loud drain to sump (air bubbles), how to quiet?

[JBendel]

Sorry to hear you cracked the pane, but it looks like you 've got the bubble / noise down to manageable .... if you decide to fixing the baffle ... I used plexiglass from Home Despot, ... you could cover the broken glass with another glasss pane or plexi to give support and call it fixed.

Good luck,

J.B.

 

[nunofs]

Thanks J.B.... I'll see if the cracked baffle holds, as it's a pain to have to drain the sump to silicone a new baffle in place. I may end up doing what you suggested and just brace the cracked baffle with a smaller piece of glass or plexi.

Nuno

 

[Reef55]

I set up a 40 gallon reef in my bedroom about 6 weeks ago, and just got an ecosystem sump / fuge setup for it. I was worried about sound as well being in my bedroom, and went with an idea I found on reefs.org (I think). There are two drains, one is purely backup. In the first picture, the tube on the left is the primary. There is a ball valve going down to the sump on that one. The other (the backup tube), does not have a valve... it is a straight shot. Once the water is flowing (return pump is on), I slowly closed the drain valve until it kept the tube filled with water. It is a 100% perfectly silent with zero bubbles drain. The backup tube is there just in case the primary gets clogged. Not only will it take care of the extra water, but the extra noise of water going down that open pipe will serve as a nice warning.

I used a rotozip to cut the overflow pattern in the back of the tank, and made the external overflow box out of plexi from home depot. I am really liking the SCWD too, works great

Just another method (and simple!) of making a quiet return.

 

[NateHanson]

Nice Mark. I like your external overflow box. Neat idea with the teeth cut right in the back of the tank and all.

I've read that if you adjust that ball valve so that the water level is completely over the lower strainer it's even more quite and bubblefree, but if you're already silent and bubblefree then I guess that's a moot point.

Nate

 

[Reef55]

Nate, as long as the drain is kept full of water, where the level actually sits doesn't matter.

I am really liking the external overflow... takes up zero room in the tank, and there is no siphon tube to break.

 

[NateHanson]

I think the reasoning I was reading was that when you have a system that is draining a lot of water fast, it will tend to create a whirlpool, and suck air into the center of the drain if the tube isn't below a few inches of water, but if you're not slurping, then you don't have that problem. Your flow is probably slow enough to avoid it.

Nate

 

[nunofs]

That is basically the same solution I had posted a couple of pages back (look for the link to a RC thread and a simple diagram I drew to illustrate the concept)... I tried it and it is indeed silent. But since I didn't want to convert my return line into a backup drain, and I'm not confortable with having a half-closed ball valve in a single drain with no backup, I decided against using it. It does work, though, and very well.

Nuno

 

[NateHanson]

I'd like to try something like this, but I don't have much room in my sump. Is it possible to have the tee above the water level in the sump? Or will that completely defeat the purpose of the apparatus. I know below the water is idea, but I can't fit it down there next to the skimmer.

Nate

 

[dedfish]

Hmmm...have a picture of the space? It might be possible, but I've having a hard time picturing it. Also how much flow are we talking about?

 

[NateHanson]

Flow is only from a mag5, up about 3 feet. The bubble trap has to fit in the same 8x12" compartment as my skimmer (a 6" cylinder) so there is more room in the corners behind my skimmer than across the whole width behind the skimmer. I can fit a 2" pipe down along one corner, but I can't put a T down there inside the sump, so I wonder if putting the T at the top edge of the tank (2" above the water line) would do any good.

 

[dedfish]

What about space arround the sump inside the stand? How roomy is that? Is there enough room to extend the bottom of the T into the sump but rest the T itself on the edge? Kinda like this:

 

[NateHanson]

That's precisely the plan dedfish. I'm wondering if having the Tee above the waterline like that, with a pipe extending to the bottom of the sump will still allow the bubbles to rise out.

Nate

 

[dedfish]

Hmm...maybe bec may have an opinion. I can't say for sure, but I thought the bubbles were released at the T point when the water rushing down the drain hits the T wall. I not sure if it matters if the T is underwater or not. I'd think the longer length of pipe off the bottom of the T would contain the bubbles better.

 

[NateHanson]

But if the waterlevel inside the pipe is well below the tee, I was concerned that the water would just splash down making new bubbles below the tee if I had it over the water level. Maybe if I reduced the bottom of the 2" pipe or rested it nearly on the bottom so the backpressure would raise the level higher in the T. If I can get the balance right that should work.

 

[DLCanuck]

What I did with mine is I put a P-trap under, just like under your kitchen sink. It works well.

 

[NateHanson]

How's that DL? Where's the trap, and in what orientation?