Archivarium 2004

[Filtration Master]

Hi My Iwaki Pump for my 85 Gallon Tank seems abit to powerful. It is also blowing lots of bubbles. Does anybody know away to stop these microbubbles??? The Pump is the Iwaki30RLT
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85 Gallon Marine Tank
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[dale]

Hi F.M.,
I'm not familiar with that brand of pump but here are some troubleshooting tips.
Do you have a bleeder valve for the pump? If so see if there is a bit of air in the pump somewhere. If you don't have a bleeder valve, disconnect your lines and stick a piece of air tubing into the pump (turn it off first ) and suck the air out.
Is your pump picking up the bubbles from the sump? If so arrange the baffling so that these are eliminated.
Is your return line above the surface of the water? If so sink it in a bit.
The flow rate of your pump can be corrected by adding a adjustable flowrate valve in your return line or branching your return line so it empties in two or more locations.
Hope this helps,
Good luck.
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Think like a fish

[KDodds]

I don't think the 30 is too powerful for your tank at all, unless you're working with one return point. Splitting the return into two (or preferably more) return points and/or increasing the diameter of the return pipe should stop what could be cavitation. You may also want to check for leaks, although this can be very difficult when they're micro-leaks that suck in air.
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Kieron Dodds
Inside Aquatics
www.insideaquatics.com