Non drilled tank alternatives- My DIY overflow...

echo from air vent

Todd, I have read through your threads and liked what I saw as I have a 55 gallon non drilled tank. I just got into the hobby a few months ago and have spent far more than planned so doing this as opposed to purchasing a different overflow that didn't suck was good for my wife and my wallet lol. anyway I have taken your design and built the same / very similar design for my tank and there is a lot of echo from the air vent pipe. I know you said this was a quiet system (one of the reasons i chose it) but right now it is not quiet lol. Just wondering if you could point me in the right direction for trouble shooting? I will try to post a picture today or tomorrow of my setup.

 

OK, I'm glad to try and help.A main advantage to this type of system is the low cost of construction and the ease of modifying/building/rebuilding the system.

Echo from the air vent pipe?
I'm assuming that is the second upright, that I also put a 90 degree bend on so it will hang from the back of my tank on the 2 supports?

I also have a cap, non glued on that vent pipe, with a 1/4 inch hole it the cap and a short air line/ 1/4inch OD plastic tube- in the hole.
So it still can 'vent' and equalize the bottom loops in a power out/off.

Have you tried this? Feel free to post here, and/or PM me.
Happy to try and help either way.

A recent FTS:

 

I do have a 90 degree bend in mine and there is a hole to vent BUT it is not big enough for an air hose right now. ill try that shortly and see if that helps.

 

had to drill a larger hole... using a 3/16 bit and some finagling lol... but its night and day different. now the only noticable sound is the sound of the water falling down the pipe in the back towards the U any tips on that one?

 

Well, that depends on the flow thru the overflow, the type of tubing you're using, etc.

Are you sure it's the sound of the water falling towards the bottom loop?

Are you going to basement sump, or in stand?
Is it making too much noise going to the sump? Do you have a reverse durso where it goes in to the sump?
Is the inner diameter of the tube to the sump corrugated, or smooth?

What size did you build?

Could I/we see a pic?

 

I am using 20 mm pvc pipe (im overseas)
I am pretty sure its the sound from the water falling. I do not know how to create a full syphon if that is the problem. I have a hole to create the siphon and have an aqua lifter on the way but whenever I suck on the tube hooked to the one way air valve there its instantly full of water no water bubbles like you would expect if it was losing suction that way.
the sump is in stand it doesnt make any noise in the sump cause the pipe is in the water.

Im sorry idk what a reverse durso is.?
the tube to the pump is smooth flexible (kinda) black pipe. before the ball valve that is right before the black flex pipe I have strictly pvc pipe (the ball valve and flex pipe were already hooked together from a previous use)

I just tried to attach a photo hopefully it works

 

Thanks for the pictures - it looks good!

20mm is about 3/4 inch- not really very big diameter.

It's going to make SOME sounds, you just don't want it too loud though, I agree.

You don't need an aqualifter in most all cases. I haven't used one in years on mine.
If the flow is fast enough, it pulls all the air right thru it, and won't stip the siphon on the top loop.
I do have an airline with knots on my vavle, so if the valve leaks, no air will get in.

The reverse durso is a simple device made of pipes for the end that goes in to the sump, to quiet down the noise the bubbles can create.

Also- I got rid of any valves on the overflow pipe.
Do not try and adjust the outflow with a valve with this kind of overflow- it will lead to a tank overflow.

You could try more holes in the vent cap, and put small pieces of tape over some until you get the noise and function the way you want it.

I hope this helps,
Todd

 

well the size that I have in the tank as the 'overflow' is the largest size they had in black lol I didn't really want to paint it. but I had thought of covering it with crushed coral and making it look like a coral column... if I decide to redo it I will go up a size or two. the noise really isn't bad. there is no longer any noise from the air vent and now there is just a little noise from the water draining into overflow (depending on how high the return flow is compared to overflow = water level in pipe) and the mildly annoying one which is the flow to U but as I said it is much quieter than it was. can i post a video on here? i can try n take a video next to it to show the noise its making lol

 

Todd,
I just noticed that your vent pipe comes all the way back up with a 90 over the top of your DT. Is this in case the siphon cause a back flow out that pipe also?
I also noticed you put a comment about not using valves on your overflow drain to the sump. How do you get it to stop if you need to work on something?

 

frizz - i covered my overflow columns with base rock and plan on placing my corals here. Made sort of a rock tower. Also I made a few mods to Todds design and mine are very quiet. 1st instead of mine overflowing over the edge i drilled a series of holes around the edge (2 rows) so that the water drains through there and then only in extreme cases will it flow over the top of the tower. Also around my 1" pipe inside the tower i placed a full wrap of sponge. 1 - this captures any trash on the way down - 2 - holds the 1" pipe steady inside the tower and - 3- quiets the water on the way down.

I'm going to make some more changes to mine. I noticed that his and your vent pipe both come back up and over the top of the DT with a 90 there and i have a ball valve at the end of mine before the sump (going to remove this)

Here are some pics of my build. There are shots of the overflows in there.
(e)2 interactive Photo Gallery