flowerseller October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 I suddenly got em. Still don't want em. Not doing anything different. No visible leaks.
BeltwayBandit October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 Tiny bubbles In my beer. Makes me happy And full of cheer! Tiny bubbles In my wine Makes me happy All the time!
jason the filter freak October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 2 pertinate questions. How old is your sand bed, and when was last time you cleaned your return, skimmer, other pumps. And last time you cleaned your power heads... maybe 3 questions
Gatortailale October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 - are they coming out of return or out of powerhead / stream? - are they some of your microbubbles from the chiponator 5000 skimmer making their way into sump and over to return area? - Leftover effect of clam spawn? - sump water level lower than normal? Maybe return is sucking air
flowerseller October 10, 2006 Author October 10, 2006 2 pertinate questions. How old is your sand bed, and when was last time you cleaned your return, skimmer, other pumps. And last time you cleaned your power heads... maybe 3 questions My sand bed is 8+ years in this location where I added 100lbs of arragonite for a total of 15 yearsm including from the old and then size upgrade. I do regular maint on all above. sump level the same as always DD skimmer flows to other side of sump where baffles not from streams appears to be return but could be on inflow to main pump Toyed with clam idea but didn't see it and water tension is not like it happen. (clam has been acting) ALL appears like SAT night except for microbubbles.
jason the filter freak October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 a leak in thet case or line of the return pump?
dandy7200 October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 Are you sure it is air an not plankton? Clam spawn may have encouraged plankton explosion?
jason the filter freak October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 Are you sure it is air an not plankton? Clam spawn may have encouraged plankton explosion? Take a water sample put it in a container, fill all the way up as far as you can, trying to keep any or all air out of the water sample. Let jar set for a hour or two. Tip jar on end slowly, if the water clouds again, it's not bubbles, if it does not inspect return and skimmer pump casing for leaks
flowerseller October 10, 2006 Author October 10, 2006 sounds like something is sucking in air! Don't miss a trick do you. Are you sure it is air an not plankton? Clam spawn may have encouraged plankton explosion? clearly bubbles
Folta October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 Chip, I'm sure you have your suspicions of where the bubbles are originating... a connection that looks sealed but isn't perfectly sealed, pumps not letting bubbles rise to the surface with a little bit of bubbles getting in, etc.. Take one pump offline at a time, and see if it helps, starting of course with what you suspect most. For example, if you suspect that its your return, then get a mag 18, 24, etc, submerge it, and use that as a temporary return with some clear tubing (with no connectors to guarantee you don't introduce bubbles that way). If its an internal pump that could be pulling air down occasionally (after I clean my seio 2600's, even though they're a good 6" below the water surface on occasion that will still pull air down in a little vortex and spit bubbles everywhere that take quite a while to dissapate). Good luck in locating the source!
flowerseller October 10, 2006 Author October 10, 2006 Gang, This is not a quiz or test to see who gets it correct. I have not found the reason for the bubbles and would like too. I think Chris (phisigs79) is on the right track though.,
jason the filter freak October 10, 2006 October 10, 2006 Did you recently air an airstone you forgot about? Another though it to check your intakes and see if they're pulling air into the system I don't know if you're running closed loop or overflows
dschflier October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 I used to have a ton of micro bubbles now I have much less but still some. One of my issues was my output from my main pump to the 210 would occasionally suck in air. it didn't happen much but when it did the cyclone like air would make tons of bubbles. I changed my output to the flare nozzle and put them slightly deeper in the water. that helped a bunch. I think this could happen as easily from the output as from a powerhead.
flowerseller October 11, 2006 Author October 11, 2006 I'm almost willing to entertain crackpot ideas at this point. Hello
Scott_LM October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 pump cavitation? How does the impellar look? What did the tests above result?
jason the filter freak October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 (edited) I'm almost willing to entertain crackpot ideas at this point. Hello Gremlin attack man, those nasty looking little green things, you know one of these Durrr... Have you tried the shutting down of individual power heads/pumps idea for a extended period of time? Edited October 11, 2006 by jason the filter freak
BeltwayBandit October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 I'm almost willing to entertain crackpot ideas at this point. Hello Do you have siphon breaks in any of your piping? I had one that I didn't get quite below the water line and it would suck in air and voila microbubbles.
flowerseller October 11, 2006 Author October 11, 2006 Gremlin attack man, thost nasty looking little green things, you know one of these Durrr... Have you tried the shutting down of individual power heads/pumps idea for a extended period of time? I said I was ALMOST READY to entertain crack pot ideas. :wink: It has to be a return issue and I now see a canidate in one of the runs with fresh creep after the pump. I was hoping to take my pump off line as a last resort but think I will anyway after the rains come later today and replace that run. That said, I'm also reluctant to do a lot of plumbing because the sump upgrade will become available after this afternoons planting is done. I've had all my pond plants in it for the last 2 weeks when the my winterover ran out of time. Not a bad way to test if it leaks although. I don't use siphon breaks because I can add 10g to the sump at all times.
rrubberbandman October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 Did you recently air an airstone you forgot about? maybe his airstone came out of his skimmer
Rascal October 11, 2006 October 11, 2006 It has to be a return issue and I now see a canidate in one of the runs with fresh creep after the pump. That is how I found my microbubble source recently. It was really hard to tell where they were coming from because once they get in the system they get sucked through everything, right? I couldn't figure out if they were coming from my CL or return, and if the return was it the plumbing, turbulence in the sump, skimmer . . ., etc.? Well, you obviously know the drill. I finally noticed some salt creep on the outflow of my return pump just below the threaded fitting on the union valve and thought, hmm. If something (salty water vapor) is making out, might it be possible that something (air) is also being sucked in? Made some adjustments and applied a generous helping of silicone and no more microbubbles. Turned out to be a much easier fix that any of the other options I was considering. Hope your problem turns out to be as easy to solve.
flowerseller December 13, 2006 Author December 13, 2006 sounds like something is sucking in air! ning ning ning ning. You guessed the right thing. After trying several different things, I found the problem. I had a power off test in preperation of my new sump a while I was cleaning and maintaining my Iwaki 100. Everything took about an hour to do and as I was taking the measurements, I noticed a slight puddle at the union of my existing sump to pump. This particular joint is as much as 15 years old and includes some 1" tigerflex PVC and a union. The drip was there and a quick dab of SGG sealed it up and no move bubbles. While it was pumping, it was pulling the water so no leak was evident. When it was off and had presure on it, it allowed the water to seep out. Thanks, Chris and everyone else, including Jason and his crack pot ideas.
jason the filter freak December 13, 2006 December 13, 2006 Probably that gremlin ruined the seal in the first place, glad to hear you got it fixed
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