DIY Skimmer Microbubble problem

[pironya]

Hi

I made this in sump venturi driven protein skimmer for my 50 gal soon to be reef

The sump is fed by an overflow and water is pumped back to the display through the skimmer..Thus the skimmer's outlet also acts as the return from the sump..Hope this makes sense

The problem I am facing is that the skimmer returns a large number of microbubbles into the display.Is there any way to trap these microbubbles before the water from the skimmer reaches the tank?

Regards

Arvind

 

[LEEB]

Hi !

You'll be glad to know this is easy to solve. I had the same problem with my DIY 5ft skimmer....basically you need:

- Small plastic container, which has to be big enough in relation to your water output, we're not talking huge.

- Ordinary filter floss, the white whisky material.

- Standard filter sponge, this needs to be fairly high to stop splashing.

Drill holes in the bottom of the container to allow water draining. Then place the floss down first followed by the sponge on top of this in to the container. Cut an appropriate hole inside the sponge (NOT the floss) to fit your outlet pipe in to.

All bubbles will now be caught in the sponge and the escaped waste will diffuse through the sponge into the floss which you just wash out every few days.

 

[RandyStacyE]

The easiest way to take care of 100% of the micro bubbles is to simply direct the output of the skimmer into a filter sock. It will absolutely take care of it. I've went round and round with all types of methods like baffles, bubble separators, floss, sponge, etc... and the sock works the best IMO.

You can see the sock on the left:

 

[SnowManSnow]

sock does work, but you'll need to clean it every so often, which is a pain in my book.

B

 

[RandyStacyE]

Yup, you do have to clean it, but it's not so bad. I have my overflow dumping in the filter sock along with my skimmer output. That's about 1000 gph being filtered which makes for some very clean water.

 

[Nautilus1]

I dont htink the OP can fit a sock in his main dispaly or would want one. Best bet is to allow the skimmer to drain back intot he sump