mrshall1027 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 My husband and I just filled up our 75g tank and sump/refugium tonight and we are having issues with the plumbing. It's extremely loud unless the overflow box is filled and once filled, it is too much water and the sump begins to overflow. We have a Aqueon AQ1700 pump (264-449gph) which seems to be pumping the water pretty well back into the tank. We just have plastic plumbing, so no valves or anything to adjust the flow. Pic below for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Take some water out? Maybe figure out where the water line needs to be for your system to be able to run, and to not run in order not to overflow. That would be my initial guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 it looks like its loud due to the drain hose either having to much slack in it, and or the end of the drain hose might be submerged too deep into the water in the sump. as far as it overflowing, that sump looks a little shallow for your system, the baffles are only a few inches away from the top of the sump, thats gonna suck in case of power outage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 and yes, reduce the amount of water in the return pump chamber, and test it in case of a power outage, the way you do that is simply disconnect the return pump and make sure it doesnt overflow, when you find the proper water level to where it wont overflow, mark it on the return pump chamber and dont ever fill that chambber up over that line! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 So I removed some water from the return chamber, down to where the pump was barely covered and it will still overflow when the pump is turned off. I have no idea what we are doing wrong here... As for the noise, it's coming from the overflow, so shortening the drain hose doesn't seem like it would help with that. Or am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarkiiCircus Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 If its coming from the overflow, its probably air bubbles getting trapped; either the top or the bottom. If its trapped in the top, try putting a straw or airline tubing down the piping on the back of the overflow box to allow trapped air to escape. We also keep a folded towel over the top of ours (stops light that causes algae growth, and the quiets gurgling. ) If its trapped at the bottom due to a waterfall effect you could also put a shower sponge at the bottom to lessen the noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 it actyually will cause its causing back pressure at the end of the hose! or maybe your drain pipe inside your overflow box is too short making a waterfall noise from the overflow teeth onto the water on the other side. also your return pipe might have a hole drilled in it to act as a siphon break and it is above the water line shooting water out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindside Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 when the pump is shut off and water keeps coming in, is it cause your drain hose is still taking in water? or is it coming in from the return pump itself? the return pipe up top might not have a siphon break in it like i stated above and when the pump is disconnected it creates a siphon causing water to return back into the sump sorry if its confusing, there are a number of possibilities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 My husband and I just filled up our 75g tank and sump/refugium tonight and we are having issues with the plumbing. It's extremely loud unless the overflow box is filled and once filled, it is too much water and the sump begins to overflow. We have a Aqueon AQ1700 pump (264-449gph) which seems to be pumping the water pretty well back into the tank. We just have plastic plumbing, so no valves or anything to adjust the flow. Pic below for reference. wheres the pump left or on the right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Okay I see it now you need to put it on the other side of the sump cuz it's flowing in the wrong direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 This might help 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Turn the flow down on the return pump and see if it solves the problem. If this is a single overflow line, you may need to keep the turnover fairly low to prevent the toilet sound every few seconds. There are basically 2 ways to keep an overflow silent. First is to run the primary line at a full siphon, which requires 2 or 3 drains to safely accomplish. The second is to run the overflow vented at about 30 - 50% of rated flow. This sometimes has to be lower due to the hardware and dynamics of the exact setup. By doing this, the overflow maintains a channel of air in the center of the tubing and the water flows smoothly on the outer wall. Too much flow and the channel collapses and you get gurgling gulping etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Grim, thanks for the diagram (my next step was to get in touch with you to see how you had it set up). Does the pump absolutely need to be on the other side? I'd like to avoid having to buy more tubing if at all possible. Blindside, I am not sure if the return pipe has a hole in or not, and I haven't thought to pin point where the water was coming in from. I'll check on all of that tonight. Thanks for the info! The noise is happening because the overflow box fills up, then goes down the drain hose, then empties out into the sump. So, it's more of a filling then spilling sound. I've tried adjusting the height of the drain pipe in the overflow box, but that doesn't help. I'll see if I can adjust the flow on the pump; I figured that wouldn't be the problem because the pump is already on the small side for my tank size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Grim, thanks for the diagram (my next step was to get in touch with you to see how you had it set up). Does the pump absolutely need to be on the other side? I'd like to avoid having to buy more tubing if at all possible I would say that would be your best bet Blindside, I am not sure if the return pipe has a hole in or not, and I haven't thought to pin point where the water was coming in from. I'll check on all of that tonight. Thanks for the info! The noise is happening because the overflow box fills up, then goes down the drain hose, then empties out into the sump. So, it's more of a filling then spilling sound. I've tried adjusting the height of the drain pipe in the overflow box, but that doesn't help. I'll see if I can adjust the flow on the pump; I figured that wouldn't be the problem because the pump is already on the small side for my tank size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Ok, just my .02c, but wouldnt it make more sense to turn the sump around in the stand? Have the drain come straight down into the sump and use a filter sock? Could put a skimmer in there if need be. Considering your return is positive pressure and not grav feed, it doesnt matter that the pump would have to push the water further across and then back up. With that raised section you could plumb your return into the side of the sump and utilize a "spray" design for a turf scrubber. That would be awesome! With water having to drain down your line now and then back up (due to the upward curve in tubing), then back down, its going to trap air in there and you will end up with a gurgle sound. Also, your drain pipe be it a durso or a gurgle buster will not work right with that much water restriction due to down/up/down tubing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasrob Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 May want to do a durso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 May want to do a durso +1 on this and I run reverse durso's on the outlet end of my drains. Keeps my tanks from "burping". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Got it all figured out! Thanks so much for all the input. We added two 90 degree elbows to the intake pipe and that completely muffled the sound. Also, drilled a hole towards the top of the return pipe just above the water level to keep it from siphoning the water (reason for the sump overflowing). It's all working like a charm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 so whats the point of the higher chamber in that sump? It looks like a drip tray where you put a filter pad but I dont even see water moving through it.... why was it built up like that if no water gets used there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrshall1027 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 I'm not really sure why it was used by the previous owner. We are using it as a splash guard and will eventually put live rock in there. We got it from Grim, so he can elaborate on it's intended use if he sees this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 i got it used but i used it as a refugium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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