Overflow/sump problems

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 09:43 PM

I want to apologize already because I can not find my camera to take a picture of this but I need some help. As much as you can give me is much appreciated. I had an issue for the past few days of my drain on my overflow gurgling and burping. So today I spent the day going back in forth to home depot to get some pvc pipe to modify my drain pipe. I have a 1" drain pipe in my overflow box drilled right through the bottom of the tank draining into my sump. I modified this by putting a "Y" in the piping with an air line coming off the other tube. This has gotten rid of the gurgling noise but it is still loud, and you can hear it draining. I want it to be much quieter than this. Are there any tips that can help me with this?

patsfan1130 · 02/27/2011, 09:51 PM

How far below the water level is the the drain to the sump?

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 09:54 PM

2 1/2 to 3"

Fire_Urchin · 02/27/2011, 10:00 PM

Are you running a durso?

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:07 PM

No, it is just a straight pipe. There isnt much room in my overflow box for one. My box is 3" by 5" and my return pipe also comes up in the same box. The water only has a 1 1/2" drop before it reaches the water level in the box. Im not even sure what a durso is? Is it just a elbow that comes off the straight pipe?

Dono · 02/27/2011, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire_Urchin

Are you running a durso?

+1 to that. The durso-style standpipe is the only way to go IMO.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-diy

good tutorial there and they are pretty easy to put together and adjust accordingly.

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:14 PM

yes I was just looking at this site, my pipe is just straight with a cap on the end that is open but slotted to keep unwanted animals and such from going down it, I do not have the elbow coming off like #8.

patsfan1130 · 02/27/2011, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dono

+1 to that. The durso-style standpipe is the only way to go IMO.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-diy

good tutorial there and they are pretty easy to put together and adjust accordingly.

Agreed... One of my tanks is literally 3 feet from me as I type this and I cannot hear a thing besides the whir of my Vortechs

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:18 PM

So all that it is, is an elbow that comes off the pipe?

Virtuoso · 02/27/2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswalter

So all that it is, is an elbow that comes off the pipe?

That top piece that has a hole in it is very important too. Actually, I am fairly sure that is the key to the noise reduction.

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:26 PM

Alright is seems like I will be making another trip to home depot tomorrow to raid the pvc pipe again.

It also seems like maybe it is draining faster than the water is coming. would that make sense? Should i leave the elbow at 1"?

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:28 PM

Im also afraid that I will have to cut down the pipe because once i add these fittings it will be too tall.

Virtuoso · 02/27/2011, 10:30 PM

From what I know, cutting PVC pipe is pretty easy. I think I know what you mean, the pipe is draining faster than the overflow can keep up? What kind of tank/overflow do you have?

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:33 PM

The tank is 30gal. the overflow is built in the back corner with black acrylic. it is 3" by 5". I have a 55gal too but is has all the equipment inside the tank and i wanted to make the 30gal as sleek in the display tank as possible.

Yes i think it is draining too fast. It sounds like a bath tub constantly draining.

Virtuoso · 02/27/2011, 10:39 PM

I am not sure how to solve that problem. Maybe someone else can help. I would not worry about it until you switch out your overflow for the duroso. It may solve that problem as well.

mswalter · 02/27/2011, 10:44 PM

Can anyone else help me out? The tank is in my living room and I want it to be as quiet as possible so I don't have to turn the TV up blaring loud to hear it :-/

SaltH2OLover · 02/27/2011, 11:00 PM

My tank I'm setting up now was doing the same thing. Where the overflow pipe goes down into sump, I was told to cut mine off to where it was only like 1/2 inch below the wall that goes into your second compartment. It seemed to help mine a lot. Try that maybe that'll help some. Also I put a small foam piece I der my return pump so it wasn't just sitting on bottom of tank, that helped with noise too. Hope it helps, I'm a beginner in all of this too. Lol

lacosta28 · 02/27/2011, 11:10 PM

I had this problem when I first setup my tank. Mine wasn't getting enough water so it would fill it and then drain. This caused it to make a loud gurgling sound every 5 or so seconds. I realized by moving around and messing with the pre-filter I could get it to have a constant flow. I only realized this after I removed the pre-filter to clean it and the noise stopped.

Dono · 02/28/2011, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswalter

Alright is seems like I will be making another trip to home depot tomorrow to raid the pvc pipe again.

It also seems like maybe it is draining faster than the water is coming. would that make sense? Should i leave the elbow at 1"?

This will probably cause either or both a flushing effect and a lot of gargling noise. You can correct this with additional air flow, hence why a durso and adjustable airflow is a nice commodity for noise reduction.

wmdick_2007 · 02/28/2011, 02:32 AM

I just put a ball valve in mine when I built it so I could stop flow if a leak happened. I close the valve some to fill the stand pipe and no noise ! I am not an engineer ! And, I do not like the noise.

02/27/2011, 09:43 PM	#1
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	Overflow/sump problems I want to apologize already because I can not find my camera to take a picture of this but I need some help. As much as you can give me is much appreciated. I had an issue for the past few days of my drain on my overflow gurgling and burping. So today I spent the day going back in forth to home depot to get some pvc pipe to modify my drain pipe. I have a 1" drain pipe in my overflow box drilled right through the bottom of the tank draining into my sump. I modified this by putting a "Y" in the piping with an air line coming off the other tube. This has gotten rid of the gurgling noise but it is still loud, and you can hear it draining. I want it to be much quieter than this. Are there any tips that can help me with this? __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 09:51 PM	#2
patsfan1130 Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Woburn, Ma Posts: 2,010	How far below the water level is the the drain to the sump? __________________ My cat's breath smells like cat food Member of the Boston Reefers Society Current Tank Info: 75g lps, 90g sps, 120g mixed, 180 nem tank, 300g reef, 600g up & coming reef

02/27/2011, 09:54 PM	#3
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	2 1/2 to 3" __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:07 PM	#5
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	No, it is just a straight pipe. There isnt much room in my overflow box for one. My box is 3" by 5" and my return pipe also comes up in the same box. The water only has a 1 1/2" drop before it reaches the water level in the box. Im not even sure what a durso is? Is it just a elbow that comes off the straight pipe? __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:14 PM	#7
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	yes I was just looking at this site, my pipe is just straight with a cap on the end that is open but slotted to keep unwanted animals and such from going down it, I do not have the elbow coming off like #8. __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:00 PM	#4
Fire_Urchin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 116	Are you running a durso?

02/27/2011, 10:18 PM	#9
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	So all that it is, is an elbow that comes off the pipe? __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:26 PM	#11
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	Alright is seems like I will be making another trip to home depot tomorrow to raid the pvc pipe again. It also seems like maybe it is draining faster than the water is coming. would that make sense? Should i leave the elbow at 1"? __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:28 PM	#12
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	Im also afraid that I will have to cut down the pipe because once i add these fittings it will be too tall. __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:30 PM	#13
Virtuoso Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 727	From what I know, cutting PVC pipe is pretty easy. I think I know what you mean, the pipe is draining faster than the overflow can keep up? What kind of tank/overflow do you have?

02/27/2011, 10:33 PM	#14
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	The tank is 30gal. the overflow is built in the back corner with black acrylic. it is 3" by 5". I have a 55gal too but is has all the equipment inside the tank and i wanted to make the 30gal as sleek in the display tank as possible. Yes i think it is draining too fast. It sounds like a bath tub constantly draining. __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 10:39 PM	#15
Virtuoso Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 727	I am not sure how to solve that problem. Maybe someone else can help. I would not worry about it until you switch out your overflow for the duroso. It may solve that problem as well.

02/27/2011, 10:44 PM	#16
mswalter Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92	Can anyone else help me out? The tank is in my living room and I want it to be as quiet as possible so I don't have to turn the TV up blaring loud to hear it :-/ __________________ Mandy

02/27/2011, 11:00 PM	#17
SaltH2OLover Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Hernando, Ms Posts: 208	My tank I'm setting up now was doing the same thing. Where the overflow pipe goes down into sump, I was told to cut mine off to where it was only like 1/2 inch below the wall that goes into your second compartment. It seemed to help mine a lot. Try that maybe that'll help some. Also I put a small foam piece I der my return pump so it wasn't just sitting on bottom of tank, that helped with noise too. Hope it helps, I'm a beginner in all of this too. Lol

02/27/2011, 11:10 PM	#18
lacosta28 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 632	I had this problem when I first setup my tank. Mine wasn't getting enough water so it would fill it and then drain. This caused it to make a loud gurgling sound every 5 or so seconds. I realized by moving around and messing with the pre-filter I could get it to have a constant flow. I only realized this after I removed the pre-filter to clean it and the noise stopped.

02/28/2011, 02:32 AM	#20
wmdick_2007 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Idaho Posts: 191	I just put a ball valve in mine when I built it so I could stop flow if a leak happened. I close the valve some to fill the stand pipe and no noise ! I am not an engineer ! And, I do not like the noise. __________________ Enjoy! Current Tank Info: 13 mixed tanks

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