Overflow/Drain pipe questions

[balakoth]

Hi all,

Well I finally have my 35 Gallon Sand Sump with the Euro Reef skimming away and a HOB Overflow/prefilter.

My questions are, is there any way to make the draining a bit quieter? The U tube fills up the left side it flows over the baffle and into where the Stand pipe is. It drains into the stand pipe via drilled holes all the way up then Drains to level it off at the top of the PVC piping. This draining from the top is what create a monster of noise.

Any suggestions on getting rid of this?

Also my drain hose is 1 inch Dia and has no dips in it right now, but it seems as if its almost to big for my overflow and I keep getting burping on a consistant basis.

Iis the flow going to be majorly restricted if i go down to a 3/4 tube? And if not is that going to solve any of my concerns or problems?

Runs great, just trying to qwell the noise a little bit.


Thanks in advance.


Joe

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by balakoth
It drains into the stand pipe via drilled holes all the way up then Drains to level it off at the top of the PVC piping. This draining from the top is what create a monster of noise.

Any suggestions on getting rid of this?

Hi Joe, Richard Durso has come up withj the original fix for this, it ie an easy DIY project that can be finished in abut 2 hours (including the trip to Home Despot). Look at the description for the mod at This Web addy .

Hope this helps

[balakoth]

Thanks for the lInk Tom. I assume ill be adding the T fitting a elbow and a end cap to complete that scenario.

Any input on the Drain Tubing size? Like if that i cna reduce the size and help the air problem?

[Doug1]

is it long enuff to put a whoop in it like a sink trap?

[balakoth]

I don't think I follow ya Doug? Whats a Sink Trap :P

The previous line was like 4 feet long.. I really only need it to be 3 feet if that. Kinda wondering how im going to get the drain to flow into the sump without it throwing sand around.

[Doug1]

Joe, look under a sink. Notice the pipe goes down then loops up and back down
Thats the sink trap, it traps water in there so as to form a hydro seal against drain line, uh, odors
Anyway if you try putting a similar whoop in your line it can cause a semi restriction that may force air up the pipe rather than making diver bubbles in the sump
Sometimes it helps to install a T fitting on the end of the hose and let the water exit horizontally at the surface.
If al else fails I used to cover my old overflow box witha dish towel to quiet the noise, HTH

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by balakoth
Kinda wondering how im going to get the drain to flow into the sump without it throwing sand around.

Either run the drain line into a separate section of the sump, or put int into a much larger piece of pvc approximately 2 inches larger diameter and drilled and slotted to allow the water to escape through the slots into the sump. Cap the end, and place an offset in it to prevent the tubing from contacting the cap (this will allow the drain to run unobstructed, yet baffle the flow so that it does not disturb your sand bed). Prolly will still need some type of divider betweemn the baffle and the sand bed. Some folks just put a shallow tub in the sump and let the water drain line flow into the tub, It then overflows into the sump, which may require placement of a non-toxic mat or a plate under the tub and level with the substrate to prevent the overflow from duisturbing the sand. Many different ways to fix this problem.

[balakoth]

haha.. To funny on the dish towel remark Doug. Guess waht im doing right now!! :P


So possibly capping the end of the drain line and seperating its outflow into several flows will keep the diver bubbles from happening?


Since this is a hang on the back overflow, i cant let the water level get up to high or really lower the Durso pipe that sits inside.

From waht it looks like that modification you linked to tom, simply allows water to flow UP over THEN down instead of like a avalanche affect into a single pipe. Am i understanding that correctly?

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by balakoth
Since this is a hang on the back overflow, i cant let the water level get up to high or really lower the Durso pipe that sits inside

I didn't catch that you have a siphon overflow...

It will be much easier to fix. Take either some rigid airtubing or a small piece of flexible tubing and slowly let it go down your overflow drain. Thewre will be a sweet spot where the noise will stop, and air will go through the airline instead of being slurped down the overflow drain. Take a plastic clothespin and fix the tubing in place at that spot. It will stay quiet, although you may have to play with it a bit over the next few3 days. Make sure that you don't go too far down the tube, as your overflow will slow down significantly if you go too far (and it MIGHT overflow into the floor). I wouldn't use the Durso overflow on a siphon'd overflow.

[balakoth]

Here's another one for you guys.

If I drain from the overflow into my seperate baffle which has my return and skimmer. Essentialy arent i just recycling the old water from the tank rather than getting it Skimmed, ran through the refugium/dsb and THEN back up?



Thanks Going to try that Sink Trap and Air Tube thing tonight.
Kinda curious to see if this Sink Trap thing works out :P Otherwise I suppose ill try something out.

THe LFS suggested the same thing, cept to use a plastic prefilter like you getr with the larger rios. PUt it ontop of the pipe then draw the air tube DOWN through a drilled hole, that way you can easily adjust the tube up and down as needed. At least I think what he was suggesting was about the same you had mentioned Tom.

[Emprr_Angl]

The burping noise is a vacuum being created and destroyed, heheh....almost sounds like my tummy after a mexican meal ummmm, was that TMI???

The air hose down the pipe method will work good. if your getting noise down where the water emptys into the sump, try drilling holes in the inside of the U of the sink trap. this allows the air to escape softly. I saw this on another board and thought it was pretty ingenious.
-Chris