Plumbing noise...need help!

[ReefGrief]

I am ready to pull my hair out! I have a 72g bowfront, reef ready to which I installed a durso standpipe. The bulkhead is 1" for the drain, so I installed a 1 1/4" standpipe as per durso's recommendation. Everything is great there. No sucking noises, in fact no noise at all coming from the overflow. I have the durso emptying into a 1 1/4" PVC pipe going straight down below the water level into the first partition of my sump. This is where the problem lies. The water/air mixture from the standpipe comes crashing down into my sump water and creates some pretty severe noise. I have tried everything to quiet this. Does anyone have any ideas for reducing the air bubbles? I don't want to limit the flow on my pump since it is barely producing required flow now. I would appreciate any comments!:icon_mad:

[briansmyth]

An ice cream container without the lid( like a pail) with filter floss on the inside should help - you'll need plenty of holes on the bottom and on the sides of the container. The flow should go directly into the container and the filter floss should break up the oxygen bubbles.

I did have trouble with the flow into my sump, where I have the container and floss, backing up a bit which then caused a small overflow from the front of my tank, so look out for that. This will get rid of the bubbles - getting rid of the sound- I found I had to play around with the length of the hose and whereabouts it entered the container in my sump.

I think there are others here who have other ideas and maybe photos to show what they mean.

[scary gary]

Have you tried making a trap with the line that goes into the sump. Same idea as a plumbing trap. The trap causes the water to fill the hose before going into the sump which should reduce the noise.

[ReefGrief]

No, I have not tried either of your suggestions. I did however, put a ball valve on the pipe that drains into the sump and dialed it back ever so slightly. This seems to help quite a bit. I will try the trap next and let you know what happens!

[Rentaltux]

If you want I can stop by and have a look. I was having the same problem in the begining, it just takes a little tweaking usually. Just PM me or give me a call if you want me to look.


R

[thordarj]

I had similar problems with my overflow. My tank was back tapped though so it was even worse. I set up a trap system with "T" junction just above it. The water would flow into the sump through the "T", and the other outlet of the "T" went down to the trap and then back upwards to the same level as the water in the tank. I then capped off the empty pipe and put a hose in it that ran back down to the water level. It looked really bulky but it was the only thing that worked in my case. I found the idea on CANREEF I think.

[ReefGrief]

I set up a trap system with "T" junction just above it. The water would flow into the sump through the "T", and the other outlet of the "T" went down to the trap and then back upwards to the same level as the water in the tank. I then capped off the empty pipe and put a hose in it that ran back down to the water level.

I'm not sure I follow. Was the T at the bulkhead, with the bottom leg of the t going direct to the sump and the side arm of the t going to the trap? I may need a pic of this one.

[thordarj]

I sent you the pic, for any others reading that are confused, the side leg of the T went to the sump, were a 90 elbow dropped it down into the sump. The bottom leg of the T continued into the trap which was made up of 2 joined 90 elbows, and from those elbows went back upwards. This must be what they mean when they say a picture is worth 1000 words.

[Stasher]

Here's what I overlooked when I setup my tank. How much flow are you putting through your sump. I originally put way too much through my overflow and it was terribly noisy. I dropped the flowrate by about 500gph and it is now silent. I still put around 450-500 through it and works great. Don't try to get all your tanlk flow from your overflow....look at closed loops and powerheads to help out.