silencing a loud skimmer return

[hoooop54]

I tried getting advice in the reef discussion and probably should have started here first. I recently had to tear down my tank to have some work done on our house. I took the opportunity to redo my 55 gallon sump. I raised the baffles up, since I made them too small the first time. I put a small platform in the tank for the skimmer. The skimmer's water height is the same as before, but it is way louder. The skimmer is a Reef Octopus XS200 Diablo. It appears there is more water going through the skimmer, which is driving the noise coming out of the return. I would like to figure out a way to silence the return from the skimmer. Do you think there is a way to add plumbing on the end to have the return go directly into the water? Any other ideas on how to get it to run more silent?

 

[PrimoReefer]

I have the same skimmer and HAD the same problem. That thing was ridiculously loud. I bought the output vent (below) and its almost silent now. You can probably make one.

http://www.coralvue.com/reef-octopus-protein-skimmer-50mm-output-vent

 

[hoooop54]

Primo, where is the venting on the piece? It definitely looks like something that I could make. I actually have a bunch of extra plumbing sitting around that should work.

 

[McPuff]

There are some really simple DIY videos on youtube. The one I have tried involves a pill bottle, a drill, and an extra piece of tubing. There are many options though and you definitely don't need to spend $20 on a silencer.

 

[ca1ore]

If the noise is coming from the water output from the skimmer, just go to a plumbing store and buy the fittings to make the device shown in th elink in post #2. If the noise is from air suction though the venturi then either run the air line outside of build a silencer using a pill bottle.

 

[sleepydoc]

Here's what I did…
[
url]http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2273388&highlight=skimmer[/url]

 

[mikespeed6]

not too sure on your skimmer but on mine I just ran a 90 degree elbow from the outlet hole and a short piece of pvc until it dumped below the water level. just make sure you drill a small hole in the top of the elbow to prevent siphoning

 

[mikespeed6]

you may need to vent the plumbing to prevent siphoning if the return goes into the sump water level. had that happen on one of my set-ups

 

[m0nkie]

How big of pvc? 1.25 inchs?