Wrong overflow level?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ale82
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users None

ale82

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 26, 2021
Messages
13
Reaction score
31
Location
Malaga
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi! I need help! In the picture i understand the water level in the overflow must be on B , but when i put it in that level reducing the pump power the return make lot of bubbles and noise, if i put the water level on A , i have 0 noise, but im not confident , looks like i can have problems if return doesnot work properly.

Any help will be apreciate, thanks.

20211204_111808.jpg 20211204_112052_capture.jpg
 
I can’t be sure, is that a photo of your overflow box? Are you using a veritable speed pump to go from “A” to “B”?
 
Yeah, photo is a corner overflow box inside the aquarium, the pump is a jebao pump i can control the speed. If I reduce the power it goes from A to B.
 
In that case, I run my Jebao to the water level line you have marked “A” as well, for reduced noise. I know it can see ‘scary’ to have the water level so high, but it would be a rare malfunction (I would think) for the pump to just randomly zoom to a higher output setting. In other words, if it’s good today at that pump setting / water level, it should be good tomorrow, next week, next month. The one test I ‘would’ do it cut the pump power; then turn it back on. If the Jebao ramps back up with no problem, you should be golden, even following a power outage (if it comes back on while you are not home).
 
Thank you jumboshrimp now i can sleep with no worries. Just thinking, i guess the return pipe will take less water with the time, so i Was scary if in a certain time, the return can not handle all the water pumped and have the display overflowed. If i Just put a little more power to the pump, the return pipe can not handle, its Just a very small range where bads things can happend.
 
I completely get you. Even though I have 3 down pipes— the 3rd emergency pipe has a pretty good trickle at all times— so I don’t have a lot of room for error either. So like you, it took quite a few weeks to sleep well at night, knowing it was tuned in and wasn’t changing day by day.
 
I've never ran a durso (always herbie or bean animal style), but someone can correct me if it's not a good idea. If you look up pics at a bean animal setup, many have the air line(on top of the durso pipe) attached to a point just above the highest water line you want. This way if something did happen and the level rises, water will reach the tubing and should then create a siphon and increase the amount of water the pipe can handle to the sump. Obviously if the pipe is clogged in the first place causes the level to rise, it probably won't do you much good. Just a thought.
 
Will the drain not support the return pump operating at full power? Drains can move quite a bit of water usually unless they’re really undersized or the pump is oversized.
 
Looks like you have a single drain overflow. Are you using that valve to choke back the flow at all? If so, I hate to say it, but that may be a potential disaster waiting to happen. Single drain overflows are meant to be run wide open, without any restriction. Only triple drain Beananimal or dual drain Herbie set ups are to use valves to throttle back flow to create a full siphon to mitigate noise, as they have secondary and tertiary lines to rake up the slack.

While it may never be completely silent, your only safe option for noise reduction when using a single drain overflow would ne incorporating a Maggie muffler or a Stockman standpipe. Either way, the single drain line should be run wide open without any restriction.
 
Last edited:
Looks like you have a single drain overflow. Are you using that valve to choke back the flow at all? If so, I hate to say it, but that may be a potential disaster waiting to happen. Single drain overflows are meant to be run wide open, without any restriction. Only triple drain Beananimal or dual drain Herbie set ups are to use valves to throttle back flow to by creating a full siphon to mitigate noise, as they have secondary and tertiary lines to rake up the slack.

While it may never be completely silent, your only safe option for noise reduction when using a single drain overflow would ne incorporating a Maggie muffler or a Stockman standpipe. Either way, the single drain line should be run wide open without any restriction.
Yeah, my first tuning was to open completely the valve and test with different pump power, i always had bubbles and noise in the sump, many many bubbles. So i decided to close the valve a bit causing to increase the water level above the durso entry, now i have 0 bubbles. So looks like there is no option to have valve fully open and have 0 bubbles? I Will investigate both options , thanks.
 
My tank was drilled as the standard 1 drain 1 return in the corner box. Is that how yours is?
I just used the return hole as the emergency line and ran a return line over the top of the tank.
Piece of mind and quite at the same time. Just raise the emergency pipe to just below the wier and the main half way down the box. Adjust with a gate valve to full syphone with a trickle of water in the emergency line.
 
My tank was drilled as the standard 1 drain 1 return in the corner box. Is that how yours is?
I just used the return hole as the emergency line and ran a return line over the top of the tank.
Piece of mind and quite at the same time. Just raise the emergency pipe to just below the wier and the main half way down the box. Adjust with a gate valve to full syphone with a trickle of water in the emergency line.
Yeah, 1 drain and 1 return, do you have a pic to see your solution?
 
I am at work currently but can take some when I get home.
Research Herbie overflow. I made a "u" shape with pvc attached to hose for the return. Hooks on the tank back. I attached a loc-line hose and a wave maker to it.
 
So i decided to close the valve a bit causing to increase the water level above the durso entry, now i have 0 bubbles. So looks like there is no option to have valve fully open and have 0 bubbles? I

That’s precisely why the flooding risk occurs when you valve back a single drain set up. As you close the valve to get to a full siphon (reduce bubbles as you say), you see the water level slowly rise. Without a secondary trickle/emergency drain to stop the water from rising above a set level, your water level will continue to rise and cause a flood.

That is why it is so important to leave single drain set ups free from restrictions. The risk of causing a flood due to improper tuning or something getting clogged is too great, especially when there is no secondary to take up the slack.
 
Last edited:
I know it looks nice to have the tank up against the wall with no gaps, but using the drilled return as the emergency, and plumb the return over the back of the tank ( like dburr1014's pic) is probably the safest/quietest way to run your tank. Single drains make me nervous. I know plenty have run them, but I could never bring myself to do it that way. When you have the space, I like the bean animal setup for extra redundancy at least for bigger tanks anyway.
 
Pics
the first one I shut off my pump so the level of water is not right. The right pipe is where the return should be but it's now my emergency. The left is my full syphone pipe. Should be at least 5"-6" below the emergency so you don't suck air. Keep a screen on it so no critters crawl down.
The next is my gate valve to find tune the syphone line. It's in my basement, close to the sump. I have the pipe slightly submerged so no bubbles bursting making noise.
The last is my return pump with the hose. I chose soft hose so it doesn't vibrate and make noise.

20211206_162023.jpg 20211206_162339.jpg 20211206_162414.jpg
 
Last edited:
Pics
the first one I shut find my pump. The right pipe is where the return should be but it's now my emergency. The left is my full syphone pipe. Should be at least 5"-6" below the emergency so you don't suck air. Keep a screen on it so no critters crawl down.
The next is my gate valve to find tune the syphone line. It's in my basement, close to the sump. I have the pipe slightly submerged so no bubbles bursting making noise.
The last is my return pump with the hose. I chose soft hose so it doesn't vibrate and make noise.
Many thanks to everybody, its clear my solution should be the same as Dburr1014.

Do you think guys , mean while i implement Dburr1014 solution , a floating device on top of the display tank that switch off the power of the pump should work ?
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

New Posts

Back
Top