Anybody have a dead silent reef ready tank?

[csmfish]

I have a semi coast to coast that has the 3 pipes and is dead dead silent. I want to go to a 120 or a little bigger but I am not excited about my coast to coast any more as I think it takes away from depth perception. I was thinking of going with a reef ready unit w overflow in the corner. I know those are usually noisy and have heard some people quieting them down, but, who if any, has a dead dead quiet setup?

[nikon187]

not with only one drain no. You will need 2 ( herbie) or 3 drains ( bean animal) to make it silent. A reef ready tank is one that can use a sump because it has holes drilled in it, which yours already is. As long as your new tank has more than 1 draiin you should be able to make it pretty quiet. The only thing i hear on my 210 is the skimmer dumping back into the sump.

[csmfish]

Thanks for the input but that's not entirely true, and, is, a proven myth on my end. I am using 1 1/2" pipe, have 3 drains and there is no water in 2 out of 3 pipes. The main pipe has been carefully dialed in to take it all and is dead silent. If there is any water in the other pipes, it has to be very very little ot it makes noise, all of which is the opposite of what Bean says. Maybe I have dog hearing, I dunno. Now, on the topic of safety, you better darn well have 2-3 drains total, that I truly believe in and agree with.

How is yours set up? 1-2-3 drains? major modification or just a valve down below adjusted accordingly?

[evsalty]

Originally Posted by csmfish

Thanks for the input but that's not entirely true, and, is, a proven myth on my end. I am using 1 1/2" pipe, have 3 drains and there is no water in 2 out of 3 pipes. The main pipe has been carefully dialed in to take it all and is dead silent. If there is any water in the other pipes, it has to be very very little ot it makes noise, all of which is the opposite of what Bean says. Maybe I have dog hearing, I dunno. Now, on the topic of safety, you better darn well have 2-3 drains total, that I truly believe in and agree with.

How is yours set up? 1-2-3 drains? major modification or just a valve down below adjusted accordingly?

Your "end" as you put it is actually proving his point. You are using that 1" drain as your MAIN siphon drain and not putting any or enough water thru the open drain to make any noise. Bean specifically has his 3rd or emergency drain out of the water in the sump to be able to hear niose so that you know there is a issue. The second drain should enter the sump just under the water surface and should only be flowwing a tiny amount of water. You don't want to hear this one during normal operation. Perhaps when noisy for you you are pushing too much thru that second drain or have it dump above the surface of the sump water.



Yes you could use 1 drain as a siphon drain and have ZERO noise but then you do not have the SAFETY factor that having a second or two extra drains provides.

Now if you took you drain and let it run wide open (open your gatevalve 100%) then I bet it would be noisy.

FWIW noise is a very subjective issue for our tanks and many will wsear that they have a dead silent tank while having noise that others would swear was WAY too much noise. I do believe it possible to use a standard single open air mix drain aka Durso, Maggie muffler, Gurgle buster drains and have it be almost if not dead silent. To do this you need to keep the flow rate at a very low percentage of what the drain size is able to handle. For example say a 1" drain is said to be able to drain around 600gph with open air mix use and if you run it around 500gph + it will be very hard to make quiet. The slower the flow thru it the easier it will be to make it quiet. If you run only 200gph thru it you should be able to make it have zero noise.

HTH

[dnsfpl]

imo skimmer is the noisiest

is it possible to have a silent tank?

[Palting]

I have the dual corner overflows. You can do several things to lessen the noise, but I don't think anything can be as dead quiet as a Hebie or beanimal drain. And you can do either Hebie or Beanimal with corner overflows. Having said that, everything is a compromise, and I think my system is quiet enough. My total oveflow capacity is 1500 gph, and I have it running at about 1100. My sump has a capacity of 1500 gph as well, with dual drain sites at apposite ends. Each drain is enclosed in a box with a window, which contains most of the gurgling noise. Then, the whole sump is enclosed in the cabinet. You take two steps away, you can't hear anything.

The other issue with the corner overflows have to do with the overflows itself. There is a tinkling sound as the water goes over the teeth and into the weir. Then there is the slight gurgle as the water falls down the durso pipe mixing with the air from the anti-siphon. Sometimes the anti-siphon develops a whistle. To deal with these, I raised my durso pipes so that the water level in the weir is only slightly lower than the DT water level so there is no tinkling noise. I flush the anti-siphon with a few cc's of RODI every so often so it doesn't whistle. I made a plastic cover for the overflows to contain the gurgling, and it also blocks the light so that algae does not grow in the weir. Then the whole thing is encased in a canopy. Again, take two steps away, and you don't hear anything. Well, maybe you can hear the cooling fans from my light fixture, but no water sounds.

So, it's not as dead quiet as I understand the Herbie drains to be, but quiet enough. I can watch TV right beside it.

[csmfish]

I think you have me confused with someone else.

I have 3 1-1/2" drains. o O o

The first one is the 2nd failsafe, aka 3rd drain. It see's no water.

The second one is the main drain, goes into the water 1" or so

The third is the second drain to the main drain

No matter how "little" water I push through the second drain, it makes noise. I always hear a tinkle and thats why I just kept playing with it and found that if only the main drain is taking it all, it will be dead quiet. Trust me, I have spent a good amount of time playing with it. ANY water going down the second pipe makes noise. and alerts me there is something wrong with flow as does too little when the main pipe starts sucking.

Trust me, I HATE noise and can hear things that drive me crazy most dont. My tank is dead dead DEAD quiet, of course, other than the pump or when a snail goes over the edge of the overflow, little buggers. When they do that, they break up the smooth flow and makes me thing there is something wrong, they drive me nuts once a week, lol.


Now, are you saying I need bigger or smaller pipes according to your theory?

[csmfish]

P.S. I re read now I am on lunch and I see where you might have got confused. Sorry about not explaining it clearly.

[d2mini]

My herbie drains are dead silent. I will never do anything other than herbie or bean animal again.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by d2mini

My herbie drains are dead silent. I will never do anything other than herbie or bean animal again.

I think that's the point of this whole thread. Sneaky.

[csmfish]

Originally Posted by d2mini

My herbie drains are dead silent. I will never do anything other than herbie or bean animal again.

So, if it is inside the tank, tell us, how is it setup? You have any pics?

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by csmfish

So, if it is inside the tank, tell us, how is it setup? You have any pics?

Yup, it's in my corner overflow. Since i have a dry pipe for wiring, i only had room for two drains, which is why i went with herbie. Gate valve on the primary drain (with the strainer) and the emergency drain is just an open pipe that sits just above the water surface.

[BrassMonkey]

you can turn the overflow and return into a siphon and overflow . then have the return go over the side of the tank.

[csmfish]

So, it can be done inside the tank? Awesome!! With a 72", two sided drain, that should have 4 holes minimum, sweet, I am starting to get now.


Dont stop tho, keep the storys coming!!

[NanoReefWanabe]

if your pipes are vertical you will hear water falling in the pipes...you should have your pipes on a slight slope so the water runs down the walls of the pipe...even with a stethoscope i can barely hear my pipes drain...

as your a RR tank with dual overflows using the bean system it is very easy...one overflow box will have your main siphon and your return...the other overflow box will have your residual drain and your emergency drain...i believe Bean has also suggested you can fill the overflow box containing the residual and emergency drains with sand and have a very deep sand bed...if it ever becomes a problem you can very easily siphon it out...

setting up dual herbie with the returns over the back of the tank is very difficult to tune...i would use the bean setup.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by NanoReefWanabe

if your pipes are vertical you will hear water falling in the pipes...you should have your pipes on a slight slope so the water runs down the walls of the pipe...even with a stethoscope i can barely hear my pipes drain...

My pipes are vertical. The primary drain is a full siphon which is why it's quiet.
If it goes into the emergency drain, that makes some noise because the sump end is not submerged. I want to hear this one because it tells me if something is up.

Originally Posted by NanoReefWanabe

setting up dual herbie with the returns over the back of the tank is very difficult to tune...i would use the bean setup.

No problems here. Very easy with a gate valve. Sometimes it changes slightly (haven't figured out why or what causes changes), but it's no big deal and a small turn of the gate valve puts it back where you want it. Or by "dual", are you referring to two overflow boxes which makes some kind of difference?

[NanoReefWanabe]

Originally Posted by d2mini

My pipes are vertical. The primary drain is a full siphon which is why it's quiet.
If it goes into the emergency drain, that makes some noise because the sump end is not submerged. I want to hear this one because it tells me if something is up.

not sure why you quoted me...? but at any rate it is very obvious why the bean system works the way it does...i was referring to the secondary drain pipe being on an angle so you dont hear the water falling through the pipe...obviously you want to hear when the emergency drain line is in use..

Originally Posted by d2mini

No problems here. Very easy with a gate valve. Sometimes it changes slightly (haven't figured out why or what causes changes), but it's no big deal and a small turn of the gate valve puts it back where you want it. Or by "dual", are you referring to two overflow boxes which makes some kind of difference?

as for changes in the water flows and levels in your boxes...they are due to atmospheric changes and return water level changes, and accumulative buildups of biological growth in the pipes..changes in atmospheric pressures effect the head pressure on the pumps, low and high water levels in the return chamber of the sump effect the head pressure of the pumps, and buildups slow and speed the flow of the pumps...all of this will be seen in the rise and fall in your overflow box...if the pumps slow down or speed up the differences will be seen in the overflow box.

and yes tuning two overflow boxes in the same tank that both have siphon drains in them is not an easy task...(both siphons have to pull the exact same amount of water or there will be issues...)

[csmfish]

Originally Posted by NanoReefWanabe

tuning two overflow boxes in the same tank that both have siphon drains in them is not an easy task...(both siphons have to pull the exact same amount of water or there will be issues...)

I would not even try that. That would be on the verge of suicide. By the end of a week, I could only imagine. One is bad enough but when it is dialed in I dont have to mess with it until a snail gets hung up, which is no big deal other than making god awful racket. With 3 1-1/2 pipes, the LAST thing i worry about is a clog.