stockman standpipe and noise (is my return pump too much)...

[guitarded]

i just made a stockman standpipe (real easy and real cheap). however, i notice that, while the noise was a bit less, my overflow was still making a bunch of noise. the slurping and gurgling stopped, however, i was getting noise from the waterfall effect as the water spills from the primary chamber of my outer overflow box (where the u-tube outflows) into the drain chamber. so i cranked down my ball valve on my return pump to decrease flow and the noise went away. i previously had the ball valve set at 1/2 because if it was opened more i would overflow the tank. now i have the ball valve cranked down more than 3/4 to keep the noise down.

question... i have a Quite One 4000 (installed externally) that pumps up 4 ft and i have 4 elbows in my return line. i know that the pump is way over-rated for my 75 gal tank, however, my thinking was to get some good flow in the tank. with the ball valve crank down so low, i know that i am really working the pump. btw, i also have 3ea maxi-jet 1200's to get the water moving around. at any rate, i am now thinking i should get a mag pump. with my plumbing, which model do you folks think i should get? how much flow should i subtract for each elbow?

 

[loganj]

If you can redesign the Stockman to keep the level in the outer box a bit higher, I think it will solve the noise problem. Yep...been there...done that. Mine sounded like Niagra Falls in the living room. A very rough estimate is 1' of head per elbow. If you want to PM me with your exact plumbing specs...pipe size, all fittings including the ones on the intake side of the pump, the total pumping height, and whether you have a submerged exit or not, I'll figure the head pressure for you and give you a very close estimate of which pump you need. I'll also need to know what you want the total flow to be in gph.

 

[guitarded]

ok, i just sent you a pm.

 

[loganj]

Frictional losses are very small so your head figures to 4.06'. I'd go with a Blueline 20HD or an Iwaki WMD/MD20RLT to get the flow of 400gph that you wanted. JMHO.

 

[loganj]

OK, so I boogered up the math . Head resolves to 6.32' and should require a pump that does 600gph @ 1' to get the 400gph you were looking for. Blueline 30HD or Iwaki 30RLT should do it.

 

[bound_for_obx]

If you want to keep on using your existing pump, you could plum a "T" fitting into the return line from the pump and install a ball valve after the "T" run pvc from the ball valve back into your sump. You can then use the valve to control the amount of flow that actually returns into your tank. Its kind of like a second closed loop from the pump back to the sump. You'll find that the pump won't be working as hard as it is with your present setup.
HTH -Charles

 

[guitarded]

yes, that is something i am considering. so many choices!!!

 

[JoeA]

I had a simular problem...I fixed it by adding a air valve to my stockman pipe. The more air the higher the water level inside my over flow. The size of the hole in the stockman can be very touchy. Thats why I used a air valve at the top of the pipe and adjusted the pipe that way. I would'nt use the ball valve on the over flow side... if it gets clogged you'll have a big mess IMO

 

[guitarded]

where can i get an air valve? is this something i can get at HD?

 

[loganj]

Your local LFS should have them. Lee makes some plastic ones that seem to work well. I see you have Maxi Jet powerheads? They should have come with air valves for the venturi adapters. Looks like a slotted plastic bulb with a screw in the top. You'll need one of the little airline adapters that came with the PH to connect it to the airline...if you are using standard sized air line. I think these would give you fine enough adjustment although I've never tried this method. JMHO.

 

[guitarded]

yeah, i saved the air valves from the maxi-jets. i will use that. thanks.

 

[JoeA]

yea worked for me..the air valves are right by the air pumps, and air line and such at your LFS. The only thing I worry about with my set up is that the stand pipe is a bit taller than I want it and to make it real quiet the water level is to close to the top of my overflow.