milllllllllllllllllllllions of tiny bubbles. i cant figure out why. its making my tank look cloudy and looks like theirs a buncha crap floating around my tank. the pump is totally underwater. im thinking its catching bubbles from my AC500 and shooting them around the tank. it looks like its coming from the return tho. what can i do? im planning on replacing the return line altogather anyways (crap on inside of tube). outlet is totally submerged aswell. any tips or tricks guys?
Sump return blowing bubbels
- Thread starter messiner
- Start date
cavitation usually causes that. Rio pumps are notorious for it. Maybe a leak in a line somewhere. check all fittings
I have heard more 'baffles' in the Sump will help eliminate micro-bubbles.. but I would look into the Rio first.
Yep, you have to find the source of the air (leak or vortex). Air is 400 times less dense than water (or 1000 depending on what text book you are holding). That means that if one of your hoses leaks one drop of water, it will leak 400 'drops' of air in the same time frame. When the air hits the pump impeller, it churns it like crazy producing the champagne bubbles you are seeing. The bubbles are so small that they do not have enough boyancy to overcome the viscosity of the water, so they stay suspended.
Try this:
Stick your head inside the stand over the pump and suspected leak source. Turn off your pump and look for any sudden drips or moist spots. (BTW, girls will hit you if you tell them you are looking for a moist spot that has a slight fish odor. I don't know why.)
Try this:
Stick your head inside the stand over the pump and suspected leak source. Turn off your pump and look for any sudden drips or moist spots. (BTW, girls will hit you if you tell them you are looking for a moist spot that has a slight fish odor. I don't know why.)
my pump is fully submerged and the first fitting is too. so couyld there be some air trapped around the impeller or inside the pump? im going to take it apart, clean, and put back togather today.
I used to have a rio in my refugium that did the same thing, I took the Rio down to the airport, put it on a plane going to hell and got me a mag drive. That solved the problem. Seriously though, the Rio pumps have a tendancy to cavitate and create all those bubbles, I tried sponges and everything but nothing ever worked.See if you can return that pump and get another brand.
well i took it apart and cleaned it. still seems to be spitting bubbles tho. turns out its a SURGE. does rio make this maybe? i will see what happens later, the tank is a bit cloudy now.