Almost fed up with my skimmer

[havefun]

I've tried just about everything I can think of but can't get rid of those annoying bubbles in my tank. I have the AquaC Remora Pro w/mag 3 pump. It's been running for 6 months or so, so I think it should be past the "break in" period. I have not added anything to my tank other than IO salt. I'm very close to just taking it out and going without a skimmer. My ph's and canister filter suck in the bubbles and then all at once spew them out every so often - it's really unattractive.
I don't have the surface skimmer box but have read that it doesn't really help much with the bubbles. Right now I have a piece of filter pad wrapped around the outlet which seems to work the best but it doesn't catch all of them.

Does anyone have the remora pro with no bubbles entering the tank? Is it just something I have to live with?

TIA

 

[i have crabs]

i have i prizm on one of my tanks and i tryed putting everything in the way to stop them but it wouldnt work so i gave up and just let it go and it stoped on its own so mabey just swear at it for a year and a half

 

[MantisFreak]

I think you might be dealing with two different issues here. Very often powerheads near the surface of the tank spit out bubbles due to cavitation. The fact that they aren't spitting out the bubbles on a continuous basis leads me to believe this might be the issue. Try lowering them a bit and see if that helps.

 

[havefun]

just swear at it for a year and a half

Well I've got the "half" down - one more year to go....

Try lowering them a bit and see if that helps.

I had them lower at one time and it didn't make a difference. I'm pretty sure the bubbles are comming from the skimmer. The intake for my canister filter is only about 4 inches off the sand and it is the worst of all of them. It spews out microbubbles a couple times per hour, each time it is a steady stream for several seconds - makes the whole tank cloudy with bubbles.

 

[ogden10]

I think from the way you are explaining it I have a very similar set up. On the left side of my tank I have attached to the back an Aqua C remora, and just to the right of that the intake for my Eheim canister, then to the right of that a little the spray bar output. I have no problem what so ever with bubbles. Now, I have had it set up for over a year, but honestly I do not ever remember really having a bubble problem. I have noticed that when the water level gets low, and it has a longer distance to fall to the tank, there are more bubbles. Also you could try spacing things out a bit, if one is spitting out bubbles and the other is sucking them up, they could just keep going.

Are you saying that your intake for your canister is putting out bubbles, or your return? I am not certain how your intake could be putting out bubbles? So assume you are talking about your return, is there any chance that air is getting into the lin somewhere. I notice that with mine if i jiggle the return hose a bit, then the spray bar spits out a ton of bubbles. I know that this is because I have a connection that is sucking in some air.

I don't know if that helps or not, but hopefully it does.

 

[flanque]

Yeah I have an AquaOne HOB skimmer and it does the same thing. I find it does it more just after I have done a water change or added some buffer. I find it happens when the capture tank fills up with more water than bubbles, but with time it goes.

Yes it is unattractive when the canister filter just spews out a big burst of bubbles. People point and go, "whats thaaaat?"

I like your idea of putting some material to break them up. I'll give that a shot. Leave a reply if you find out how to fix it.

 

[havefun]

My skimmer is on the left of the tank and my canister is on the right side of the tank. I don't use a spray bar, just the one nozzle and have it shooting to the left towards the skimmer pump.
I meant the canister is sucking in the bubbles at the intake. It's possible I may have a leak in the line but I don't think so as I have the hose clamps pretty tight.

Next question, right now I have my tank apart and am cleaning the skimmer. I had a long tube on it so I could put the pump almost on the bottom of the tank. I've now cut it in about half so it's about 4 or 5 inches long.
Also, one thing I thought of is that I have my heater inside the skimmer - could that be causing the bubble problem?

Thanks for the help!

 

[MT79]

Also, one thing I thought of is that I have my heater inside the skimmer - could that be causing the bubble problem?

I doubt it. Try removing it and see what happens.

pump almost on the bottom of the tank. I've now cut it in about half so it's about 4 or 5 inches long.

The shorter the tube, the more efficiently the skimmer will work

Does anyone have the remora pro with no bubbles entering the tank? Is it just something I have to live with?

I get some bubbles from my Remora where the overflow enters the water but nothing too conspicuous. Unless you have a sump, it's just something you have to live with. I would never even consider removing my skimmer at this point, especially after not having one for the first few months my tank was up. HTH

 

[MyMonkey]

I have a remora and mine is still in Break in phase. It's maybe a month old. It does produce micro bubbles. It's also as loud as could be. If it continues, I will go with the BakPak by CPR I think. I can't stand the noise, the bubbles are not that bad on mine though. Sorry...

 

[ogden10]

have you tried customer service at proteinskimmer.com

they are pretty good and I imagine would help you.

 

[born2chill]

I have a Remora Pro for about 8 months now. At first I was having the same exact problem you were having with microbubbles. I put it to an end by attaching a sponge (now I have a poly filter attached) to the outflow of the skimmer with a rubberband. I still see some bubbles where the water for the outflow hits the tank water but the bubbles are isolated there and are not spread throughout the tank. Try it out, I'm sure it will fix your problem.

 

[flanque]

I'll post a picture later tonight but I had a similar problem to you. I've had mine for around six months and it still produces bubbles. What I did though was get a piece of phosphate filter pad cut to size (note, doubtful it's got anything to do with it being phosphate type) and then put that in the area where the bubbles come out.

My skimmer has two areas where the water comes out. One of them is the "main" one which I would describe as being the normal area to come out, and the other seems to be an excess overflow area - this is where the bubbles are. Anyways, I put this in place and whular... bubbles goneskees!

This has the obvious side benefit of another spot of phosphate filtering, which I have a problem with if you read the other threads.

 

[havefun]

but the bubbles are isolated there and are not spread throughout the tank

Maybe thats the key. Thinking about it, it's possible that I have a problem with where all my "stuff" is - maybe I need to rearrange?

I'll try to describe the locations, if thats not good enough I'll post a pic...

At the back right of my tank I have my canister return blowing water along the backside of the tank to get water movement back there. On the back left is my skimmer, then just around the corner I have a ph.
Sooo, I have water from my canister pushing the bubbles from the skimmer into my ph which blows them all over.

How do other people arrange their equipment?

 

[havefun]

I experimented tonight and just shut off the canister. I don't know if it was wishful thinking or not but it seemed like the bubble problem was a little better. Then I shut off the skimmer also. I do have bubbles entering the tank from the skimmer but after having it off for an hour there was still "gunk" floating around. I'm sure some of what I thought were bubbles is that "gunk". I don't know how else to describe it, it's just tiny pieces of "stuff" in the water.
I would think my canister would take care of that stuff but maybe I need to clean it more often? Right now I clean it about once a month.