Now I need overflow help

[Murminator]

Sighs.....I just have seem to have the best of both worlds :cry: The tank is full of water in my garage (for testing if its gonna leak its gonna be there) Its running and I have to either listen to sucking noises or the sound of water splashing. When I put a short return tip on it splashes into the sump making a hell of a noise when I put a longer one on so it is under water thats quiet but then the stand pipe starts sucking. It is a prefab marineland kit similar to this minus the strainer
http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/megaflow.shtml

any idears???

[KrazyKuch]

I will give you links to a site that will show you how to make the perfect stand pipe....nice and easy!!! Just change the pipe size to whatever your bulkhead is!!

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/domitron2/HGB/HGB.html

Also for the pipe going into the sump sumerge the pipe about 1" to 2" into the water, Then right were the pipe enters the water in the sump drill 2 or 3 - 1/2" holes.....If you do these 2 things I garuntee that it will be super quite!!!!

[mark]

From the picture the standpipe looks similiar to a Durso. If it is, there should be a hole or valve on the top to adjust the amount of air thru the standpipe, is that where you are hearing the noise?

On my tank (DIY Durso) I kept increasing the hole size until the water level in the overflow was stable, when that balance was reached the sucking noise stopped as well.

If that doesn't work might try connecting a piece of tubing to the hole and remoting that. On my old tank used to get quite a bit of noise from the skimmer air inlet that was on one side of the tank. Tried the MJ muffler (helped a little) but added about 4 feet of 1/4" tubing to go to the other side and that quieted it right down.

[AndyL]

Quietest overflow by far, is I believe refered to as the SOS standpipe system.

Basically you use a pair of bulkheads, one as a primary overflow - one adds a proper gate valve (the ones sold in calgary as gate valves aren't, they're knife valves - gate valve should have a knob and threads to allow fine tuning) or if you're willing to fiddle a lot, a ball valve. The purpose of the ball valve is to throttle back the flow so that the overflow only removes as much as the pump adds. The second bulkhead gets a stand pipe, to an emergency overflow level - if water hits there, it exits via a completely open run of plumbing to your sump, no overflow, lots of noise, you can't mistake the fact that you need to have a look at what's causing the blockage in the primary return.

[Murminator]

What I ended up doing was putting a ball valve on the drain line and choking it back to keep the water level higher in the overflow. This stopped the sound of the Niagra falls in the overflow and kept all the holes deeper under water so now my drain tube is under water so now it's more quieter almost respectable.
I really didn't want to put in a ball valve cause if a snail gets into the plumbing that where it will get stuck causing an overflow, anyone know where to get an 1.5" strainer?
thanks for the help guys :mrgreen:

[mark]

AI had some 1" strainers a while back, they might have something bigger, could also try a spa/hot tub place.

Know snails like overflows, the last bunch of LR I got was infested with ones a about the size of un-popped popcorn. Clean out at least 10 everytime I change the filter sock.

[AndyL]

simply running a strainer and ball valve isn't going to keep you safe, it seems odd, but pumps vary in efficiency - it's output today may not be the same as it's output tomorow... Which is why the SOS system uses the 2nd hole for an emergency.

If you just add a strainer, you'll at some point come home to a big mess on the floor.

[TheReefGeek]

hmmmm, putting a ball valve on your drain line certainly isn't an ideal solution.

Is there any adjustment at the top of the standpipe? With a durson you vary the size of the whole at the top for air, and that adjusts the height of the water, perhaps you could do something similar to raise the water level, instead of chocking your drain line.

Have you tried putting a piece of air line into the drain line to stop the gurgling?

You could also try a durso to compare the two systems, they are CHEAP and quick to build.

[Murminator]

Yes the is a hole with rigid airline in it it seems like it drains faster than the pump puts in. The label with says up 700GPH and my pump is 950GPH so it should be more than enough. Should I drill a bigger hole? or will it not drain fast enough then causing it to overflow the other way

[TheReefGeek]

To increase the water level inside the overflow, I think you need to make the hole smaller.

Simple test, plug the hole with your finger and see what happens, the water leve should rise.

[Murminator]

To increase the water level inside the overflow, I think you need to make the hole smaller.

Simple test, plug the hole with your finger and see what happens, the water leve should rise.

Hmmm my post disappeared.... well like I said it does the exact opposite the water level in the overflow drops then it starts to suck air and gurgle makes a hell of a noise I'll try to get a vid

[KrazyKuch]

I believe will do that because you have the pipe sumberged under water cause back pressure......so that when you plug that hole is cause's a syphon which pulls all the water it can from the overflow un till it sucks air!!!!

[Murminator]

http://media.putfile.com/100-1336


http://media.putfile.com/100-1338


http://media.putfile.com/100-1339

http://media.putfile.com/100-1340





I believe will do that because you have the pipe sumberged under water cause back pressure......so that when you plug that hole is cause's a syphon which pulls all the water it can from the overflow un till it sucks air!!!!


If I do that then I have splashing at the bottom and sucking at the top.....really starting to think this whole sump thing is a friggin pain.....Shoulda listened to Bev and Bob http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/mad0235.gif (http://www.smilieshq.com)

[Joe Reefer]

Have you tried moving the air hose up and down?

[TheReefGeek]

Spend $15 on a durso?

[mark]

You pretty much have a Durso already and looks like setup okay as water level seems steady without the air-hole blocked. No sure how much difference replacing the one elbow to a Tee and cap (for a classic Durso) would make but all I know is when they are tuned, the drain pipe itself is quiet.

If the noise that causing the problem is the water fall effect into the overflow compartment, increase the height of the vertical pipe so the water level is higher in the overflow (less drop, less noise).

Difference on mine, between overflow compartment level and tank level is about an inch. As long as the overflow level is less than the tank (even 1/4") functionally it's correct.

[TheReefGeek]

Nobody has asked yet, how many gallons per hour are you putting through this overflow? How big is the bulkhead?

The water level looks a little high from the videos, I think the air hole should be slightly smaller, my water level is just above the half-way point of the horizontal PVC.

How does your drain line enter your sump?

[Quinster]

Here are the mods I did to my DIY Durso to fix both the varying flow issue and the snail issue...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/?action=view&current=MVC-004F.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch11

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/?action=view&current=MVC-005F.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch13

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/?action=view&current=MVC-007.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch14

A John Guest valve on some 1/4" line to control the air flow, and a slotted piece of PVC to keep the snails out.

[Murminator]

I will try adding an air valve and a DIY snail guard looks like a good idear

The bulkheads are 1" the pump is a mag 9.5 950GPH with about a 4' head so idunno about 800ish GPH

[TheReefGeek]

How many 1" bulkheads are draining?

Have you tried throttling back the pump to see what happens?

[muck]

What size piping is your "durso" made out of?

[Murminator]

What size piping is your "durso" made out of?

All plumbing is 1" except the drain which is 1.5" there is only 1 drain and 1 return. throttling back the pump doesn't make a difference

[muck]

The durso pipe needs to be larger than the bulkhead size.

ie. 1" bulkhead --> 1¼" or even 1½" standpipe

[TheReefGeek]

Hmmmm, durso's are usually 1/4" - 1/2" oversized compared to the bulkhead, maybe this is the "problem"?

Is your bulkhead 1" or 1.5"?

*Edit* lol, guess we were typing at the same time.

I would build and actual Durso, oversized.

[Quinster]

If you look at this pic

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/?action=view&current=MVC-004F.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch11

mine is 1 1/4" that steps down to 1" at the bottom where it hooks to my bulkhead for my return...

[Murminator]

All plumbing is 1" except the drain which is 1.5" there is only 1 drain and 1 return. throttling back the pump doesn't make a difference
Sorry the "drain" shoulda been durso and it is 1.25 not 1.5

[KrazyKuch]

Have you tried drilling the holes in the pipe as it enters the sump like i posted at the top of the page???