Outragus overflow noise

[Richard Schmidt]

Hey Folks:

I just got my Marineland 93 gallon cube wet!
Been waiting well over a year to get it set up but between buying a new construction home and having 2 back surgeries I'm now finally getting it set up.
Just got it wet two days ago.
I'm running a Triton 5 for return pump with a gate valve so excess pump supply can feed my calcium reactor and (hopefully) my protein skimmer.
This is the first tank I have set up without a fish/pump room. (not true my first tank was 10 gallons and used an underground filter. That was new technology 40+ years ago)
Wife said this is the last tank I will ever set up and it better be quiet since it sits in our living room and will have all equipment in the tank stand.
Well....I turned on the return pump and while the pump was not silent, I think she could live with it.
My real problem is with the overflow stand pipe.
Regardless of where I set the gate valve my overflow chamber fills to over the stand pipe elbows then suddenly lowers to below the holes drilled thru my my return Marineland pipe elbows.
Never saw a stand pipe with holes drilled thru a return elbow. That is where the noise starts and just cycles up and down.
Above the stand pipe sound acceptable, lower then pre drilled holes in the elbow noise is louder than I can get my TV.
I reduced the plumbing on the drain side of the bulkhead to 1 inch, but it measured 1 inch thru the bulkhead so I figured I was safe.
Any ideas?
Really don't want to have to redo the drain line past the bulkhead fitting, but I will if I have to.
Wife came home as I was trying to get this figured out and she made it clear that if this is as quiet as it can get then the tank is a no go.
Please help, I just can't look at other peoples tanks (on line) and know I will never have one again.

Rick

 

[Ljaus]

Got a photo of the overflow? That will help everyone figure out what to do

 

[redfishbluefish]

Agree with a photo.....what are we talking about, a conventional "Durso" style down pipe? Need more description or picture. Sounds like you're getting a siphon that's causing the noise.

 

[Richard Schmidt]

Agree with a photo.....what are we talking about, a conventional "Durso" style down pipe? Need more description or picture. Sounds like you're getting a siphon that's causing the noise.

Heading down to the tank to get a pic, maybe tomorrow b4 I can get it posted. In my office and dealing with customers right now.

 

[LostInTheDark]

If you can get a 3/8 tube in the overflow it will break the siphon and should quiet it down until you get a permanent fix.

 

[Richard Schmidt]

Been working on phone/tablet for a couple days. They suddenly want IMPT not POP.
When I get this figured out I will send pics of Marineland overflow and what I did to correct the problem.
Overflow is now quiet/acceptable.
I am running a MAG 5 return pump.
My God it's loud. not the flow the pump noise itself.
Looking for options to this loud pump.
It's a 93 gallon Marineland cube and all I want the pump to do is feed the tank, and provide water for my calcium reactor.
I would love a single pump that could handle my protein skimmer and calcium reactor but I think that is just too much to ask from a silent pump.
Any input appreciated.

 

[nervousmonkey]

There are always return pumps you can get that are silent with enough flow to take care of the manifold, or the feed to your reactor and skimmer. Check the Vectra M1. If not this one, there are others that are similar in characteristics; high flow, good head pressure, able to feed multiple reactors and your DT.
Beyond that, I would like to know what you did to fix the overflow. We may all benefit from it.

 

[jenreefer]

I placed a piece of tubing into the overflow pvc to break the flushing noise and make it flow consistently. I had to move it up and down to find the spot where there was the least noise. Without seeing what you are dealing with, it is hard to know where the issue is arising.
Questions:
1. what is the diameter of the drain pipe?
2. what type of drain pipe do you have installed in the overflow?
3. What type of sump and how is the overflow running into the sump?
pictures are worth a thousand words, so lets see the setup. There are always solutions, just need to know what we are dealing with.

 

[Richard Schmidt]

Finally fixed the overflow. This is how Marineland built it. Please note that when I took the pic I had reversed where the elbow with the hole in it was. (just to see if it quieted down, the elbow with the hole was on standpipe)

This is how I rebuilt it. Water level is that high because I cut stand pipe too short, fixed that. Vent line is .25 inch.

Entire drain from standpipe down is 1.5 inches which helped quiet it.

This is the sump.

One last question, I can't find the controller for my new Gyre 130 anyone know where I put it?

 

[Richard Schmidt]

This tank is fighting me every step of the way! I've waited (not so patiently) over a year to start set up. Finally got started.
First problem...noisy overflow.
Second......noisy pump.
Fixed overflow. Ordered new pump.
So now it was time to install my external calcium reactor, and external protein skimmer.
Calcium reactor went in fine.
Protein skimmer not so much, worse still it was my fault! Brand new skimmer, grabbed it out of the box and carried it to the sump to start install. Problem was I grabbed it by the skimmer cup Which naturally has an O ring seal holding it in place. I got 2 feet from the opened box, and 3 feet from the stand when the O ring let go and I dropped entire skimmer to my newly fixed hardwood floor!
Naturally skimmer decided to break at a non-replaceable/fixable point. Can't say much, it was my fault but I somehow think this tank is against me setting it up.
Oh forgot the best part, I was at the sump a different day doing the PVC plumbing. Reached up to my can of primer and knocked down both open cans (primer and glue), luckily I had a (supposedly impermeable) drop cloth on the floor under my work area. Adrenalin started flowing and I just grabbed the cloth with everything inside it and threw it out the back door. Come back to work space and there is a pool of primer sitting on my newly fixed floor.
Grabbed a towel and wiped it up calculating how much my divorce attorney was going to cost me. Guess what the plumbing god's were with me, the PVC primer did not affect the finish on the floor.
Wife got home that night and asked me how the work went, I told her no big deal it's just going slower than I thought.
THIS TANK HATES ME!
Can't wait to see what happens when I finally get it cycling.