NEW plumbing method for an ULTRA QUIET REEF TANK!!!! LONG !!!!

[Herbie]

Robbob, glad to have helped! IT DOES WORK !!!
In2deep, I found a fitting at HD. Its a 3/4 threaded to a 1" slip adapter. Just thread it into the 3/4 bulkhead and slip in the 1" stand pipe. It seemed to flow better flow rates due to a higher head pressure? I think that is important to glue everything and use teflon tape on the threads. This way if the power is cut, The couple of gallons that is in the overflow doesnt flood the sump! Make sure a "siphon break" hole is drilled in the new pump output about a 1/2 below the running water level of the tank. This will pevent a backflow from the pump output plumbing into the sump if the power is cut.
Later.............Herbie

 

[tereefic]

In my battle against noise last summer, I experimented with the gate valves to keep the water level above the pipe a few inches and your right that it worked perfectly (I had 2 1" returns....1500 gph return pump). But I didn't think of using the other bulkhead for "an emergency" drain....so I aborted it for safety, but now it's possible....Thx for the idea, Maybe I'll try it again :eek2:

 

[Herbie]

tereeficm
I would be carefull. I dont think that it is possible to run 1500 gph through a single 1" bulkhead/standpipe. You will know real quick if it doesnt work!
Later...........Herbie

 

[nelson4u]

I will be plumbing a 140 soon. Has anyone else used the sump silencer "T" fitting with elbow like MrSandman showed us above ? Is it really quiet ? It seems that using Durso's with this "T" in the sump would be very easy if it is truely quiet. Anyone have any more input on this ?

 

[capescuba]

There is a God!

There is a God!

I totally forgot to take a picture when i got home last night. Anyways, i did a quick sketch for everyone to see. Hope this clears it up some. I should also note that the elbow coming out from the tee should be above water at all times or this won't work.

Thanks MrSandman, this is exactly what I was looking for to go on my new 210 I just hooked up. Durso works a treat, barely a sound, bu the Hot Tub/Jacquizzi in my Sump is something else. Looks like this little mod will help out, allowing the air to purge without bubbling so much in the sump! Excelent!:smokin:

 

[atrain]

just thought i'd share my experience. I was having noise problems with my durso/sump .... which is the whole reason I checked out the thread to begin with. However, b4 replumbing the entire thing, I gave the "tee" fitting a try. At first it was creating the same amount of noise as without, the noise was merely coming from the pipe above the water. Therefore I tried an idea I had from the venturi silencer on my beckett mod. I stuck a end cap in the opening and drilled a small hole in the top, about the same size as the one on top of the durso. This killed the majority of the sound, not silent, but hellava lot better!! I also killed what was left of the sound by placing a cotton ball in the end cap(threaded inverted into the pipe), but removed it thinking would get wet and clog eventually being so close to the water. Also silent enough with just the end cap placed there as well. Hope this helps anyone trying it, if the tee doesn't work by itself

 

[atrain]

Just thought i'd post a thx for everyone that posted here, It's not only made me, but also my girlfriend very very happy

 

[capescuba]

Thanks for the mod tip atrain! If the tee alone doesn't do it, then I'll try your idea..

 

[jun41]

Right when I saw ULTRA QUIET REEF TANK I clicked on this thread. It looked like a title on ebay or something. But wow, this is some good info. Tomorrow is monday and I'll give some of thesse ideas a trial run.

 

[ungerbe]

What I found out

What I found out

Herbie - you are my hero

I was told about this thread and read through it thinking "silent" was a relative term. Well, last weekend I switched over my RR 75 to your system. WOW! After correcting a couple small noise issues, it was DEAD SILENT! The only noise I could even detect at all was the sound of the air inlet to my protien skimmer.

A couple comments though just for those interested. I utilized a 1" gate valve to control the amount of restriction. This seemed to be very key in my case. The level in the overflow is VERY sensitive to the slightest change in the restriction. In fact, to get it to settle-out I do have a slight trickle of water going down the emergency pipe at all times. The other comment is less significant. Due to the shorter stand pipe I take in more water during a loss-of-power event. It does not exceed the capacity of my sump, but gets pretty close.

In general, I have to say that I could not be happier with the lack of noise. The durso was great for intake noise, but horribly loud no matter what I did in the sump end. There are things you can to do quiet it down, but I can't imagine ANYTHING that could compete with the silence this system delivers.

Great job Herbie!

 

[aznDragonX]

^^^

 

[Shoestring Reefer]

Herbie-

I think you could still use this on a system with only one overhead bulkhead. A tee could be placed in the internal overflow, and from that tee could be one low standpipe with valve, and one high standpipe without valve. Of course, enough space in the overflow would be needed...

MrSandman-

I wish I had tried that "tee" idea.

 

[MrSandman]

FYI, for those looking to silence their sump even more, i would suggest this idea here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=354779

This way works even better than the way i diagrammed in an earlier thread.

 

[scotUKUK]

i just cannot beleive that people are so quick to jump on peoples designs , & pik fault .

the idea obviusly works very well for herbie & he obviusly was very excited in sharing his workmanship with us all .

what a nice bloke ! .....thank you herbie for your time & thanx for posting it on here so that other people with the same problem can give it a go .

ERIC S .....do you have any thing interesting or helpfull to share with ever 1 .................or do you get your excitement by disecting other peoples ideas & being damn right rude .

thanx again herbie ........all the best



scott

 

[KRussell]

Herbie,

Thanks for the great idea. I am in the process of upgrading my 75 gal to a 180 aga. After setting up my plumbing with the "t in the sump" technique the tank still sounded like Niagara Falls. I am running a sequence reeflo pump that is putting out somewhere around 2000 gal/h after deducting for head and elbows. After adding this mod, the tank is way quieter than my old 75 gal with durso ever was. My only concern is the extra Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ bulk head canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t handle the flow in case of 100% blockage. I am guessing, if blockage does occur, it will happen slowly and the extra drains will make noise so I can correct the problem. Thanks again for an awesome fix to a noisy overflow.

 

[Phrogg]

The key to herbie's idea here is that the emergency overflow is a seperate pipe all the way to the sump.

If you try this with two stand pipes teed off of one bulkhead, you have two issues to deal with

1. risk clogging at the bulkhead or below which obviously eliminates half of the purpose of the emergency drain.
2. (sorry for the physics, but) if you have water flowing through one pipe with any velocity, and a pipe teed off of it that water doesn't flow through, the joining of the two pipes creates turbulence. This turbulence could create quite a bit of noise and suck air in through the bulkhead causing more noise in the sump. This is exactly the principle in a venturi air injector.

In other words, you really need 2 bulkhead to do this.

On a side note, the flow of a pipe is restricted to the diameter at the smallest point. For example, you have 2 identical 3/4 bulkheads. One has a 3/4" diameter standpipe, the other has a 14" diameter standpipe. Other than the fairly minor affect of more friction per gallon on the 3/4" pipe, your flow rate and pressure at the bulkhead should be identical.

 

[KRussell]

Phrogg,

Assuming your response was for my benefit, I guess I was not clear in what I have installed. The "tee in the sump" technique is noted earlier in the thread where a tee is installed on the return line just above the water level to help quite the air/water mixture as it enters the sump. On a180 aga tank there are two overflows each with a hole for a 1" bulk head and a 3/4" bulk head. I am using Herbieââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s method and running the water through the two 1" bulkheads into a common 1 1/2 line, then through a valve and into the sump. The 3/4" are run through a separate line to the sump as an emergency overflow. The only problem is if there is a 100% blockage on the main return line the two 3/4" will not be able to keep up with the 2000 gal/hr water volume. As I mentioned above, I think the chances immediate 100% blockage on the return are slim, and the 3/4" line will make enough noise for me to correct any blockage that occurs over time
.

 

[comeon22222]

herbie, Great idea!! i know it works for sure because ive done it before, it is absolutly silent. Only thing was i only had one bulkhead and got nervous that somethign would get clogged or whatever so i just dealt with the noise. Now that i am putting together a new tank i am setting it up exactly as you have liad out. I never thought of putting a second backup drain. Thanks for the idea

 

[Phrogg]

KRussell,

No I saw what you meant. I was refering to an idea endymion had on the first page involving a tee inside the overflow with the gate valve above the tee. I thought endymions mod was a creative one, I just doubt that it will be as effective as herbies

I'm currently setting up a 540, I'm having a second 1" hole drilled in each overflow to eliminate that little worry about the emergency drains holding the flow.

 

[nelson4u]

Herbie,

You are the man !!
After wasting most of my weekend trying to make the Durso's work and the "sump silencer" with the T fitting for my 140, I luckily came across this thread.

Now don't get me wrong everybody the Durso's did fine with the noise up top in the overflow box, but the problem is Durso's work only by sucking air in which which pours into your sump, which defeats the whole purpose of the quiet overflow because your sump is louder than a jacuzzi.

I tried every combination of T fittings and different size PVC in the sump with all kinds of different elbows, but the noise would not stop.

I have this tank next to bigscreen TV in a home theater setting and wanted it absoutely quiet.

For those of you who said Herbie's idea will only work for low flow, I am using a Dolphin 2700 pump and after all losses I am running pump wide open which is giving me 1800 GPH through my sump without a bit of sound. This is amazing.

Luckily I drilled my 4 bulkhead holes large enough to put in 1 1/2" drains. One of them is the main drain and the other is the emergency drain. I used 2" PVC with a 1 1/2" threaded reducer for the emergency drain. I can completely block off the main drain and the emergency drain handles it no problem. It is also nice that you can dial in exactly how high you want the water in the overflow box to minimize the waterfall, just by adjusting the ball valve.

If anyone is tired of the rushing bubbling water in the sump you really need to try this. It truley is dead silent once properly adjusted.

Thanks again for the great mod Herbie.