Major problems with overflow

[gtbarsi]

So I believe my tank has cycled, had an ammonia spike and now my nitrates and ammonia are at 0. Nitrites are around 5 ppm.

When waiting I tried installing a reverse durso for my sump to quiet down the drain and reduce the bubbles. I just have a feeling it's not the 1" reducer causing the problem.

It definitely worked, where I can now have the drain ball valve full open and the pump all the way open. I do have a trickling sound that I can live with but I think the problem is actually my return pump. It's a mag 12 and at the 10' head and few 45s I think it's doing around 500gph. My overflow is 700gph so I believe the noise is because of the box not filling up fast enough. Should I try swapping my mag 12 for an 18? Are they that much bigger than the 12s? The 12 barley fits in my sump.

Anywho here's a pic of the reverse durso. I also had to add some filter sponges to the box to slow down the flow through it to reduce noise. Is that bad? Could those clog it up?

I hope you can see the rough drawing I just did well enough. The T should be at the waterline so the flow can go straight down and allow the Air to escape to the right instead of being driven below the water line. Then the Air line turns back up with a 90, and a length of pipe is attached before the end cap with the hole and airline tube (I did not draw the cap and airline as I wanted to insure you had the T and 90 positions and orientations correct. The length of pipe should probably be a good 8+inches this will let any splashing of water and air stay within the pipe and not make it to the cap. You can then adjust how much of the airline tube is in the hole in the cap until you have a smooth drain w/o a lot of splashing and noise.

No matter what there should be some trickling up at the tank. What you do not what are flushing and sucking noises. I suspect the noise is coming from the air vent line on the drain on the tank. If that is the case you can try and quiet it with a silencer like the ones they use on skimmers. I do not see any point in replacing your return pump.

 

[gtbarsi]

If those are filter sponges you have wrapped around the end of your drain line, that probably won't end well. Once those stop up, the pump will continue to supply water to the tank, but once your drain stops up, it will be water over the side of the aquarium. I would remove that pretty quickly. That's what it looks like in the pic anyway. I might be wrong.

Looks like a modified filter sock to me. It could cause some issues if it is too tight to the drain. Just make sure that water can flow up and around it if the sock gets clogged. You are going to want to change out your filter sock 2-3 times a week so it does not become a nitrate factory.

 

[ryleary]

I hope you can see the rough drawing I just did well enough. The T should be at the waterline so the flow can go straight down and allow the Air to escape to the right instead of being driven below the water line. Then the Air line turns back up with a 90, and a length of pipe is attached before the end cap with the hole and airline tube (I did not draw the cap and airline as I wanted to insure you had the T and 90 positions and orientations correct. The length of pipe should probably be a good 8+inches this will let any splashing of water and air stay within the pipe and not make it to the cap. You can then adjust how much of the airline tube is in the hole in the cap until you have a smooth drain w/o a lot of splashing and noise.

No matter what there should be some trickling up at the tank. What you do not what are flushing and sucking noises. I suspect the noise is coming from the air vent line on the drain on the tank. If that is the case you can try and quiet it with a silencer like the ones they use on skimmers. I do not see any point in replacing your return pump.

Everything was good last night, now the bubbling is back and spilling over the filter sock and I have micro bubbles everywhere. I'm about to throw this overflow box out the window.

I'll try your configuration and see if it helps. I've inhaled more pvc glue in the past month to give me a third arm, so that will be helpful.

 

[ryleary]

Looks like a modified filter sock to me. It could cause some issues if it is too tight to the drain. Just make sure that water can flow up and around it if the sock gets clogged. You are going to want to change out your filter sock 2-3 times a week so it does not become a nitrate factory.

If the tee is at the waterline, how you get a filter sock around it? I had to cut the plastic on mine and slide it up around the tee wye, and I still have bubbles spilling over.

 

[ryleary]

Can I go without one?

 

[Fin]

Yes, you will just get more detritus in the bottom of the sump. You can clean it out periodically. I ran without one for years.

 

[AZDesertRat]

In 25+ years of reefkeeping I have never used a filter sock or sponge. The sump acts as a collection point for detritus which gets vacuumed or pumped out every couple months when it needs attention.

 

[ryleary]

In 25+ years of reefkeeping I have never used a filter sock or sponge. The sump acts as a collection point for detritus which gets vacuumed or pumped out every couple months when it needs attention.

I would go that route if I didnt get so many microbubbles without a sock.

 

[miamiangler]

I have the glass holes drain on my tank . I have a TV next to my tank so I can watch both at the same time . I don't have a check valve on the over flow , and I used same dia. pipe thru out . I would not reduce the pipe , I think It says that In the Instructions , the tubing on the 90 elbow I have It half way In .It takes some work since It Is a tight fit .Why are you using a check valve ? that should be on the return pump side . there`s not much water going into the overflow to fill the sump .I don't have a filter sock in my sump . the pipe goes into box filled with rock rubble to break up the bubbles . I use a refugium sump and no mico bubbles in my DT. HTH

 

[hjkesler]

I wanna build an external overflow like what I put in the pic for 500 liters tank , I wanna know, what is the best overflow dimension and how many drain pipe and which size is perfect for building it ?

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I am about to plumb my 3 1.5ich drains and my two 1'' returns since new Synergy CL-44 Sump has arrived. I will be using only 1 gate valve for the main drain!