Noisy Overflow Question

[TripsieD]

Well, I got the plumbing done on the 29 gallon. The overflow is a horizontal 1" drain with a 1" 90 degree elbow with a threaded 1" strainer screwed in. Works like a charm, however, it is beyond loud.

Being that the tank is not setup yet, is this something to worry about now or should I wait until the tank is setup and running?

If I should take care of it now, anyone know of a good way to quiet the thing down? All the threads I found were for boxes, rather than an elbow.

Here is a shot of the overflow and the temporary return (which will be a Sea Swirl, hopefully come Friday)

Thanks for the input.

Tom

 

[ken6217]

it is sucking down air. That is why the noise. Can you submerge the entire strainer so that is unde water entirely?

By the way, I like the doorknob coral you got in your tank. It appears to be one of those BSP's (Brass Steel Polyps).
Ken

 

[Brian]

You can also try and slow down the flow. I have the same setup with my fuge, I just have the strainer threaded directly into the bulkhead though, no elbow. If I crank the flow it is very noisy, but when I cut it back, it's silent.

HTH

 

[ken6217]

Actually, increasing flow will solve the problem as well. An other option (since you have a strainer is to put a gate or ball valve on the pipe going into your sump and close it down until the noise stops. It will stop when the pipe is almost filled with water and hardly any air. The only think to watch out for is if something crawls down the pipe abd gets stuck and blocks the pipe/tubing. With the strainer you shouldn't have this issue though.
Ken

 

[TripsieD]

Thanks for all the help, I may need to actually upgrade the drain to a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch. I am really not getting as much flow out of the return as I thought I was going to. I will probably have to look into adding a closed loop. The water is just not moving enough for SPS I don't think.

Tom

 

[ken6217]

Increasing the size won't solve the problem and may make it worse. 1" on a 29 gallon take is certainly enough. What pump are you using?
Ken

 

[TripsieD]

I have a Mag 9.5 in the system atm

Tom

 

[JohnS_323]

I've found that the closer I match the flow rate to the max of the drain, the quieter it gets. Also, are you using a flexible drain line? If so, and if possible, try putting a loop in it or making an "S" with it. If it's hard piped and running straight into the sump, you're more likely to get the flushing sound.

Something else you can try is to replace that single elbow with a "U" design. Use a few elbows and short connection pieces to change it to something like this:

None of U pieces need to be glued so you can experiment with different hieghts and lengths to see what works best. One thing I've done, is stick a short straw in the elbow (having it stick up just above the water line). For some reason, and I can't tell you why, this sometimes works.

Yet another thing I've done (and am still doing in my 65) is run a long 1/4" PE tube all the way down through the the drain line. This slows down the drain rate a little so that my flow rate is closer to the max. I need to do this because my pump is a little under-sized for the system. Since you are restricting the amount of flow going back to the tank, you may not have to do this.

I hope I didn't confuse things! I'm not sure where you're located, but if you're anywhere near Jackson and want to see the different types of drain lines we're using you're welcome to come by.

 

[TripsieD]

John, that is some excellent information! I do have flex tube (due to my plumbing skills, hard plumbing is not really a good idea lol). It is pretty much a straight shot to the sump, though I do have a considerable amount of tubing to work with so making a bend in it should not pose that much of an issue. I will give the "bend" method a shot tonight (I'm at work atm) and see what happens.

Perfecto used to use the "straw in the drain" method with their JetStream models (which were a real pain to deal with, I had the 75) so I know where you're coming from on that but with the strainer I'm not sure it would work very well.

What is PE tube? (can't remember off the top of my head what that is)

I am in Manasquan/Wall so I am probably about 20 to 30 minutes from you. I had a friend that lived out there, very lovely area!!!!

BTW Ken, those BSP's apparently are a rather rare species found only near one or 2 of the Galápagos islands. Scientists belive that there may even be a deep water species of the same type (doorknobicus titanicus) but its still speculation at this point.

Tom

 

[ken6217]

BTW Ken, those BSP's apparently are a rather rare species found only near one or 2 of the Galápagos islands. Scientists belive that there may even be a deep water species of the same type (doorknobicus titanicus) but its still speculation at this point.

Tom

I believe, and I could be wrong, that the scientists were rather amateurish in their reasoning of why doorknobicus was a deep water species (even thought they are correct), this species is quite heavy and usually sink to the lower depths of the water. The lesser expensive species can be found at Petco.. Doornobicus Rustis.

Like John said, it is matching the drain size to the flow. It is the air in the tubing that is causing the noise.
Ken

 

[JohnS_323]

What is PE tube? (can't remember off the top of my head what that is)

It's Poly Etheylene Tube. They sell it in HD and Lowes, usually right near the John Guest fittings.