H
holdendaniel
Guest
just got back from barrier reef picked up overflow kit and a ehiem pump just need skimmer and able to start the tank
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
runtowin777
Active member
nice setup man. i wish i knew how to work with wood
H
holdendaniel
Guest
got 4 coats of black on tank on my way to get more paint and more silicone. was only able to get 1 baffle in per tube of silicone.. $$$$
mfinn
Surgeonfish
H
holdendaniel
Guest
dap household adhesive silicone 3.98$ a tube (aquarium and food safe a must) cant find in full size silicone tube
Bosco83
Well-known member
You can use silicone 1 from home depot just make sure there isn't mildew stuff in it.
H
holdendaniel
Guest
just got plimbed and water tested!!!
H
holdendaniel
Guest
any suggestions on how to quite the skimmer outlet? and the refuge side just needs a light top flow?
NWDiver
Swimming with the fishes
Is the noise from the water falling into the sump, or the output from the skimmer?
H
holdendaniel
Guest
the water falling into the skimmer setion from drain i tried putting 6" piece of pvc to make water exit from under water but it made a gargling noise
mfinn
Surgeonfish
I've read that putting a pvc tee at the end of that pipe that goes to the bottom of the sump will help also.
NWDiver
Swimming with the fishes
Does the gargle come from the overflow or the sump?
I'm not sure about posting links to other sites so...
Google "herbie overflow" or "durso overflow" both seem to work really well.
I made a modified durso, but i have to use a filter bag to eliminate micro-bubbles.
I'm not sure about posting links to other sites so...
Google "herbie overflow" or "durso overflow" both seem to work really well.
I made a modified durso, but i have to use a filter bag to eliminate micro-bubbles.
H
holdendaniel
Guest
thats on the skimmer side correct? yea its the sump gargling the megaflow is so darn quite cant even hear it.
jrgilles
Well-known member
I have also heard this, and have this in my system. The drain goes down to sump level and then turns. Right where it turns down into the sump, I have a Tee put in, with a short 3" piece of pipe and a cap going up and then a pipe going down into the sump, which extends about 2 inches or so under water.
I have 2 drains and have done this on both drains. I think it is standard plumbing and stops the pipes from knocking. If you look under your kitchen sink or bath tub plumbing, you will see the same kind of thing. If your sink doesn't have this, when you shut off the water, you will here a thud back in the wall when the falling water breaks the vacuum.
I have no noise in my drain lines, but I am also doing a herbie style drain, so not sure if this helps keep it quiet or not. My plumbing makes zero noise though.
rob
NWDiver
Swimming with the fishes
I forgot to ask how big the return pump is, or how much water you are pushing into the display tank. From what I read, you should match (ball or gate valve) the amount of water that your protien skimmer can process. As the others noted, if you Tee the bottom of the overflow pipe it will help some. I use a coupler just below the water level and don't glue it so I can remove the bottom length of pipe to replace the filter sock. A friend of mine has a 90 at the water surface so the water level in the 90 is half water half air, a short piece of pvc, then a Tee with the open part of the Tee pointing up. This lets the air exit vertically and makes his sump very quiet. It does require that the sump water level stay really close via ATO.
jrgilles
Well-known member
Throttling down the return pump with a ball or gate valve will decrease the life of the pump (it is the equivalent of putting more head pressure on, so it makes the pump work a lot harder.)
IMO a better way to throttle down the return pump is to put a Tee in the line going back to the DT, then off of the Tee, have a pipe going back into the sump regulated by a ball or gate valve. With this setup, if you want to decrease flow to the tank, you can open the valve a bit and let part of the water cycle back to the sump. This decreases flow to the DT and actually makes it easier on the pump, instead of increasing pressure and making the pump work harder.
I actually have a "+" fitting on my return line, where the bottom goes to the pump output, the top goes to the display tank, the right goes to a valve that returns to the sump incase I want to control flow, and the left side goes to another valve that hooks to a flexible drain line for doing water changes.
Really, if you are having to divert any significant amount of water from the return pump to keep the system in balance, you are better off getting a return pump of the proper size, as it is way more energy effecient. No reason to have a pump that is moving more water than you want where you have to deal with excess...
IMO a better way to throttle down the return pump is to put a Tee in the line going back to the DT, then off of the Tee, have a pipe going back into the sump regulated by a ball or gate valve. With this setup, if you want to decrease flow to the tank, you can open the valve a bit and let part of the water cycle back to the sump. This decreases flow to the DT and actually makes it easier on the pump, instead of increasing pressure and making the pump work harder.
I actually have a "+" fitting on my return line, where the bottom goes to the pump output, the top goes to the display tank, the right goes to a valve that returns to the sump incase I want to control flow, and the left side goes to another valve that hooks to a flexible drain line for doing water changes.
Really, if you are having to divert any significant amount of water from the return pump to keep the system in balance, you are better off getting a return pump of the proper size, as it is way more energy effecient. No reason to have a pump that is moving more water than you want where you have to deal with excess...
NWDiver
Swimming with the fishes
From what I read it is counter-intutive. A quick check with a Kill-a-watt will show that restricting the output side will use less power, and (aparently) poses no risk of early wear on the pump at all. I checked on two of my pumps and sure enough, reduce flow and the power use drops as well. Go figure. Reducing the INPUT on the other hand is bad.Your advice is solid re: purchasing a properly sized pump in the first place. If his is currently oversized he can test it with a valve for little money.
I really like the idea of using the return for water changes. I have not seen that before.
That is now on my list of things to do!
mfinn
Surgeonfish
jrgilles
Well-known member
Huh, that is interesting that it uses less wattage. I should pick up a watt meter, I think I would get good use out of it.
Your advice is solid re: purchasing a properly sized pump in the first place. If his is currently oversized he can test it with a valve for little money.
I really like the idea of using the return for water changes. I have not seen that before.
That is now on my list of things to do!
What I said about diverting instead of restricting the return line sounds like it might not be correct then. I was more reciting what I have picked up from many conversations on RF, and I guess I have no emperical evidence to back up what I said. Sounds like NWDiver might be correct in this then. If it doesn't hurt the pump, it seems that constricting the pipe with a valve and also lowering the wattage used by the pump isn't a bad option then. It is simpler than adding something to divert flow, like i put in on my system.
And using the return pump for water changes is awesome. I highly recommend adding something into the plumbing to do this.
