Durso pipe questions - Update

[ellisz]

I am finally getting my 29 gal tank running with the HOB overflow. I ditched the Rio pump and got a Mag 5 from captivereefs. The computer room is quiet again!

Now I am working on the water sound. I constructed a durso pipe from 1" pvc fittings just like on his website. He says to use 1.25" but that would not fit in my overflow box. The drain line is 1" as well.

The first attempt had the tank filling faster than the drain. I adjusted it a bit and seemed to have it working. Then the water in the overflow box started fluctuating up and down. I took the cap off the top and it fixed that but the water level was a little higher than I wanted. I noticed that with the cap on(with the small hole drilled), the water level was good but over time it would go up and down. With the cap off the levels stayed steady but was a bit high.

I ended up making the hole just a bit bigger and all seems ok but I worry about "something" changing and the tank overflowing. I do not have anything glued at this point.

Does what I am describing seem right and normal?

Thanks for the help.

[GrndHog]

If its working the way its suppose to with the cap off and the sucking sound is not present then you have what you wanted, a quiet overflow. Dont fix it if its not broken.

I have two durso design pipes and one stockman design in my overflow. I like the stockman because it dosent have that elbow and its ajustable (up and down)

[ellisz]

I never said the suckng sound was not there Only with the cap on does the sound get reduced.

Might have to check out the stockman. Seems like I spend to much time in the PVC section of HD lately ...

[loganj]

I'm thinking the Stockman design is what I have on my 20 high. It's sort of a muffler for the overflow. I ran a piece of icemaker tubing into the vent hole in the cap. It runs from there down into the bottom of the stand. There is still a little gurgle, but you can't hear it unless you have your head inside the stand. Works very well.

[GrndHog]

I know what your saying about the time you spend in the plumbing section. I've probably logged 30+ hours in my local Lowes store.

To save room in my overflow on my durso, I put a 1 1/4 to 1 inch elbow instead of a 1 1/4 to 1 1/4 elbow.

Like I said, I have 3 and all 3 are completely silent. You are going to have to play w/ the hole size on top of your cap, I have what is recommended on mine.

[ellisz]

Alright, went to Home Depot today and have just finished making my Stockman pipe. Only cost about $4 in parts I did not have already

Couple of questions ...

I cut 2 big holes just like the author did and I had the opening about 1" above the wall divider of the overflow. I had trouble with the return pumping faster than it was draining. I kept opening the cuts up little by little and still no luck. I had left the top of my 1" pipe a bit long so I decided to flip the pipe over. Now the cut out is about 1.5" below the wall and the tank is draing well. Not really any quieter than the durso though.

How does raising/lowering the the slip fitting affect flow or noise? Right now I have a 1/8" and a 7/32" hole in the cap. Still getting a small gurgle and not sure if I should drill another hole in the cap or raise the drain cut out a bit higher. Water level is good and could stand to come up a bit.

I don't have any regulator on my Mag 5 pump so it is running full blast.

Any ideas?