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

[trilinearmipmap]

Last night I set up Herbies Silent Overflow System on my 120 gallon tank. It has a Mag 12 return and 2 overflows, each overflow has a 3/4" pipe (emergency return) and 1" pipe (main return).

The overflow and sump are now SILENT. I can hear a quiet whirr from my Mag 12, that is the only noise the tank makes.

I will look at making a lid for my sump and that should take care of the Mag noise.

IMO this method is excellent and Herbie has my congratulations and my thanks.

Just wondering for those who have set up this system, how high above the standpipe opening have you set the water level, I have mine working well now but I want to optimize it so there is a margin of error in case the water level in the overflow goes up or down by a few inches due to random variations in waterflow, partial blockage of holes in the standpipe, etc.

 

[nelson4u]

I posted heree a while back. I set up my 140 with this method and it has been running great and silent for about 3 weeks now. Thanks again Herbie.

I am wondering though if this method decreases the oxygenation of the water due to eliminating all the air in the lines going to the sump ? So far my PH has been staying at 8.1 and I have no problems. I was just thinking about this.

Has anyone been running this way for a longer time and do you think this will affect the oxygenation and off gasing of the water at all ?

 

[trilinearmipmap]

I was thinking the same thing about the oxygenation as the crashing turbulence of water mixed with air going down the drain pipes must help with oxygenation and blowing off CO2.

I would imagine as long as you have a good skimmer helping to oxygenate the tank there should be no problem. One way to tell would be to test pH with and without the silent overflow system (just crank the ball valves wide open to test pH without the silent overflow system). This would not measure oxygenation directly but would help to assess CO2 concentration which is another measure of the efficiency of gas exchange. If the pH drops with this system then gas exchange is impaired.

 

[Brian1f1]

my fans are the LOUDEST! part of my tank....

 

[EricG]

reply to GoTRiCe19

reply to GoTRiCe19

My setup is pretty simple. I'll list each part in order form the overflow box to the sump:
1. 10 inch section of 1 inch diameter SCH 40 PVC pipe glued to
2. 1" SLIP X MNPT adapter screwed into
3. 1" bulkhead fitting which is treaded on both sides
4. 1" MNPT X flexible tubing nipple adapter
5. maybe 4-5 inches of flexible vinyl tubing
6. another 1" MNPT X flexible tubing nipple adapter
7. 1 " PVC ball valve with FNPT on both sides (some recomend using a gate valve instead of a ball valve because it alows more precise adjustments).
8. another 1" MNPT X flexible tubing nipple adapter
9. 18-24 inches of flexible tubing The only important thing is the have enough tubing so that the end is submerged. I have enough so that it reaches to the farthest corner of my sump away from the return pump.

Then for the emergency backup line I have a 3/4" PVC pipe that is about 18 inches attached in the same manner except there is no ball valve and the end of the line is not submerged.

Everything was purchased locally at Lowe's home center except for the bulkheads which I ordered from Aquatic Eco systems (http://www.aquaticeco.com/).

Hope this helps,
Eric

 

[GoTRiCe19]

Thank you so much. I'm going to HD this weekend to get all the parts. Can't wait to silent my overflow. No more counting sheep.

 

[Aquaduck]

What's the difference between aquaticeco's "high quality" bulkheads and "inexpensive" bulkheads, other than the price of course? Is there a chance the cheap ones will break or breakdown after years?

 

[Qdoggie]

The higher quality are much thicker and I believe they are sch 80. You need to double check your hole sizes because they do require more room than a standard bulkhead.

The inexpensive ones are a little more fragile when it comes to tightening. Most people tighten too much. It is recommended that you go just about finger tight then a quarter turn. I am a little on the strong side and cracked mine going finger tight. So be careful, they work just as well.

 

[EricG]

What's the difference between aquaticeco's "high quality" bulkheads and "inexpensive" bulkheads, other than the price of course? Is there a chance the cheap ones will break or breakdown after years?

The most important issue in selecting your bulkhead is getting the dimensions correct. I really like the AES catalog and web site because they give exact dimensions. If you look closely you will note that not all 1" bulkheads will fit in the same hole size. So I recomend that you first measure the exact diameter of the hole in your aquarium and then see which bulkhead will fit. I also recommend getting the threaded instead of the slip type fittings because I have found that bulkheads are hard to find locally and if you want to change something threaded conections can be removed were as glued/slip conections are like diamonds (forever).

As far as quality, I did not buy the "high quality" bulkhead and I am completely satisfied with the quality. Inaddition to aquariun nuts, AES sells supplies for hard core aquaculture applications. Unless you are buying a bulkhead for a 10,000 gallon hatchery type system, the regular bulkheads should work just fine.

Eric

 

[Aquaduck]

Thanks for your help.

 

[8mpg]

Just wanted to say, Im going with Herbie's method tomorrow. Im redoing the lower half of my plumbing tomorrow. Im only running one overflow with no backup. My return area in teh sump only holds 1 gal of water so even if the overflow gets clogged it wont overflow my tank.

Im workin on some float switches that will turn off the pump if the tank water gets too high or if the sump return area gets too low. We will see what happens.

 

[Aquaduck]

Shutting off the pump with some sort of level controller is the best way to prevent all sorts of "accidents". More people should be protecting thier tanks and pumps like that.

 

[trilinearmipmap]

As far as plumbing from the drain pipe to the sump, I really recommend hard pvc plumbing rather than flexible tube.

I had my system set up with flexible tubing and Dursos for water tests, twice I spilled several gallons of water on the carpet due to unintentional/unforseen siphons forming. The flexible tubing just doesn't stay where you want it to and has a nasty habit of flipping/flopping into the wrong place and causing a flood.

My system is now hard plumbed except for the last one foot of the drains into the sump which is flexible tubing to allow me better access to the sump.

 

[upsetter]

Herbie--ditto to the above post. Worked great on my 58. I have a sea-swirl return & this does take some fine tuning. I also have to have a trickle down the emergency drain for most of the time, but you can't hear it. As the swirl points directly at the overflow box & then rotates away the flow inside the box would also rise & fall. But, just adjust the gate valve slightly & ahhh, bye-bye hissing Durso. Anyhow--just wanted to say thanks!

 

[upsetter]

Whoops--thought i was "dittoing" the last post in the thread but apparently I wasn't at the last post Anyhow-Thanks Herbie!

 

[nanokeeper]

Thank you

Thank you

Herbie,

I just set up a 90 gallon with your Ultra quiet overflow and must thank you for posting your idea. I have the 1" overflow tee'd off to a refugium and then going through a gate valve to the sump. I tested the 3/4 " emergency pipe and it worked like a charm.

This past weekend I put it to work and after some minor adjustments with the ball valve on the refugium and the gate valve, the level of the water stabilized and the noise dissapeared.

This is exactly what I was looking for. My current 15 gallon setup that is 4 feet away sounds like a waterfall with 200 gallons falling to the sump (with a stockman pipe) compared to the 800 gallons going into the sump on my 90.

Thanks so much.

Pete

 

[sseaner]

Where can I get that perforated stand pipe?

 

[fourkows]

Yea, I'm looking for perforated stand pipe too....anyone?

 

[Qdoggie]

anyone use this on a 180 with 4 drains. Id like to see how you plumbed underneath. Im torn between using tee's or wye's on my flex piping.

 

[Herbie]

Great Feedback !!!!!!!

Great Feedback !!!!!!!

Hey all,
I am sorry I have not checked in lately. I have been very busy lately, and I have been out of town quite a bit. I have been getting a LOT of P.M.'s about this mod, so I am sorry if I havent gotten back to everybody.......I am trying. This post is really taking off, so others who have tried it may be able to give some advise as well.
Thanks for all the good feedback, from the ones who have tried and benifitted from it. It really does work well, as others can now attest! I kew that ther would be some that would challenge the idea and concept, but you cant knock it untill you try it! I was not impyling that it was a "fix-all", just some advance plumbing for any fanatical reefers (like myself) that wanted a silent reeftank. Mine is now flowing about 750gph completely silent.
I also was wondering about oxygen levels beeing depleted, with less surface water agitation. I fiqure that most of us are running a skimmer of some sort, so that should more than make up for the depleted oxygen levels and co2 build up. The number one question I have been getting is about the about the perferated standpipe. I am not sure where this can be purchased. I got about a 20" piece of it with my oceanic 58RR. Back when the overflow was not the factory durso type. Maybe all-glass or oceanic can steer us in the right direction. As far as lengths of pipe and specific plumbing routing.........that is kind of a trial and error kind of undertaking..........you will definately get to know the ins and outs PVC. Gate valves are definately the prefered type of valve over ball valves.
I am glad to here that this has worked for some of us. That was only my intent. Just to explain a method that worked so well for me, that I felt it would also work for others. Thats the Great thing about RC. Where one can share an idea, concept or variation of a proven method....good or bad.......that may benefit ONE or ALL of us. If I see an idea that I feel wont work for me, I just wont try it, I dont argue the point much because it may benefit someone else at the same time. In the end.........its each to there own.
Thanks all..........and good luck.............Herbie