surging overflows

[IDLegend]

Hello Reef2Reef Members... I'm new to the forum community but have been monitoring all your posts for a long time... I've had a reef tank in the past.. got out of the hobby and am now making a comeback... I'm setting up an oceanic tech 120 reef and just got all the plumbing done. I filled with tap water to check for leaks and testing things out before i fill with saltwater and rock... so yesterday i turned the pump on and noticed my overflows were surging and a lot of air in the return lines making so much noise... im using the megaflow by aga... i've ran this system before and never have had this problem.. my last system was super quiet.. I have a fluval sp4 return pump and its powering 2 BRS Delux reactors with a gate valve on each and a gate valve regulating the flow to the returns.. I tried turning it way low and it is still so loud... the bubbles in the sump and return hoses are gurgling like crazy it sounds like i'm running 10 dishwashers and 10 washers at the same time... is there anything i can do to fix this issue???

 

[kschweer]

My guess is that your issue is coming from the drain hoses. Their should be a direct path to the sump for the water to flow. The "sagging" in the drain hoses is causing the surges. Try either shortening the drain hoses or plumbing them with standard pvc. You can also try securing them to the cab of the stand instead of having them just hanging like they are.

 

[Triggreef]

I had same issue on 2 completely different tanks. I fixed mine by drilling a hole 1/4" at the top of the return & put a 1/4" tube in the hole so it can breath. If you already have that, make another. That will solve it.

 

[Tab28]

In my tanks surging is generally an exit issue. When i had flexible exit tubes. There was a slight upward movement in hose. It needs to be a smooth downhill slope anything that causes the smooth gravity of the water entering the sump will cause a surge. The hard plumbing issues were. The final exit into sump was too far below water line. If too high it gurgles very load and needs to be lowered. The other issue was at the stand pipes. Mine had a air tube on the exit pipe. I just made the hole slightly larger with drill. Air could not get out fast enough. Now the standpipe that shoots water back into tank. Mine had a suction break hole. When the water shoots up the pipe. This small hole water would exit and made load gurgling. I just placed a sponge between the hole and overflow frame. Careful not to seal this suction break hole. Those were issue i had with noise and surging for the years. Hopefully one will help you your issue.

 

[IDLegend]

So the return lines i have can't be cut shorter becase the adapter is permanently attached... While the water was in the tank i made several adjustments to the hose to get a 45 degree drop to it but that didn't seem to help... Would hard plumbing it be a better option??? The megaflows do have a air vent up top so i could drill a few more holes to get a better flow out of them... The return line where it 90s into the tank does have a hole so it won't back siphon but that's not the issue... I barely hear that, its the violent noise of air bubbles crashing in the sump and return lines... Thanks for the quick responses btw... This noise is a deal breaker if I can't get it to quiet down...

 

[Tab28]

I had to cut the flexible hose into sump. It dipped too much causing a surge. It had a pvc connection and sock connection. i removed and had the hose feed directly into the hole where the pvc once was in. The flexible hose had an end that fit into the pvc. Once the surge wad corrected the hose length into the sock holder needed to be adjusted so the water did not have a high drop causing load splash. The standpipe air hole. Can be made bigger with drill bit. Then feed air tube into hole. Be sure
The air tubing is not too far into hole should just be in far enough to be secure.

 

[kschweer]

I had to cut the flexible hose into sump. It dipped too much causing a surge. It had a pvc connection and sock connection. i removed and had the hose feed directly into the hole where the pvc once was in. The flexible hose had an end that fit into the pvc. Once the surge wad corrected the hose length into the sock holder needed to be adjusted so the water did not have a high drop causing load splash. The standpipe air hole. Can be made bigger with drill bit. Then feed air tube into hole. Be sure
The air tubing is not too far into hole should just be in far enough to be secure.

+1. The drain hoses need to be shortened so that they are not sagging like they are.

 

[IDLegend]

There is no way to properly cut the hose down and retrofit a new pvc adapter to it so i think my only other option is to hard plumb it into the sock holder... I'm hoping i can hard plumb the drain lines in a way to cut down on the noise... Is there a specific way to do this without running into the same problems that I'm having with this eshopps flex???

 

[Tab28]

You can't cut the hose. Remove the pvc connection at sock holder and place hose into hole where pvc connection was? Once the connection end is cut from hose the pvc is not need. The hose should fit into same hole pvc was at the sock connection. The connections are generally just bulk fittings.

If you hard plumb just be sure it is a smooth transition down. The water drop into sump if it is too high it will be loud. I have seen 45 degree elbows used. This would cause smoother flow. But i did not have the room for that do used 90, but worked fine.

 

[IDLegend]

So I ended up hard plumbing the drains... Filled the tank back up and ran the return pump... It started to surge again so i drilled out the hole on top of the drain intake with a 3/16 drill bit... Tank is now running super quiet and it's not surging anymore... Thanks for all the help fellas!!!

 

[IDLegend]

 

[racin2438]

+1 on the securing of hose.

We just setup our ffag tank and used same flex hose but left it loose. All it did was gurgling loud and constantly.

Took a tie strap and secured the main droop of ghetto hose and made a more straighter downward arc and the noise disappeared completely.

Best of luck with the fix...

Nice tank btw...

 

[racin2438]

Man I hate that dang auto correct. ....

 

[flyingfish]

I had same issue on 2 completely different tanks. I fixed mine by drilling a hole 1/4" at the top of the return & put a 1/4" tube in the hole so it can breath. If you already have that, make another. That will solve it.

How is this done exactly? do you have a simple diagram or pic? thanks

 

[Tab28]

I can not get a good picture of it on my overflow. You have the long vertical pipe then an elbow inside. Sometimes a short horizontal pipe. then another elbow which is where the overflow water enters into the sump. The very top of the elbow which connects to the long vertical pipe this is where the drill hole goes. the air in the pipe needs to escape. The tube is basically just a muffler just like on a skimmer. The tube also stops the hole from clogging up from slime and algae.

 

[flyingfish]

we increased the hole a tiny bit to insert a standard air hose line, the small ones typically used. it helped a little but not enough for sure. tried a control valve on the air hose to limit it further, did not help actually made the water level drop faster in the overflow box. so may make a bigger hole tonight and see how that goes.

 

[flyingfish]

Ok drilled hole to 3/8" still making same noise. How do you get rid of the gurgling from the end of the drain hose into the sump? And the waterfall noise in the overflow?

 

[Tab28]

If the pipe which enters the sump is too high or too low it will gurgle.

 

[flyingfish]

yes, i cut it and it is worse so now i have to make it longer? it is about 4-5" in the water

 

[Tab28]

Normally they are not in the water but an inch or so above it. Are you using a filter sock? Most premade sumps or add on sock holders have a pipe connection on them. Socks are not a must but are a great help in filtering