bgi
02/27/2004, 04:40 PM
Hi, Gregory,
I'm in search of a silent overflow system which will allow me to setup a virtually silent reef tank in my home. I will discuss my experience with overflows:
We have an aquarium setup with an overflow currently housing goldfish. I have tweaked the overflow a bit and have been able to reduce a good deal of the noise. However, it can still be bothersome when the house is very quiet. I believe there are a few sources of noise in the system:
1) The overflow itself: Water flowing from the main body of the tank over into the overflow chamber. Your articles discuss how to minimize this noise. I believe I have eliminated this noise in our tank.
2) The siphon-break in the return line. This is a small hole drilled into the return elbow. I believe this can be plugged if the return output is set high enough to prevent a large amount of water from siphoning down to the sump if power is cut. However, doing so is risky if the return is moved. I have been able to craft a diversion for this trickle to reduce it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
3) The water flowing down the standpipe and flex tube to the sump is a major source of noise. I have tried the Durso standpipe with limited success. I have seen the "Stockman" stanpipe: using smaller diameter pipes here to prevent the gurgle noise in this pipe/tube, but this seems risky, too. If the tube is so small, it could become restricted - leading to a flood.
I have come up with my own idea which will work on a system with the sump and a portion of the standpipe outside. A brief description:
A standard overflow box may be used. The standard vertical standpipe is extended down through the tank bulkhead to the floor level. There it makes a 90 degree turn through an outside wall. Outside the house, it goes through another 90 degree turn back to vertical. At a pre-determined height (A), the pipe then does a 180 turn back down into the sump.
A) Pre-determined height: This will determine the water level in the tank. Gravity will keep the entire run of standpipe from the overflow up to the 180 turn full of water. Hence, there will be no water falling or splashing noise inside the house. Once outside and at the 180, the water will fall into the sump.
Anyone please feel free to critique this design. I want an absolutely quiet overflow but also do not want a salt water flood in my living room.
I am working on a drawing for this. Visio is not working out, so I'm looking at other tools. Hopefully, it will help to visualize the setup.
thanks!
I'm in search of a silent overflow system which will allow me to setup a virtually silent reef tank in my home. I will discuss my experience with overflows:
We have an aquarium setup with an overflow currently housing goldfish. I have tweaked the overflow a bit and have been able to reduce a good deal of the noise. However, it can still be bothersome when the house is very quiet. I believe there are a few sources of noise in the system:
1) The overflow itself: Water flowing from the main body of the tank over into the overflow chamber. Your articles discuss how to minimize this noise. I believe I have eliminated this noise in our tank.
2) The siphon-break in the return line. This is a small hole drilled into the return elbow. I believe this can be plugged if the return output is set high enough to prevent a large amount of water from siphoning down to the sump if power is cut. However, doing so is risky if the return is moved. I have been able to craft a diversion for this trickle to reduce it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
3) The water flowing down the standpipe and flex tube to the sump is a major source of noise. I have tried the Durso standpipe with limited success. I have seen the "Stockman" stanpipe: using smaller diameter pipes here to prevent the gurgle noise in this pipe/tube, but this seems risky, too. If the tube is so small, it could become restricted - leading to a flood.
I have come up with my own idea which will work on a system with the sump and a portion of the standpipe outside. A brief description:
A standard overflow box may be used. The standard vertical standpipe is extended down through the tank bulkhead to the floor level. There it makes a 90 degree turn through an outside wall. Outside the house, it goes through another 90 degree turn back to vertical. At a pre-determined height (A), the pipe then does a 180 turn back down into the sump.
A) Pre-determined height: This will determine the water level in the tank. Gravity will keep the entire run of standpipe from the overflow up to the 180 turn full of water. Hence, there will be no water falling or splashing noise inside the house. Once outside and at the 180, the water will fall into the sump.
Anyone please feel free to critique this design. I want an absolutely quiet overflow but also do not want a salt water flood in my living room.
I am working on a drawing for this. Visio is not working out, so I'm looking at other tools. Hopefully, it will help to visualize the setup.
thanks!