Micro bubbles, where do they come from?

i seem to have a major problem with micro bubbles in my tank. im not sure where they are coming from, although i do have a few hunches. my powerheads seem to spit out a stream of micro bubbles every now and again, although this could be just because of larger bubbles produced by algae are getting sucked in and spit out, or just a build up of micro bubbles inside pump getting spit out. Also my skimmer could be producing bubbles, it has a "bubble diffuser" which is designed to release the bubbles from the water, although i dont know if its workiing or just putting bubbles into my sump. im not sure if the bubbles are harmful to coral or fish, but they definatly arent that pretty to look at. how do you cure micro bubbles?

 

How does the bubble diffuser on that skimmer work? Can you put some floss in there?

 

I was experiencing the same problem and this is what I did and it worked great for both my Coralife HOB skimmers (220 & 65).

I would get rid of the bubble diffuser box that came with the skimmer.

Trim the supply hose (accordion-type) so that it's about 1.5" below the water line.

Buy a sponge from your LFS thick enough to be able to accommodate the supply "accordian-type" hose so that when you insert the supply hose into the sponge there is a good inch of sponge around the perimeter of the supply hose. The sponge I bought ($2) looked like a big blue brick (color may vary, of course) and is primarily used to clean the glass. With a sharp blade pierce an "X" into the top face of the sponge and go about 2-3 inches deep. This is how my X looked like. The below pic is the trimmed portion I discarded. You should not be able to see through the hole you carve!



Try to avoid carving a round hole in the sponge as it can get to be a real b**ch (read female dog) as you go deeper into the sponge itself. The X that you make should be just wide enough to allow you to insert the supply hose (accordian type) into the sponge snuggly. Insert the supply hose into the X about an inch. Leave ample space (about 2 inches) between the tip of the supply hose and the bottom of your "stab". Make sure that the water flows out of the supply hose unobstructed. Picture yourself pouring water into a big bucket.

Do not jam the end of the supply hose up against the bottom of your stab as this may create back pressure which most likely will result in your skimmer overflowing. There should be space between the tip of the supply hose and bottom of the pierce. You may have to tweak how deep the supply hose is inserted into the sponge but it shouldn't be a major issue.

Trim off the unused part of the sponge (do not cut into your stab). After you have cut away unused sponge you should NOT be able to stick your finger through it and your finished sponge should look like a big "dice" just below the water line, something like this:




Like I said, this worked fine for me ..... it may or may not work for you.

I'm not sure if I should put some kind of disclaimer in here. ;D

Good luck!

 

sssnake to the rescue! :thumbs_up :clapping:

 

On you sump is it a tank or container with a bio tower in the container ?or is it a acrylic wet/dry sump combination ? How far or long is it from the base of the bio tower to the main return pump and what type of skimmer do you use I may have missed that ? how long has the tank been running ? new saltwater is always full of micro bubbles . may be several ways to skin this cat .