I have Micro bubbles coming out of my Protein skimmer ...

[ArbiMassihians]

I have tried to adjust the level of the outlet tubing (height) and the canister fills up fine (aprx. 1-1.5 inches every 3 days or so). However, I have a ton of Micro bubbles which escape out of the outlet into my sump. The foam tube around the outlet pipe doesn't catch the micro bubbles. I have raised the foam tube and it has not helped it either. I checked out the air tube and made sure it is nice and clean. My next step is to inspect the pump and make sure it is free of any calcium build-ups.

Any suggestions? BTW, I have a G1-X protein Skimmer. It has worked great the first three months or so and lately it has been causing me a ton of headache with the micro bubble situation.

Thank you all in advance for helping out a fellow reefer,

Arbi

[cath]

^^ dunno that, but I'm bumping this up, Arbi

[Geoff]

is there any way you can post a pic of the setup? regularly cleaned sponges or floss is the usual fix for catching PS bubbles. is the skimmer in the display or in the sump? do the bubbles get into the display? maybe moving the return pump further way from the skimmer would also help.

G~

[ArbiMassihians]

First of all, thanks Cath for bumping up the thread. As far as a picture of my setup ... I don't have one, but I will take a picture sometime tonight and post it onto the thread. The powerhead for the sump and it's outlet is as far as possible in the sump away from the two returns. The micro bubbles are in the sump and automatically pulled into the tank by the two returns since the entire sump gets filled up with micro bubbles. I have cleaned out my air tube on a regular basis (no calcium build-ups). The sponge is also rinsed out regularly (I also hear negatives for doing this since they say that when you take out the sponge and clean it, it loosens the sponge and it doesn't fit over the return outlet tube nice and snug).

What I have noticed is that the bubbles caused from the turbulence inside the main canister of the protein skimmer fill up the entire canister. I remember that the canister usually was not full of bubbles for the lower portion of the main canister the first few months I had the Protein Skimmer (maybe 4-6 inches worth).

I will post that picture sometime tonight and I'm hoping someone will be able to point out some other things to try out.

Thanks for all your help everyone,

Arbi

[Spanky]

Arbi

Most of the time it's from pumping too much water through the skimmer. The water doesn't slow down enough in the separation chamber.

[ArbiMassihians]

Is there any way for me to slow down the water pumping into the chamber? I have a G1X protein skimmer. The only adjustments that I know of is the pipe adjustment for the outlet tube (it goes up and down and it controls the water level in the chamber ... I think it is used to control the level of water hense the level of bubbles feeding into the waste chamber)

Thank you for your support,

Arbi

[Geoff]

usually there is some kind of valve just after the pump and before the skimmer. this is where you can control the amount of water going into the skimmer.

G~