Sump is way to loud

[revival]

Ok Im frustrated and sick of asking questions but i need all the help i can get on this.

Set up my 225 tank today with my 60 gallon sump. I have two 1.5 bulkheads on each top back corner with a tee connected to it. 1.5 drains run down to my sump. Using a quietone 6000 for my pump and it connects to my 1" return line and back in to the tank. I have also drilled a 1/8" hole in the cap of the tee.

Basically in the dark it sounds like the nile river is running through my house. There is ocasional gurglling as well. My return line running up in the back of the tank is split into two lines and have 2 outputs into the tank that are connected to nozzles. The flow comming out of the return nozzle does seem strong.

Before i modifed anything i wanted as much advice as possible. What should i do first?

waited so long for this and i just know i wont be able to enjoy it at all if it sounds like this.

Any help please????

 

[revival]

i played with the ballvalve in the return and made it a little quieter but there is an the gurgling sound in the drains still sounds like thunder. Basically my whole tank sounds like rain with ocasional thunder....sigh

 

[kdrun76]

Is your return level high enough? If the puddle where the water accumulates to be sent back to the tank isn't deep enough the pump will slurp in some air and that is REALLY noisy. That is remedies by slowing down the return line just enough to let more water accumulate in that chamber.

 

[Clay]

So, it sounds like the standard issue with a Durso style standpipe. My 120 is the same way for now, but when I get a little time (HA!), I'll adjust it to a Herbie style (see below). Basically, there are a few different standpipe styles that may or may not work for your configuration.
Here is a great thread about dursos, stockmans, and herbies
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69372&st=0
The herbie standpipe in action with A LOT of flow in a 5g bucket. I love this thread as a demonstration of the awesomeness of a herbie
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?97781-quot-Herbie-quot-drains-WOW
The beananimal requires a little more plumbing and understanding of the system, but overall, it's bulletproof.
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

 

[revival]

Thx Clay...i was actually looking for that first link. Here is how mine looks...i have a 1/8th hole drill in the middle of the cap....is that too small?

 

[Clay]

So, the hole in the cap isn't going to provide much help to you. The design you have is always going to suck in air and water because of the drain fitting inside the tank. Your best bet to alleviate noise is to change out the drain for a downward facing elbow and put the drain part in the elbow. That will allow the water to drain into the tube with a lot less noise, but that design will never be silent.

 

[watercrawl]

This thread makes me nervous about my proposed set up. I have a 75 gallon tank that I had drilled. The hole is about 4" to the bottom of the hole from the top of the frame. I had planned to put a 90 degree elbow on the inside of the tank facing up to raise the water level in the tank to above the bottom of the frame so I couldn't see the water level at least.

Then on the back of the tank, put a 90 degree elbow facing down and connect flexible 1" tubing down to the sump.

Will this design make a sucking sound?

If so, what if I didn't put anything on the inside of the tank and instead put the 90 degree elbow on the outside facing up and then turn it around to head down with elbows? That way the water level would have to be above the top of the bulkhead opening on the inside of the tank before it began to flow. This should alleviate the sucking sound, no? Only problem with that design is if there ever got to be an air lock on the inside of the piping the water could overflow if the pump pushed enough water out of the sump. Could you put a "T" in place of the elbow that turns the piping down and put a cap on that and punch a hole in it to alleviate any air lock worries?

Thoughts would be appreciated. Might also help the OP with his noise if my idea's aren't totally crazy. Otherwise, sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[jcardona1]

hey Chad,

what i was talking about in my pm's is basically a hybrid of the Herbie method. my planted tank uses a Durso stanpipe in the overflow box, and a valve on the drain to slow down the drain a bit (Herbie method). Only difference is I don't have an extra pipe in there to act as an emergency drain.

For those that are wondering, the loud noise from a sump comes from TWO sources:

1. Water crashing to the bottom of an overflow box. This is easily remedied with a Durso standpipe.

2. Gurgling/roaring river sound as the water travels down the pipe into your sump. This is due to having a drain line that is a much bigger diameter than is needed based on what the pump is pushing in terms of volume of water. The noise you're hearing is due to all the extra space in the piping. The only way to eliminate this noise is to put a valve on the drain line near the sump. By putting a valve on the drain line and closing off the flow a bit, you're forcing the water to back up in the pipe, eliminating the gurgling noise!

There are some implications with this though. Closing the valve off just a tiny bit too much will slowly back up the water in the tank, causing it to flood. That is why you'll see the Herbie method uses a second line w/o a valve to act as an emergency drain. Any water that backs up will drain to the sump w/o restriction. In my planted tank I don't have an emergency drain, so it took a lot of fine tuning to get this just right. Right now my overflow line is running at 100% capacity because the valve is closed down to match the pump's output perfectly. The result is zero nose.
​

Here's a video of my tank with a Durso standpipe and hybrid "Herbie" method via the valve on the drain line. This setup is quieter than most tanks with canister filter. Hope this helps. Any questions just let me know

[YT]THLswfuP3DE[/YT]

 

[jcardona1]

So, the hole in the cap isn't going to provide much help to you. The design you have is always going to suck in air and water because of the drain fitting inside the tank. Your best bet to alleviate noise is to change out the drain for a downward facing elbow and put the drain part in the elbow. That will allow the water to drain into the tube with a lot less noise, but that design will never be silent.

Clay is right about this. You're inlet will always be sucking in air. And since I know you told me via pm that you wanted to add an upward facing elbow to raise your water level a bit, the problem will be the same.

This is why a Durso-style pipe will not help you in your situation. The only way to fix this is to try out the Herbie method. Since you have two drain lines, here's what I would do:

- Use one overflow as your MAIN drain. This will have the valve on it to close the flow down. It's best to use a brass garden hose valve like the one I used as they offer extremely fine adjustment. I'm not sure how big you'll be able to find these though. If you can't get them big enough, a regular ball valve would work. I would use a hammer/mallet to close it down. Just tap the handle little by little to get to where you need to be since these can be hard to turn. Also, forget about the valve on your return. This does nothing for you, all it does is reduce your flow. Just keep this one open at all times.




- Your other overflow will function as the EMERGENCY drain. Make this one just a tad bit higher than the MAIN drain. If the water backs up too much due to the valve being closed off too much or blocked, this overflow will continue to drain the tank to the sump in the even your water level starts to rise.
​

I know you wanted two drains, but it's not completely necessary. My 400g had only one overflow box in the corner, and it was still crystal clear. One 1.5" drain will be more than enough. I had a 1.5" drain with a 3400gph pump with no problems. My planted tank uses 1" plumbing with a 1017gph pump with no problems either. You should see how closed off that valve is. You'll be amazed how small of a diameter pipe is actually needed to match the pump's output.

With the one drain line, you can tee it off to both filter socks, kinda like how I have it on my planted tank; one drain line, two socks. The EMERGENCY drain line can simply hang over your sump. This one will be dry most of the time, and will only drain water in the event of a backup.

Let me know if you need clarification. I'm available by phone also if you like, send me a pm.

Jose

 

[Clay]

Check the link I posted above about Herbie drain systems. It shows a 1"drain going at 900gph sustained in a 5g bucket and it's perfectly silent.