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What the heck..


Brooks

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Ever since we got our new tank, we've noticed that there are a ton of free-floating particles in the water column. They don't look like micro-bubbles to me, but certainly that doesn't mean they're not. Its hard to get a picture of what is going on. It just looks like the water isn't clear at all. You can visibly see small particles floating around.

I've checked every single inch of pipes and tubing to check and see if there was an air leak; tightened everything to ensure that there wasn't.

In the sump, there is an intake section, with bags of carbon, which then leads to two micron filters, which leads to the skimmer area, which baffles down into the return pump chamber. There is a black micro-bubble trap in the baffles. I've checked the return chamber and can't see any micro bubbles.

I don't have any power heads turned towards the sand, nor is the return.

Is there such a thing as perfectly clear water in this hobby? I'm a tad big neurotic, so small things bug me more than it probably does with others.

Any advice is appreciated!

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You could take a jar of tank water that has these unknown particles in it and leave it alone for a few minutes. If they are bubbles they should float to the top and disperse, and if it's true particulates then they'll settle out on the bottom and you'll be able to see it and possible identify it.

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Do the micron filters look like they're catching anything? It could be sand dust.

does the water seem visibly cloudy? like milky? I've also seen bacterial blooms in new tanks/ holding tubs.

In these systems It would look fine for a few days after a huge water change, then suddenly become cloudy again.

It took adding liverock, and letting it go through a long, natural cycle to finally get the water to clear up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Do the micron filters look like they're catching anything? It could be sand dust.

does the water seem visibly cloudy? like milky? I've also seen bacterial blooms in new tanks/ holding tubs.

In these systems It would look fine for a few days after a huge water change, then suddenly become cloudy again.

It took adding liverock, and letting it go through a long, natural cycle to finally get the water to clear up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm thinking its sand particles if anything aside from bubbles. Because there are some hours that are worse than others... definitely not milky.

The filters are catching particles, now that I look, that appear light beige in color; sand more than likely the culprit.

Could it be that I didn't rinse the sand and there is still dust coming up as the sand moves?

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You could take a jar of tank water that has these unknown particles in it and leave it alone for a few minutes. If they are bubbles they should float to the top and disperse, and if it's true particulates then they'll settle out on the bottom and you'll be able to see it and possible identify it.

Gave it a whirl. There were still some very very tiny free-floating particles.

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The issue is still persisting. I turned the skimmer off for about an hour, and still saw bubbles. I am thinking that its the return pump. I bought a Sicce 5.0 from the Dome. Could it be that the return pump is too powerful for the needs of my tank? I have it turned to the lowest setting.

Its rated at over 1,300GPH.

I also turned off the powerheads to see if they might be stirring up the sand bed The issue still persists.

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If it's bubbles you may have a pinpoint leak in the return line that's sucking in air.

I've search high and low for one. I cannot find it if its there. I've tightened everything, ensured that the flexible tubing is tightened securely... I can't seem to figure it out.

I do see that the return creates a little whirlpool when its running. That could be sucking air into the pump and spitting it out in the water.

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It could be that...mine has done that before so I just raised the running level of the water in the return section. If that doesn't fix it you could try putting a bead of silicone around the joints of any hard plumbing.

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Are you seeing the bubbles actually coming out of the returns?

with all pumps off except the return then yes

Are you seeing the skimmer bubbles make it all the way to your return chamber in the sump? Is there a cascading effect from the chamber prior to the return chamber that may be causing bubbles?

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Are you seeing the bubbles actually coming out of the returns?

with all pumps off except the return then yes

Are you seeing the skimmer bubbles make it all the way to your return chamber in the sump? Is there a cascading effect from the chamber prior to the return chamber that may be causing bubbles?

I am not seeing them in the return chamber. The sump is baffled from the skimmer chamber to a bubble trap before it hits the return chamber. I am thinking that the whirlpools the other pump was creating, was funneling air into the pump then pushing it into the tank in the form of microbubbles.

I just went and picked up an extra pump from AquaTek - smaller Tunze pump. We will see if the bubbles dissipate.

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