New tank making waaaaay to much noise...

[roibenami]

So i've setup the tank (at least the basic plumming) and i can't seem to get it to quite down. Here's a video of my setup :


I'm not sure if you can hear it properly in the video but there is serious noise coming from there... It's basically just the noise of water running down the pipes and once in a while a big gurgling noise.

I just got this whole setup from someone who was selling his tank, and it had an overflow and one drain hole in the back of the aquarium, I would really prefer not to tear everything apart and drill another hole, is there anyway to get it to quite down?

I feel like if there was a full siphon in the drain pipe then there will be no noise, but I really don't know how to achieve that.

The drain line is a 2" going down to a 1 1/4" line

My pump is registered 5000/liters per hour

At this point i'm pretty desperate so any help would be highly appreciated.

 

[twilliard]

Add an air line with a valve in that hole in the top of the overflow and control how much air is entering.

 

[roibenami]

Add an air line with a valve in that hole in the top of the overflow and control how much air is entering.

Will that quite it down? because i think air is also coming from the top of the bulkhead itself in the overflow box...

 

[twilliard]

Control the volume as I see you have a valve on it.
It will be a balancing act between air and volume.

 

[roibenami]

Control the volume as I see you have a valve on it.
It will be a balancing act between air and volume.

Ok thanks a lot! any tips on balancing? like what am i looking for?

 

[twilliard]

The slowing of the downflow to match the pump output.
Caution not to decrease it too much

 

[beaslbob]

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(put and elbow pointing down on the drain) not just horizontal. (street elbow would work)

try increasing the air hole on top of the durso to prevent surges.

Increase the height of the drain outlet in the sump. what is happing with the surges is the drain pipe fills to overcome the pressure with the drain below the surface. then rushes out all at once.

report back if it works or not or how you fixed it.

my .02

 

[Diesel]

If that is your only drain I would be a bit worried.
If you tweak this drain with a valve and some how you need to handle more drain flow your tank will overflow.
Say a snail managed to get in your drain.............
My suggestion is a extra overflow drain if possible.

 

[AlexG]

Are those brass ball valves on the drain and return? If so I would get rid of them quick. I would not use metal pumbing for an aquarium. A gate valve should be used on the drain line to control water flow and they do make them out of PVC with no metal parts inside the mechanism. I would also put a 90 degree elbow in the overflow box. With the right adjustments it will quiet down a bit.

 

[beaslbob]

while worring about a drain failing is a valid concern, IMHO part of the setup is to simulate a drain failure and adjust sump water level to where the sump runs dry before the upper tank floods. and add or remove water until the upper tank is about ready to flood.
You then return the system to normal operation and mark the sump (tape is good) and from that point on never add water above that line.

my .02

 

[beaslbob]

Are those brass ball valves on the drain and return? If so I would get rid of them quick. I would not use metal pumbing for an aquarium. A gate valve should be used on the drain line to control water flow and they do make them out of PVC with no metal parts inside the mechanism. I would also put a 90 degree elbow in the overflow box. With the right adjustments it will quiet down a bit.

+1

 

[Alanc425]

Welcome to the hobby

+1 First I would switch out the metal valves for PVC.

Correct me if I'm wrong as I'm just going based on the video.....but the tank looks about 80-90g? You're running the return pump at max(1300+ gph?). You probably have about 12-15x turn over rate for that sump when you only need 3-5x. Once you put the PVC valves on, reduce the flow of the return pump to about 1/2 or less so you're at about 400-500gph . Should help with most of the noise and splashing, other tips will take care of the gurgling.

 

[Whatnow]

reduce the flow of the return pump to about 1/2 or less so you're at about 400-500gph

I totally agree that's way to fast of flow through the sump.

 

[roibenami]

Ok, so I found a video on youtube that showed how to do the herbie method without drilling another whole, so here's what i did to fix the noise problem :

1. added another pipe going from the bottom of my overflow box into the sump, this is the main drain line that is running full siphon
2. added a 90 degree elbow on the previous return line (now the wet emergency drain) to increase the water level in the overflow box and minimize the overflow trickle noise
3. as per your suggestions, have closed the valve on the return pump about half way through (was also needed to get just the right minimal flow in the emergency drain line

Here's a video of the setup now :

Not sure if you can hear, but the gurgling and the noise of the water running down the pipes is completely gone, but i still hear a trickle sound from the water going into the overflow box. It's kind of annoying having to siphon the main drain line every time i shut my pump off, but it's better then dealing with the noise...

It's like going from standing next to someone taking a shower, to standing next to someone taking a tick... It's definitely an improvement, but there's still room for more...

So i would love your opinions on how to reduce my overflow noise, and also I've started working on the aquascape and would love your ideas, here's a video of a first sketch i made with some of the rocks i got from the guy i bought the aquarium from (nothing glued/epoxied, only stacking of rocks), here's a video of the setup :


Would love some opinions on the aquascapes as well, as of right now i'm waiting for a shipment of an RO/DI unit i ordered before i fill the tank with saltwater... right now it's just running tap water to test for leaks and plumbing...

Oh and btw, i still haven't replaced my steel valves because there weren't any in my local plumbing store, but i'll replace them next few days...

 

[AlexG]

Ok, so I found a video on youtube that showed how to do the herbie method without drilling another whole, so here's what i did to fix the noise problem :

1. added another pipe going from the bottom of my overflow box into the sump, this is the main drain line that is running full siphon
2. added a 90 degree elbow on the previous return line (now the wet emergency drain) to increase the water level in the overflow box and minimize the overflow trickle noise
3. as per your suggestions, have closed the valve on the return pump about half way through (was also needed to get just the right minimal flow in the emergency drain line

Here's a video of the setup now :

Not sure if you can hear, but the gurgling and the noise of the water running down the pipes is completely gone, but i still hear a trickle sound from the water going into the overflow box. It's kind of annoying having to siphon the main drain line every time i shut my pump off, but it's better then dealing with the noise...

It's like going from standing next to someone taking a shower, to standing next to someone taking a ****... It's definitely an improvement, but there's still room for more...

So i would love your opinions on how to reduce my overflow noise, and also I've started working on the aquascape and would love your ideas, here's a video of a first sketch i made with some of the rocks i got from the guy i bought the aquarium from (nothing glued/epoxied, only stacking of rocks), here's a video of the setup :


Would love some opinions on the aquascapes as well, as of right now i'm waiting for a shipment of an RO/DI unit i ordered before i fill the tank with saltwater... right now it's just running tap water to test for leaks and plumbing...

Oh and btw, i still haven't replaced my steel valves because there weren't any in my local plumbing store, but i'll replace them next few days...

Metal corrosion in saltwater is a quick process that can easily poison an aquarium with metals. I would suggest starting over with new water and rock once pvc valves have been installed. It might be considered overly cautious to undertake this process but it can eliminate problems down the road with fish and corals. I would like to see you have a successful saltwater aquarium and this advice is in the best interest of the finite source of animals available for saltwater aquariums.

 

[reefwiser]

That style of overflow is real noisy. I have had several club members use this http://maggiemuffler.com/ to stop that style of overflow from making noise. Man you could not put a overflow in a more wrong place on a center braced tank. But that is what you have to work with.
I would spend sometime getting this noise issue fixed before filling the tank with saltwater. As it will not go away since you are noticing it now. Ideally you would use a Ghost style overflow.
http://synergyreef.com/product/20-synergy-reef-overflow/
gives you room for the herbie style drain system and keeps fish and snails form getting in the overflow.

 

[roibenami]

So first of all as i've said the water in the tank right now is just tap water that's there for leak detection (bought the tank second hand) and plumbing tests. as i've said, when my new RO/DI unit gets here, i'm draining the entire tank, and then putting in the rock work, then the saltwater...

Yea it's a real bummer, now i would much rather prefer the holes to be drilled in the bottom and have more then one, also working inside the overflow box (like adjusting the 90degree elbow and stuff is really hard...

But that's what i have and buying a new tank/stand is out of the question at the moment...

Thanks a lot for all the advice, any thoughts on the aquascape ?

 

[mcarroll]

The correct solution is still to throttle the return pump to the correct flow range for the system.

Or get a pump correctly sized for the system if you don't want to throttle the one you have.

I would actually restore the drain to the default.

HOW MUCH FLOW?
Anywhere from 2x your display volume (180 gph?) or more will be enough. More is not better. And I'm talking about actual flow rate, not the pump or drain rating.

Under any normal circumstances, more than 4x or 5x (360 gph to 450 gph) is unnecessary, possibly even dangerous. You got the noise part, but noise also equals splashing. Splashing either gets your salt creep around the tank or salt spray around the whole room. Or both. Salt creep and salt spray are both very bad and potentially damaging to your house and property.

HOW DO I MEASURE FLOW?
Measure the output of the pump or drain (whichever is easier). Use something like a cup or a bucket to catch the water and time how long it takes to catch a certain volume of water. You can use the volume of water and time to compute your system's actual GPH.