Intake Pipes have air.

[Zak03]

hey guys. Last night, I finished the plumbing on a 125 gal aquarium and turned on the pump. everything worked well, except for the fact that a lot of air was coming through the intake pipes into the sump which caused a loud gurgling noise.

I bought this tank from someone else, and it came with its own plumbing in the overflows. I 2 overflows, 1 return, and 1 Durso in each. We just copied the other guy's design for the plumbing underneath the tank. He said that his pipes gave him 800 gph, and our pump is rated at 760 gph. I think the issue lies with that 40 gph difference. There's basically 40 extra gallons of air coming with the water in the intake pipes.

I think the best way to solve this is either 1) buy a new pump or 2) install a ball valve on the intake pipes and tune it to block as much air as possible.

What do you guys think?

 

[Zak03]

here are some pictures of my Durso pipes (both are identical) and the plumbing.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Hmmm...I have to be honest I'm a bit mystified by your setup. Why is your drain intake located above the waterline? Or are you just raising it to show what it looks like? And why is there a hole right in the bend where water would be flowing through? So confused, I don't understand why all those holes are in the drain pipe. How many holes are in each overflow and on the tank in total?

What I would do is chop that drain standpipe down so it feeds an inch or two below the weir grating. You should also have provision for an emergency drain that matches your main drain size, situated right below the rim of the tank. Emergency drains prohibit a flood if your main drain is clogged somehow.

I would reconfigure all that plumbing. You need ball or gate valves on the drain lines as they go into the sump so you can control the amount of water going through them. Make sure your drain lines are submerged in the sump or air will get into them and make noise.

Your pump is inadequate for your tank and plumbing setup imo. When you account for head pressure and plumbing restrictions your 800 gph rated pump is probably only pushing 300-400 gph. I would purchase 1 or 2 more pumps that will push a total of 2500-3000 gph at 0' head, even more powerful if financially viable. You will need to adjust the power on the pumps when fine tuning the setup, and its best to run pumps on lower power to prolong lifespan and eliminate radiant heat. Bigger is always better with return pumps and 2 pumps is better in case one should fail.

Before you proceed, I would study up on different overflow layouts like herbie and bean animal in your case to help you understand what will work best for your setup. Sumps can be a bit tricky to set up initially but once running well are the very best way to configure your tank.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Zak03]

Hmmm...I have to be honest I'm a bit mystified by your setup. Why is your drain intake located above the waterline? Or are you just raising it to show what it looks like? And why is there a hole right in the bend where water would be flowing through? So confused, I don't understand why all those holes are in the drain pipe. How many holes are in each overflow and on the tank in total?

What I would do is chop that drain standpipe down so it feeds an inch or two below the weir grating. You should also have provision for an emergency drain that matches your main drain size, situated right below the rim of the tank. Emergency drains prohibit a flood if your main drain is clogged somehow.

I would reconfigure all that plumbing. You need ball or gate valves on the drain lines as they go into the sump so you can control the amount of water going through them. Make sure your drain lines are submerged in the sump or air will get into them and make noise.

Your pump is inadequate for your tank and plumbing setup imo. When you account for head pressure and plumbing restrictions your 800 gph rated pump is probably only pushing 300-400 gph. I would purchase 1 or 2 more pumps that will push a total of 2500-3000 gph at 0' head, even more powerful if financially viable. You will need to adjust the power on the pumps when fine tuning the setup, and its best to run pumps on lower power to prolong lifespan and eliminate radiant heat. Bigger is always better with return pumps and 2 pumps is better in case one should fail.

Before you proceed, I would study up on different overflow layouts like herbie and bean animal in your case to help you understand what will work best for your setup. Sumps can be a bit tricky to set up initially but once running well are the very best way to configure your tank.

Good luck and keep us posted.

The intake is above the waterline simply because i was showing what it looks like.

I didn't drill the holes in the Durso, they were there already. I assume it's an attempt to combine a straight pipe and Durso into one pipe.

There are two overflows. 2 holes in each overflow, so a total of 4 holes. So 4 pipes. 2 Dursos, 2 returns.

We did buy ball valves, but we didn't install them because we thought that since the pump was slower than what the other guy had, we wouldn't need to limit the flow.

The drain lines are submerged in the sump. Air is coming out of them with the water causing the bubbling.

I am familiar with the Herbie and bean animal pipe styles. As mentioned before, I think the 3 holes drilled into each Durso is an attempt to create a makeshift bean animal but as one pipe, and not two separate ones.

Having 1 pump for each return instead of 1 pump and a T section connecting the 2 returns is a good idea. Thank you. I'm just worried about getting two fast of a flow, and not being able to make the pumps go slower. The pumps with adjustable rates just seem kinda sketchy; i dont want them to break on me after a while

 

[Backfromthedead]

The intake is above the waterline simply because i was showing what it looks like.

I didn't drill the holes in the Durso, they were there already. I assume it's an attempt to combine a straight pipe and Durso into one pipe.

There are two overflows. 2 holes in each overflow, so a total of 4 holes. So 4 pipes. 2 Dursos, 2 returns.

We did buy ball valves, but we didn't install them because we thought that since the pump was slower than what the other guy had, we wouldn't need to limit the flow.

The drain lines are submerged in the sump. Air is coming out of them with the water causing the bubbling.

I am familiar with the Herbie and bean animal pipe styles. As mentioned before, I think the 3 holes drilled into each Durso is an attempt to create a makeshift bean animal but as one pipe, and not two separate ones.

Having 1 pump for each return instead of 1 pump and a T section connecting the 2 returns is a good idea. Thank you. I'm just worried about getting two fast of a flow, and not being able to make the pumps go slower. The pumps with adjustable rates just seem kinda sketchy; i dont want them to break on me after a while

I see...with all these questions answered my best solution would be replacing your return pump with one or more pumps of greater power. Shoot for at least 10x turnover for your system so something like 1500-1600 gph. You can always dial back the drain and return flow for less. Unless dealing with very fragile species you shouldn't worry about too much flow. I recommend jebao dcp pumps. Cost effective, reliable, quiet and powerful. 2x dcp-8000s will be more than adequate for your 125 imo.

Also, you will need the valves on the drain lines so you can adjust the drains to match your return flow. I would modify the standpipes...it looks like the previous keeper just started drilling holes for a quick fix to whatever they were dealing with.