silencing my RS-80

[A_Lee]

Hey all

Does anyone have any ideas on ways to reduce the splashing of water from the outlet of my Euro-Reef RS-80? It is creating bubbles that my Eheim is sucking out and spewing in my display tank; not to mention an awful noise it makes while doing so.
I've tried looking for a piece of PVC to extend the outlet of the skimmer below the water level in the sump, but cannot find a piece that fits.
FWIW, I have no baffles in this sump.
Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Elite]

Have you tried to use the foam that came with the skimmer?

 

[Dyngoe]

I feel your pain of the skimmer bubbles. I too have a sump with no baffles. Here's what i would suggest:
1. Do a gate mod on your skimmer. This will give you better control of the water level and give you a built in "down tube" for the outlet. Now, if you already have the down tube and your skimmer is working fine, then disregard this suggestion
2. Put some live rock in a "trap" type container and direct your skimmer output into it. What I did in my old tank was to buy a 3" piece of black acrylic tube at HD and a 3" acrylic end cap. Then, I capped the tube and drilled some 1/2" holes around the bottom. I think I made 16 in all. Next I cut the whole unit so the pipe was ~2" higher than the sump water level. Now, if possible cut some baffle teeth in the uncapped end of the tube so the teeth go ~1/2" under the water line. If you can't cut "teeth" then drill some 1" holes so ~1/2 of it will be under the water line. Now, break up some rubble or use some wet dry filter media and fill the bottom of the trap until it is ~1" below the bottom of the teeth or holes at the top. Get some filter sponge and make an off-center doughnut hole so you fill the rest of the trap with the sponge and the skimmer output will fit in it somewhere. I hope this all makes sense. I tried to do it on sketchup for you, but my son needs some attention. The goal here is to have your output water hit some media that will help collect the bubbles and release larger ones instead of micros out of the bottom. Any overflow will go up through the sponge and quietly released into the sump.

Now, if this all fails. You can always add more live rock to your sump to again try and block the micros from hitting the pump. This is what I have done and I have no micros in my baffle-less sump. For a cheap man's baffle you can put your pump in a plastic bucket and cut some holes in it at the bottom. The hope here is that the bubbles hitting the bucket will be near the top and the water at the bottom will be more clear.

Again, I hope this helps.