Extremely NOISY overflow

[JP SPS]

So after 6 months of work and planning, I finally filled up my 125 gallon in wall tank tonight. One problem, the overflows are extremely noisy. It sounds like Niagara Falls from 2 rooms away. Also, no matter what I do I have too much water in the sump and about 1" less than full in the tank.

The tank has dual corner overflows and I'm running 1200ghp and 1800 ghp return pumps.

Any advice on this one???

 

[JP SPS]

I am wondering if:

A: I need to add more water to the tank.
B: I possibly need stronger return pumps
C: It just is the way it is???

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[E Rosewater]

Adding water will only change the volume in the sump. You have a ton of flow going through that sump, that will contribute to the noise.

 

[JP SPS]

Adding water will only change the volume in the sump. You have a ton of flow going through that sump, that will contribute to the noise.

Can you think of any solutions, or am I just destined to have a very noisy overflow? Should I maybe try weaker return pumps?

 

[sirreal63]

The problem is too much pump, slow the flow down and the drain will get quieter. if these are the stock overflows then each will safely and quietly do about 450 gph, less will be quieter. You could also go with dual Herbie's and near nothing.

 

[E Rosewater]

Yeah, if you can do a herbie, or a bean animal that would be good. And cut down on flow.

 

[MikeTR]

Ball valves to dial back the flow.. you only need to push like 625-900gph through your sump. Use the 1200 for your main return. Turn the 1800gph in a closed loop. If your tank is 1" low, then somethin's up with the weirs on your overflow.. Maybe a leak.

 

[E Rosewater]

Is the water 1" under your trim? Or about even with the bottom of the trim?

 

[JP SPS]

The water is 1" below the top of the tank. The bottom of the overflow is as high as the water will go.

I shut off the 1800 GPH pump and it is much quieter. I will get a ball valve and dial it down. Hate to ask dumb questions, but how do you do a closed loop / what is it? And what is a herbie?

 

[williewilliams]

Mine made a gurgling noise when first setup. I added the valve and dialed back the flow from the pump. now the overflow is extremely quiet. just had to find the right amount it could handle.

 

[E Rosewater]

That's as high as it will get. Most manufacturers make it so the water just reaches the trim level. To run a herbie you run one drain as a siphon and another as a durso higher up, you run most of your flow through the siphon with a small amount going through the durso. If you have three drains you could do a bean animal.

 

[cap032]

I had the same problem, 125 with a mag 9.5 return. I dumped the mag, bought a Sicce Syncra 3.0, dialed it back to produce about 300gph, and the noise disspeared!!! You dont really need any more flow in the sump than your skimmer will process.

 

[Danny_B]

That's as high as it will get. Most manufacturers make it so the water just reaches the trim level. To run a herbie you run one drain as a siphon and another as a durso higher up, you run most of your flow through the siphon with a small amount going through the durso. If you have three drains you could do a bean animal.

incorrect, a herbie you run 100% of you drain through a siphon drain controlled by a gate valve.The back up drain is just that, a back up drain. In normal operation, no water should be running through it.

 

[toofrigginswt]

incorrect, a herbie you run 100% of you drain through a siphon drain controlled by a gate valve.The back up drain is just that, a back up drain. In normal operation, no water should be running through it.

+1. Although I do run a slight trickle down my emergency for surface skimming. I notice that my flake food just floats at the top of my overflow if I don't have a small trickle.