Hubble bubble toil and trouble!

[gaviscon]

Hey everyone,

I have set up my 24g jbl nano cube this weekend and I'm having a bit of trouble with bubbles! The outlet for the filter system keeps spurting bubbles out which detracts from everything else. Does this problems settle on its own and is there anything I can do to relieve the problem sooner? Otherwise the system is cool, and all I've done is change the sump pump to a 1100L/hour pump and added another power head (1100L/hour) to inside the tank. Pics to follow.

Gav

[JASONC1]

try moving the nozzle down,if it is only just been filled it may be trapped bubbles,or try a hydor flow nozzle

[jacksprat]

have you got enough water in the tank? as the back chamber could be low? or have you put carbon bags in the first chamber as they could be restricting water? let us know and i will try and help. because air must be being drawn from somewhere!

[gaviscon]

Yeah there's plenty of water in the tank and the sump has enough in it too. I wondered if it was the sponges that they put in the filter being full of air and that was getting sucked in as they get dislodged by the water flow. I wanna try and replace the sponges with live rock rubble as soon as I get time off work to go to my lfs.

Cheers for the replys btw.

[gaviscon]

PS carbon bags in the second chamber, sponges in the first (this is where I get told off for using the sponges by everyone!).

[jacksprat]

lol take the sponges out today, put the carbon bags and rowaphos bag etc in the first chamber then keep the 2nd chamber free for when you get that live rock rubble. It could be the sponges as you say but i can almost guaruntee that once u get rid of the sponges and re-arrange you will have better results. Also i would say get rid of bio balls if you still have them in there.

[gaviscon]

I've solved the bubble problem. The pipe connection to the outlet was loose so air was getting sucked in!

I knew someone would tell me off about the sponges lol! :D

Whats the ideal size for chunks of live rock rubble? Too big means less surface area to volume ratio, too small and there'll be no anaerobic parts to get rid of nitrates. Just wondering. Could I buy some cheapish live rock and hammer it up?

[rockpoolie]

What I've done is cut a peice of egg crate the size of the 1st chamber and wrap filter wool around it. Its fixed just under the weir by using a heater clip that the allows the egg crate end on push into. The wool is washed every other day and replaced when weekly water changes are done. I found this very effective in stopping the air bubbles created as the water going through the weir drops to the level inside chamber 1. My levels probably lower as Ive got a pump in chamber 1 psuhing water back into display area to provide more flow.