overflow problem

[reeling reefer]

I have a 180 gallon reef ready tank with 2 overflows and stockman standpipes in both, and on overflow is making a loud gurging noise. The overflow is the one that is farthest away from where it drains into the sump. I am using a sequence dart return pump, so there is plenty of flow,the overflow box fills up then drains alot all at once which makes the gurgling noise, then you see the water below where it drains fill up again and then a second later gurgling then drains down a 1/4 inch. The other side drains constant and is silent. I have messed around with the height of the standpipe and it doesn't make a difference, was wondering if because the flexible hose that goes from the overflow to the sump runs about 4 ft (farthest away) and bends down then up to where it fits into the sump, maybe it isn't keeping a constant flow and there is a break in the flow? Sorry for being so long , just wanted to give as much detail as possible

 

[Macrosill]

I am not familiar with stockman standpipes, however if they follow the same design as the durso pipes then it sounds like you need to fine tune the air hole in the top. The following is quoted from www.dursostandpipes.com go there to read up on it, I have one, they are great "The hole on the top of the standpipe (in the End-Cap) is very important. Without the hole, a full siphon will be created and water will be sucked out of the overflow chamber to fast. The water level will drop below the intake and you will get a terrible air sucking noise. If you drill a hole and the water level still drops to far (making a sucking noise) then the hole is to small. Just make it slightly larger (see above) and the water level will raise. If you make the hole to large then the water level will be to high. (It should not overflow the tank as it will not get that high, but keep an eye on it). If the water level is to high this can be fixed easily. Seal the hole with aquarium safe silicone and use a toothpick to make a small hole in the silicone. If this turns out to be to small, remove some silicone with a smaller drill-bit or some other tiny sharp object. No silicone handy? You can try some old well chewed bubble gum to reduce the air hole size for testing If you really mess up, then get a new End-Cap (they are cheap)."

Good Luck,
Brian

 

[ryguy]

also...

the gurgling can be caused by too much backflow pressure in the pipes. If you have the outlet pipe too far under water in the sump, you'll create back pressure and gurgling. try 1 or 2" below water level. my guess is that's what it is.

Ryan

 

[reeling reefer]

Its an oceanic sump 3 model, the overflow tubes fit into bulkheads that are on top of the sump, so they are not in the water at all.

 

[reeling reefer]

I drilled a couple holes into the top and it fixed the problem, it still is pretty noisy though. The drain lines are at the top of the sump (oceanic sump 3) and when the water drains it has to drop about 4-5 inches before hitting the water in the sump , this is pretty loud, is there anything that can be done to fix this?Do people have theres in the water?

 

[ellisz]

What type of overflows fo you have? Standard megaflow would not be able to handle that pump unless you have it throttled back. From what I have read, some noise can be generated by maxing out the overflow. I think that pump puts out around 3000 gph.

 

[reeling reefer]

Yes , I have it throttled back.

 

[canyon15]

You could add a ball valve to to the line into the sump and adjust it to get rid of the noise. That is what i have done with mine and it works perfectly!