Let's face it, MFK is known around the web for big fish and big tanks. But in general, our plumbing/filtration setups here are seriously lacking. Many guys will get a monster tank, a monster sump, and a monster pump and plumb it all together with a few pieces of pipe or hosing and put no thought into the setup. When they fire everything up for the first time, they complain and can't believe how noisy the whole tank is. This is fine if you have the tank in the garage, but is unacceptable for a tank indoors. For this reason, some people avoid sumps all together, thinking they are way too loud for a living room tank.
This is where people are wrong. A properly built sump/overflow setup can be made to be dead silent. I have personally seen a 600g flowing thousands of gallons of water per hour and it was quieter than a small tank with a canister filter. This tank had 3" Herbie pipes.
While we may be known for monster setups, the reefers have us beat when it comes to awesome plumbing/filtration setups and DIY inventions. Many of the methods used to silence a sump were developed by reefers. And there are several. The Durso. Herbie pipe. Beananimal. Stockman. Hofer Gurgle Buster, etc. Most people here have never even heard of these contraptions. With a little thought beforehand, these can be incorporated into your setup giving you peace and quiet!
A popular version is the Durso standpipe. While it's easy to make and gives good results, it's not the best solution. The Durso pipe only addresses the sound of water crashing down into an overflow, it does nothing to address the sound of air and water gurgling down the drain line. This is why I prefer the Hebie method. It's very easy to make and requires only two drain lines going down to the sump. And it results in a SILENT setup!
There are TONS of articles online regarding all of these methods, so I won't go into all the details. With the Herbie pipe, you basically have one main drain and one emergency drain. The emergency drain is placed a little taller than the main drain, but below the rim of the tank. The main drain has a valve to restrict the flow and is kept submerged in the sump so the water doesn't splash down. By closing the valve the right amount, the pipe backs up and fill up completely with water, thereby eliminating all the noise in the pipe.
Since your are restricting the drain, placing your hands into the tank will cause the water level to rise. If something were to get stuck in the valve, this would also cause the water level to rise. This is where the emergency drain comes in. This backup drain will ensure that any change in water level or blockage in the main drain does not flood the tank. As soon as the water level reaches the emergency drain, it immediately flows down to the sump unobstructed.
Ok enough of that, here it is in my tank. I too was guilty of not doing all my research prior to building this tank. My overflow had two holes, so I used one for the drain, and one for the return. I quickly realized I should have taken advantage of this to use a Herbie pipe. So I hacked the return pipe and made it into an emergency drain, and plumbed new returns over the side of the tank. My main drain has a Durso installed on it from the first time I set this up, but this is 100% not needed with the Herbie pipe.
This is a 57g flowing 1017gph. The Herbie pipe can be used for ANY amount of flow, as long as you size the pipes properly
And here's a video of the setup. My camera tends to make the pump sound louder than it really is. This setup is seriously silent. You could walk by with your eyes closed and not even know that a fish tank was running.
You'll notice I have a tiny trickle coming down the emegency drain. This is fine and doesn't add any noise.
[YT]ADB_P6whCR4[/YT]
This is where people are wrong. A properly built sump/overflow setup can be made to be dead silent. I have personally seen a 600g flowing thousands of gallons of water per hour and it was quieter than a small tank with a canister filter. This tank had 3" Herbie pipes.
While we may be known for monster setups, the reefers have us beat when it comes to awesome plumbing/filtration setups and DIY inventions. Many of the methods used to silence a sump were developed by reefers. And there are several. The Durso. Herbie pipe. Beananimal. Stockman. Hofer Gurgle Buster, etc. Most people here have never even heard of these contraptions. With a little thought beforehand, these can be incorporated into your setup giving you peace and quiet!
A popular version is the Durso standpipe. While it's easy to make and gives good results, it's not the best solution. The Durso pipe only addresses the sound of water crashing down into an overflow, it does nothing to address the sound of air and water gurgling down the drain line. This is why I prefer the Hebie method. It's very easy to make and requires only two drain lines going down to the sump. And it results in a SILENT setup!
There are TONS of articles online regarding all of these methods, so I won't go into all the details. With the Herbie pipe, you basically have one main drain and one emergency drain. The emergency drain is placed a little taller than the main drain, but below the rim of the tank. The main drain has a valve to restrict the flow and is kept submerged in the sump so the water doesn't splash down. By closing the valve the right amount, the pipe backs up and fill up completely with water, thereby eliminating all the noise in the pipe.
Since your are restricting the drain, placing your hands into the tank will cause the water level to rise. If something were to get stuck in the valve, this would also cause the water level to rise. This is where the emergency drain comes in. This backup drain will ensure that any change in water level or blockage in the main drain does not flood the tank. As soon as the water level reaches the emergency drain, it immediately flows down to the sump unobstructed.
Ok enough of that, here it is in my tank. I too was guilty of not doing all my research prior to building this tank. My overflow had two holes, so I used one for the drain, and one for the return. I quickly realized I should have taken advantage of this to use a Herbie pipe. So I hacked the return pipe and made it into an emergency drain, and plumbed new returns over the side of the tank. My main drain has a Durso installed on it from the first time I set this up, but this is 100% not needed with the Herbie pipe.
This is a 57g flowing 1017gph. The Herbie pipe can be used for ANY amount of flow, as long as you size the pipes properly
And here's a video of the setup. My camera tends to make the pump sound louder than it really is. This setup is seriously silent. You could walk by with your eyes closed and not even know that a fish tank was running.
You'll notice I have a tiny trickle coming down the emegency drain. This is fine and doesn't add any noise.
[YT]ADB_P6whCR4[/YT]
