air bubbles in syphon tube

hey guys,

just wondering if anyone can help me out. I had hooked up a sump and overflow to my tank. my problem is that air bubbles keep collecting in the syphone tube going from the overflow the the hang on box on the back of the tank. As this bubble grows the water does not fall as fast and my water level goes down in the sump. just wondering if anyone knows of an easy way to fix this problem or do i have to keep syphoning out the air in the tube.

 

Tom Aquatics Aqua Lifter—Dosing Pump (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Overflow Box > Accessories )
these work pretty well. you just put the suction side up in the tube and the output into your tank.

 

what's CSO ?

 

What size main pump do you use and most times with working with a lot of these I find that if the bubbles build up past a certain point then the pump is to small as a larger pump means more flow volume more water volume means less room for air volume and that keeps the bubble to a minimum water will seek its own level and space . The other thing is what type of HOB are you using ? As for the stub of pipe on the J tube with a little air line and a valve I have seen the valves not set tight and cause the tube tomloose all siphon.

I'd add another J tube abd not cut it off and keep the ends as deep in the water in either of the box halfes as deep as possible that will help also. Also if you are using the sponges ? toss them as they will slow the flows to the sump and that back pressure can and will cause this problem

 

This all comes down to the difference in height between the tank water, and the water level in the in-tank portion of the overflow box. If there's a large difference, the cascading water inside the box causes bubbles, which collect in the u-tube eventually causing the u-tube to develop its own large bubble; subsequently lessening the flow out of the display tank.

From my experience with the very same overflow box in the same 55G tank over 20 or so years, I learned that if the return pump in the sump was lagging, the overflow box developed this height difference, causing the bubbles and the issue. If the return pump is too strong, the water level in the tank equals the water level in the internal overflow box.

You might need to utilize a larger return pump. Use a ball valve on the return, so you can dial it back if need be.

As Tangster said, if you use a "deeper" u-tube, it will be less apt to collect bubbles, but this is a workaround rather than a fix. Tangster also mentioned a stronger return pump. I believe this is your answer.

Hope this helps.

 

The return pump is the rio 1000... Tangster, im not using the sponges. when i re-assembled the set up the noise was gone. Thanks for the help guys and ill see what happens...let me know if you think that pump isnt strong enough. when i bought the system the guy said it was good and he had been using it. who knows if he had the same problem though.

 

His definition of good might include this problem, eh?

 

I have a TRuVuu mighty max and have the same issue with air in tubes. the level in the sump and tank are good and so is the output; however i still have the air bubble issue.