Gurgling Overflows :(

[kylle]

Hey guys,

So i recently set up my salt water aquarium and im having a bit of trouble eliminating the gurgling noise coming from the overflows into the sump.

Its not over the top loud but i just want to know if i can completely eliminate it at all?

The first picture (sorry for my crappy paint work, i couldnt get the photos to work) is of the general tank and where the overflows are positioned.

I have "T" pieces attatched to try and get rid of it but there is still some noise present.

The second picture is a side view of what the "T" pieces look like position wise and how close they are to the top glass.

Any help would be awesome.

kind regards

kylle

[Craigo]

Shove some dense foam in the top of the tee's it only needs to breath & the foam will vastly reduce the noise matey

[kylle]

alright ill have a look around the place and see if i have any sitting around and give it a go, thanks heaps

[aquaholic99]

The noise is caused from air getting sucked in/trying to escape. Re-arrangement so your T is on outside will allow air to escape much better. Reducing rate of water drainage or increasing diameter of drainage pipes are other options to reduce noise as these will also allow air escape to improve.

[kylle]

yeah i know what causes it, i was just asking if there were any reasonably easy ways to reduce the noise. the top of the T is outside the water, im not sure what you mean so its on outside?

i will look into bigger diameter hoses but if the foam in the top of the T doesnt work.

thanks

[ash]

the tee needs to be on the outside of the tank....

A push on cap with a small 1/8th hole drilled in it will virtually silence any noise.

[Fish Junkie]

This question has been asked 100,s

Of times !

If the search feature worked Kylle could have

Found it easy

FJ

[aquaholic99]

yeah i know what causes it, i was just asking if there were any reasonably easy ways to reduce the noise. the top of the T is outside the water, im not sure what you mean so its on outside?

i will look into bigger diameter hoses but if the foam in the top of the T doesnt work.

thanks

If you look at your configuration there is a bottleneck where the pipe goes through the glass. Any air trying to escape has to battle against the water flow to get out and will invariably be dragged down the drain pipe creating the gurgle.

If you place the T on the outside, the air can escape out the top easily. You will have to tweak the inside to set water level (various designs) or have a T on both inside and out.

[grubby]

Reminds me of my first home made sump system for a 4ft reef tank back in 1990. I used flex 25mm electrical conduit and fittings, that thing gurgled like a *******. drove me nuts as I had it in my room .

[kylle]

Yeah i know its been asked plenty of times and i did quite a bit of searching around before asking but there isnt much specific to my situation so i figured a draw up and a question would be easy enough.

Where the T Is in the setup it has direct air flow to it theres no obstruction from the glass its hard to explain but there wouldnt be much difference placing the T on the inside or the outside.

I managed to find a few pieces of foam laying around and they have dropped the noise a decent amount. I looked into the pipe cap with a hole in it but that would only work if i were to move the T To the outside and from what ive read its not always the answer.

Thanks for all the input guys.

[kylle]

If you look at your configuration there is a bottleneck where the pipe goes through the glass. Any air trying to escape has to battle against the water flow to get out and will invariably be dragged down the drain pipe creating the gurgle.

If you place the T on the outside, the air can escape out the top easily. You will have to tweak the inside to set water level (various designs) or have a T on both inside and out.

Only problem with this is that too much water will be flowing into the sump and the return wont be able to keep up with the overflow. As in my diagram the water is about 3/4 covering the overflow. If i fully submerge then the flow is too quick and im yet to find somewhere that commercially sells hose ended ball valves.

[aquaholic99]

Your not understanding what I'm explaining. You will need to regulate water level within the tank as well as release air bubbles. There are multiple methods of regulating the water level within the tank. I'm not going to detail each and every method.

If you want a very simple solution, just reduce the flow rate down to sump until you cant hear any noise.

[kylle]

Your not understanding what I'm explaining. You will need to regulate water level within the tank as well as release air bubbles. There are multiple methods of regulating the water level within the tank. I'm not going to detail each and every method.

If you want a very simple solution, just reduce the flow rate down to sump until you cant hear any noise.

No i completely understand what you're saying, so something like this?

[Craigo]

No that's not what he is say. Almost but ditch the bits INSIDE the tank.

The only thing you want INSIDE the tank is the bulkhead strainer. A vertically running tee price OUTSIDE the tank is all you need

[kylle]

the reason i left the stuff on the inside was so i dont have to worry about restricting waterflow as i cannot find a ball valve for a hose anywhere as the current way its set up feeds the sump an even amount to how much the pump returns. if that makes any sense? If i can find somewhere that sells valves for hoses the ill be sweet and can ditch all the inside stuff.

[Craigo]

Bunnings for ball valves mate, not hard. Or irrigation shops plenty around...

[kylle]

been to bunnings mate and irrigation shops, plenty of ball valves none with the hose end i need.

[ash]

It sounds like you need to add another outlet, or put a tee piece just after the pump return with a tap on it so you can actually adjust the flow rate supplying the tank without putting any strain on the pump which would happen if you put a tap inline. The excess water not being pushed to the tank just recirculates back into the sump...

You do really need to put the tees in the outside as already mentioned several times to achieve what you are wanting, whether you put a cap on like I have or jam a bit of foam in it is up to you, but yeah that's my input take it or leave it.

Edited September 30, 2015 by ash