Getting bubbles out of my tank

[funkshun23]

Hey everyone hope this is the place to post this one. ive had my 55 G tank for 4 years or so as well as a sealife protien skimmer. the problem im having is that for the skimmer to produce enough power for it to properly skim out crap, sufficient air needs to be allowed into the skimmer. when this happens, all the water that it releases out, gets sucked up by the motor and circulates into the tank with all the tiny hundreds of bubbles which makes the tank look very unattractive and not as bright with the lights on. my question is does anyone have this problem too? ive tried other skimmers in the sump as well with no success. ive tried to put a foeam filter of sorts, sock, phosgaurd back, etc in the way of the release to try and minimize the bubbles going back into the tank but nothing seems to work. i then tried a glass devider separating the skimmer and the main water motor and only allowing water to pass from the sides of the separator to try and minize the bubbles but nothing. what can i do? or do i have to live with it? i dont want to add another separate sump or anything like that because i have no room for it and i need to use the skimmer cause i always tend to get algae if i dont. HELP! thanks

[saltwaterdave]

Wow,I find it hard none responded to your thread.I will try and help you out the best I can.
First are you sure all the bubbles are coming from the skimmer? Have you cut the skimmer off and watched to see if the bubbles disappear?Where is the out-let from the skimmer going? Do you have it dropping straight into the return pump area?
I had a few problems like you are having.I had my skimmer return going straight to where my return pump is,I had to remove that and have the return dumping back into the skimmer area,that helped some.Then I had to check my return line for air leaks,if your return line is sucking air it will cause bubbles.The next thing I did was add some filter material,I got it from a lfs and it is the stuff that you cut to make your own filter,like you would use in a power filter,anyway I put that on top of the pump to catch any bubbles that might try and make it to the return pump.That seemed to help quite alot........try some of that and get back to me and I will try and help you more.
David

[hcp28]

Here is an idea have you tried a baffle system?
It's pretty simple, you take several pieces of plexi glass or tank deviders and place them vertical in your sump after the skimmer return.
It looks something like this
| | | | Well my attempt to illustrate is for naught... but it alternates
_|_|_|
But with the pieces extending more than halfway down. Do you understand? So the bubbles will have to go up and down up and down before they can get out to the main tank. Most bubbles will get stuck in the baffle and be unable to make it to the main tank. This is probably you best bet if you haven't tried it yet. The more baffles the better, if you do a search on this site I'm sure you'll find more infor about this.

Also you have to make sure the water can only go above or below the baffles and not on the sides so you would need some silicoln to seal the sides. HTH

Henry

[funkshun23]

11

Here is an idea have you tried a baffle system?
It's pretty simple, you take several pieces of plexi glass or tank deviders and place them vertical in your sump after the skimmer return.
It looks something like this
| | | | Well my attempt to illustrate is for naught... but it alternates
_|_|_|
But with the pieces extending more than halfway down. Do you understand? So the bubbles will have to go up and down up and down before they can get out to the main tank. Most bubbles will get stuck in the baffle and be unable to make it to the main tank. This is probably you best bet if you haven't tried it yet. The more baffles the better, if you do a search on this site I'm sure you'll find more infor about this.

Also you have to make sure the water can only go above or below the baffles and not on the sides so you would need some silicoln to seal the sides. HTH

Henry

[funkshun23]

thanks guys