Micro Bubbles Driving Me Crazy!!

[seahunter]

What can I do to STOP the micro bubbles coming from my power heads?? I know its probably cavitations so on so on, I really need to do something PLEASE HELP!!

[aLucidDream]

I have heard of some people straping on a piece of pantyhose over it. Try that !?

[seahunter]

I tried that in my sump for my return and well….didn’t do anything

[SteveC56]

How are you using your power heads? unless you have the venturi(spelling???) tubes on and open, if you have the power head submerged then there wouldn't be any micro bubbles

[seahunter]

4 maxi jets fully submerged...:confused:

[SteveC56]

with or without air tubes attached and above water?

[sjm817]

My MJ1200's do the same thing. Every so often, they just shoot out a bunch of MB for no reason. Fully submerged, no venturi.

[Avi]

First of all, do you know where the micro-bubbles are coming into the sump from? For example, is it from the return from your skimmer? Once you determine what the source is, make sure that it goes into a section of your sump different from the one that your return pump is in. Put the "offending" return into a section of the sump BEFORE the one that holds your return pump and put some foam between the two sections so that it "filters" out the micro-bubbles and the return pump will then return bubble-free water to the tank. That's how I cured the probem.

[seahunter]

I do have my sump set up that way and have NO MB entering my tank from my sump, which is why this is driving me NUTS!

[aLucidDream]

No clue why you would have MB then, could be the powerhead itself dude. Try taking it apart and cleaning it.

[adickerson0]

If it is new to the tank then let it sit there. The power head will build up a film(slime) on the inside and the bubbles will stop. If they dont stop after a few days then just rotate them under water. This should help force out any large bubbles.

Some heads have flow adjusters. You can play with the settings.

[lmk222]

I am with sjm817. My MJ1200's do the same thing, everyday. It could be the littlest piece of brine shrimp caught in the wavemaker.

[seahunter]

I’m going to pull them out one by one and clean them, what do you recommend I clean them with? pure white Vinegar or is there anything else that is better?

[buzz123]

My maxi-jets do the same thing......annoying!

Buzz

[Lamorak]

My one MaxiJet 1200 will occasionally spew a burst of MB's. I think it's pretty common for the MaxiJets to do that. Since it's not a constant stream of bubbles that cloud the tank and thus the view, I'm not concerned and see it as a good sign that my tank water is properly oxygenated. It's just my opinion though.
You haven't mentioned the overall age of the tank. I had much more MB's when I first started the tank. There is noticably less MB's as the tank matures.
Hope that helps.

[seahunter]

The tank is now about 4 months old and it’s not an occasional spew its much more often and it looks like S***. Do you have any recommendation on what I can clean them with and what I should do to them?

[seahunter]

no help??

[Stevan]

I'd try lowering the PH in the tank...the water entering the PH may be inducing a vortex bringing in air w/the water.

[VDub90]

Pull the powercord out. Without fully inserting it put it into the plug in with just enough contact to start the PH. Rapidly start it 4-5 times, and any air pockets will work their way out. The rapid starting and stopping will most likely shake them loose.

[seahunter]

I have a wavemaker on my system...

[VDub90]

Temporarily disconnect from the wavemaker. Once the air is gone hook them back up.

[Lamorak]

Are the powerheads also four months old? I think it's been mentioned that they will eventually build a slime coat that will reduce the frequency of the bubbles.

I've noticed that brand new plastic seems to attract micro bubbles out of nowhere. I've seen them clinging to the sides of new plastic items like a swarm of bees. I'm really thinking that if the powerheads are fairly new and haven't built up a slime coat, then you will just have to wait it out. Hopefully the micro bubbles will reduce over time.

Sorry. I don't know of any other solutions to your problem. The only other obvious one has been mentioned. That would be to submerge the powerhead and slowly rotate it 360 degrees to try and dislodge any trapped air.

[seahunter]

The powerheads are from my old setup before upgrading to a bigger system, they are about 1 1/2 years old.

[Stevan]

Didja try lowering them? It's free and easy to do. It worked w/my SEIO.

[Jimsmowen]

just unplug it and shake the hell out of it!!! :D

they cant come from nowhere (not that much of them anyway...) ....its probably the most obvious simple thing u just keep missing it..