How do I quiet down my overflow?

[scotia-reefer]

I finally got the new 280 up and running and I'm already getting sick of hearing the gargling and suction noises from the overflow pipes. It has a 2" and a 1-1/2" drain pipe with one 1-1/2" return. The guy told me it shouldn't be loud at all with just straight pipes sticking up. The 1-1/2" pipe seems to be alright but the 2" is loud and annoying. Has anyone ever tried putting a trap in the sump to help build up a little pressure so the pipe wasn't gargling? It's just a thought but I really doubt it since adjusting the valve didn't help. Anyways, before I call this guy Monday morning I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? Any help would be great.

[discus010]

I installed a durso overflow in my tank to silence the noise. The instructions can be found in the do it yourself section on the homepage of reef central

[Ken668]

Lou,
Here is a good but lengthy post that should help you out. I've done the same thing with my setup and there's practically no noise. Better than a durso in my opinion.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892

To sum it up though, you use one of your drains as a primary flow and the second one as a backup in the case the first one gets clogged for whatever reason. The backup is located higher than the primary. And the primary has a ball valve in the sump to raise it's level so it's not sucking air. Below is an extremely simplified diagram of what I'm refering to. I'm not sure how much flow you have going, but if you're not maxing out your 1.5" then use that as your primary and use the 2" for the backup. If you are maxing out the 1.5", then make the 2" your primary. If you're maxing out the 2", then you'll probably have to do a dual durso.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/74480Overflow.JPG

[jaze36]

This is the page that guy was talking about, this is what I would do personally. I have also seen it where there is a 1/4" ball valve put on the top to adjust the air flow to help quiet down the system.

http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

By the way everyone it is one great tank, huge isn't the word for it.

[TA]

Even with a durso, you won't get it as quiet as the method described in the thread Ken posted. That method is a bit tricky to set up and not without its own set of problems.

How many overflow boxes are there? If there are two, I believe it will be difficult to set them up as described in Ken's link. How much water are you gonna be pushing? The more water moving through your overflows, the more difficult to control the noise.

FWIW...mine sounds like a freight train...but I don't care (well, yes I do!)...its in my basement. :)

[scotia-reefer]

I only have one overflow box in the very center of the tank like and island. It does have the 1-1/2" pipe set higher than the 2" so I will try to tone it down with the valve. I have roughly 4200gph going through it all.

Thanks for the info fellas.

[cwegescheide]

A picture is worth a thousand words:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/cwegescheide/P1010012.jpg
and this:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/cwegescheide/P1010013.jpg

Works like a champ. Without it I'd be insane right now. The tank is in my living room.

[scotia-reefer]

Nice shots. I just adjusted my valve in the basement and it made a huge difference. I thought I tried this last night but I must have not shut it enough. Thanks Ken for the advice. Now it just sounds like water flowing instead of the gargling and burbing.

[monti-mike]

built those my self to on my 180, 2 each, just much longer so no crashing water......and i put a filter crate from the aqua800 power heads to geep and big guy from climimbing over and gooing down niagra falls.........

but my returns i made into 4 directions with the link-loc lines real flexable.......

and i also dril ed a hole in the main tube on the drain lines in case for a syphon break.......

peace for now,

mike
any questions feel free to pm....