Noisy Durso - Aqua One Mini Reef 160

[Nachoman]

Picked up my 160 a few days ago and did a freshwater test on it all yesterday and the drain to sump is too noisy even for the deaf. The drain pipe extends a good 4 inches if not a bit more under the water line. Is this too much?? Should i look at getting a 90 bend or T to break up the speed?? I know I need to drill the air hole on top of the Durso out a bit as i can hear the gurgling from the air locks being created but not sure that is going to fix the hole issue.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to have to T off the return line back into the sump to try and slow the return down as the stock pump pushes too much water up there i think. I was planning on replacing the pump with a controllable on in the near future anyway so thats not a big issue.

Also the water cascading over the baffle into the next chamber is fairly loud (although it may just sound that way from the noise in the drain chamber). Can the drop from one baffle to the next be too loud?? Am i right in thinking that once i slow my return down it will have the flow on effect to also slowing the rate of the water coming over the top of the baffle thus making it more of a trickle then a water fall??

Thanks for your suggestions if any. This is probably more just some ramblings out loud to try and problem solve it myself.

 

[hijinks7]

yes you can have a lot of baffle noise.. I have a fug baffle that drops down into marine pure blocks and was pretty loud. I just stuff some filter media in the baffle to be like a filter sock and it stops the noise completely. As long as you clean it every now and then it isn't a problem.

 

[Nachoman]

Not sure if anyone is even reading this anymore but just in case heres a vid showing where the drain enters the sump. Is it going to far under the water level which is creating the excess noise?? Should i just wait until i get a controllable return pump before problem solving this any further??

 

[hijinks7]

do you have a gate valve on the return line to limit the flow going into the sump to increase the water level in the baffle so it isn't sucking down so much air?

 

[rtparty]

I've rarely, if ever, seen/heard a durso drain be quiet. Depending on your setup you could go the Herbie route and make it totally silent.

So how is your drain and return setup?

 

[Nachoman]

It’s all standard setup as it comes from aqua one. Haven’t got any valves on either the return or the drain.

 

[rainmaker]

If you don't have a controllable return pump I would add a valve to it so u can adjust the flow

 

[rtparty]

If you have the standard drain and return then you can create a Herbie overflow very easily. Make the smaller of the 2 holes your siphon and the bigger hole the emergency. Then run the return over the back.

 

[Crabbyscapes]

Nachoman - I have the exact same tank and the exact same washing machine whirring away in my living room... it's very loud isn't it? I was also contemplating the herbi but not sure if my plumbing skills are good enough :/ what did you end up doing??

 

[ajmidget]

Also interested in what you guys have done with your minireef 160 setups. Got the same issue with mine, even I've reduced the return flow by 50%.