1/2 the flow rate) pump and you should see the bubbles go away.
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