how can I silence my plumbing?

[areze]

I have a horizontal calfo style overflow.it goes right out the back into a 90degree turn down. from there it travels mostly straight and dumped right into the sump, a few inches under water level.

but the problem is, all the air that gets trapped in it is also carried down; and the output in the sump has bubbles in it and is generally noisy(plus the bubbles popping on the surface gets salt spray everywhere)

so heres what Im thinking, right out the back of the tank bulkhead, use a T, cap the T and drill a hole in the cap so air can escape there.

then down at the bottom, put another T at water level so air can flow out there as well. like one way of the t goes down, the other way goes up. water goes down, air goes up, hopefully less bubbles getting shot down into the sump.

this gonna work, or better way?

 

[TandN]

What I have found to be best at least for me is
1. Like you stated put a "T" a decent piece of PVC to an endcap with a hole.
2. Put a gatevalve before the drain goes into the sump (This will allow your drain to match up to the amount of water that is supposed to be going down the drain) DONOT use a ball valve it is not possible to get the correct closure onit.
3. cut slits into the piece that drains into the sump that is under water to help with back pressure.

Again this is how I do mine for for the longest time and it always help me make my tank SILENT

HTH
T.

 

[lvreefer]

I would be carefull with a valve of any kind to reduce water flow. The only reason I bring this up, is if you have to close down the valve a lot, then you run the risk of the drain clogging and over flowing onto your floor. For bubble reduction I use a cut filter sock to absorb and break up bubbles and splashing.

 

[jefathome]

How would the gate valve differ from the ball valve?

 

[areze]

not sure if I want to put a valve, atleast not a valve thats at all limited; it is horizontal overflow, and a snail has taken the journey once or twice. hate for him to get stuck at the valve and stop up the works.

Ill try the rest though.

 

[TandN]

you should have a something covering your overflow to not allow stuff like snails and fish into it. As for the a gate valve I have used them for the last 10 years NEVER had a problem with them at all. It will take a full day of tinkering with it to get it in its sweet spot.

 

[areze]

Id just be worried that it is too much like a controled syphon, if the return pump kicks it up a notch, it could overflow the tank, guess you could t it up and put an alternate overflow path. but thats alot of plumbing.

 

[TandN]

I have a single drain all the valve does is restict the flow that is gushing to have it flow smoothly you tune it down and watch it for an hour if it raises a lil you open it a lil and so on

 

[areze]

well I kept the plumbing unglued in the sump, see how it performs when I fill it up. if its still noisy with the air releases Ill switch it up.

 

[gahlenfr]

If you look at the DIY forum under durso, it will show you how to set that type of drain up. Mine is an 1.5 drain with a screen to keep unwanted critters going for a ride. The Air opening is adjusted so that I have minimal noise with no syphoning/sucking action. Like has been said you need the drain opening under water with either an elbow or a hood of some type. If your return flow matches your drain output you will have achieved a balance. Some asked why a gate valve over a ball valve, the reason is the control you have over a gate valve to fine tune it. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[areze]

well I wound up about 10gallons short on water

filled up a 44g brute twice, I was hoping that would do it. nay.

so the RODI is pumping again.

in the mean time, octopus skimmer has FINALLY been silenced and harnessed. thank god... no more fountain of water shooting into the air. a t fitting wedge right into the riser tube nicely. converted metric to standard well enough. got a gate valve and down turn back into the water with a air release cap. my power head makes more noise than the skimmer now.

if the overflow works as well Ill be cooking.

 

[robertifly]

areze, I too have the horizonal calfo type overflow and was going crazy trying to get the plumbing quiet. As a matter of fact I had decided to empty the tank and drill the bottom when I found "NEW plumbing method for an ULTRA QUIET REEF TANK!!!! LONG !!!! in the Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment. I recomment everyone to READ THIS! I have two 1.5" exits straight out the back of tank, one of which is drain that has a 90 turned down with a ball valve before empty into sump (I since got a gate valve but no putin yet) the second exit is the emergency drain with a 90 turned UP!! Just in case something blocks the reg. drain.try it you'll like it. And yes, it is reliable and perfectly silent.

 

[areze]

yeah, that sounds great to me, I have seen it, but I only have 1 hole drilled plus I drill with a diamond dremel bit, which really bites. and lastly, I have to remove my overflow to get a bulkhead in there, the 1st bulkhead went in before I glued the overflow in.

 

[robertifly]

oh, sorry. I still think the thread is worth reading for the info. there is at least one guy in there who doesn't use an emergnecy drain pipe and argues it's not needed but....you can decide. good luck!

 

[joeycadre]

take a piece of airline tubing and thread it down the overflow. work it longer and shorter until it gets quiet.
it let's the air going down the pipe come back out.