Quiet sump - how?

[SeaSydney]

Currently the water entering my sump makes a lot of noise. I would like to know how to achieve a quiet sump ie the water entering it fron the overflow. Thank you

 

[jbpig]

Hi, I had the same problem.....cut a piece of styrofoam and put it over the sump..taadaa quiet! hth
joe

 

[Big R]

Have the drain line empty below the surface of the water in the sump; and preferrably into a micron rated filter felt "sock".

R

 

[davelin315]

The styrofoam will trap heat and also stop the exchange of gases that you are hoping for in your sump. There is no perfect solution, but you can let your water flow into a tower of sponges with the water coming out from the bottom, or have the water pour onto a drip plate that is positioned near the water level (your sound level will increase when you need to top off). Another suggestion is just have your overflow go under water in your sump, but for this to make no noise and for it not to create back pressure from trapped air, you'll need to vent the drain pipe, which will create noise.

 

[skeeley]

davelin315 -

What's the quietest/best way to vent the drainpipe? I am planning to have my return under the surface of the water in the sump, but don't know the best way. I am planning on having the return come from the back of a drilled tank.

Thanks
Scott

[ August 22, 2001: Message edited by: skeeley ]

 

[SeaSydney]

Thank you guys. I guess I was not the only one with this problem. I think what I will do is, in my sump create an area where all the water comes in from the tank. Fill that area with small live rock pieces and try to have it as level as possible. Then make a drip plate over it so that the force of the water is now distributed over a larger area instead of a small area. Then the water will just trickle down over the rock. I guess the only concern is trying to keep all the rock wet at all times and if it will have the same effect as bioballs?
Please let me know what you guys thing, I am pretty new and I value your experience.

Thank you

 

[jdeets]

IMO, The Sump would be much quieter if you removed the Cheese Sandwich from it. But we wouldn't want that...

 

[jemichaeliv]

SeaSydney, go visit Richards website:
http://www.rl180reef.com/

Go and click on the durso standpipe. I have a MagDrive 18 which moves quite a bit of water and I went to home depot bought the PVP piping and made what he has there. I hear not 1 bit of water zip zero nada!

Hope this helps

 

[davelin315]

I was trying to think of the name for the Durso standpipe and there it was! Anyway, another way to do it would be on a drop tube, put a T on it, and then put a 90 degree elbow on there with an extension up. At the top, put an endcap on it with a small hole drilled in it. This should allow air to escape as it falls down, and decrease the bubbles in your sump as air is forced down underwater (if you submerge your pipe) and also decrease any backpressure created by the air not being able to escape. Obviously, you want to make sure that no water travels up the pipe, but gravity will keep it out of there for the most part. Also, if you can find a junction that has an angled pipe on it instead of using a T, that will help the water flow down (you can try a dishwasher adapter for a sink drain, they usually have the access come in at an angle), but it's difficult to find a small enough diameter pipe for the average pipe used in marine aquaria.

 

[XXX]

SS:

I use the exact set up you describe. Use base rock, not LR unless you plan on lighting your sump. I have 20 or so pieces of hand size or smaller rock. Mine has been running almost 18 months. Always zero on the nitrate scale.

A few months ago I was using styrofoam as a float for my controller probes. I read a post in which more than one person said that eventually it can begin to break down and cause problems. I couldn't say for sure if that is true or not.

 

[pez]

I think he was wanting to quiet the water entering the sump, not the noise level of the overflow, which Richard's sandpipe fixes. BTW, I use the sandpipe design and it works like a champ.

I've been trying for years to quiet the splashing noise coming from the sump. I have found two ways that work somewhat (both of which others have mentioned here):
1) Put the incoming water below the water line of the sump. This usually causes back pressure problems and irradic water flow from the overflow. The durso sandpipe *seems* to fix this problem. Haven't spent much time futzing with it though.

2) Have the entering water cascade over something. A sponge, a filter plate, a bag. Something to breakup the flow and slow it down. This works well, but you end up creating a mini biological filter if you are not diligent about cleaning the pads/sponge (unless you use LR).

-Tom

 

[ShipMate]

I had the same problem with a noisy sump. Fixed with the use of a larger diameter (1.5 " vinyl hose) that fall directly in the sump below water level i placed a 16 oz Mayonaise glass container on the tip of the hose serving as a "baffle" so the flow would not disturb the live sand and critters in the sump...zero noise since.

 

[SeaSydney]

Hello guys. Pez is correct, I wanted to quiet the sump - water entering it and not the overflow. I really appreciate the responces and think i will go for the
pieces of rocks in the sump idea.

Thanks guys.

 

[davelin315]

The two are not independant of each other, though. If you use the submerged discharge, you will create back pressure in your overflow, and that will in turn create more noise there and uneven flow, so it's really a 2 part process. The first step is to alleviate the noise, the second is to stabilize your overflow system so that it can run smoothly. Good luck with solving your problem! May you reef in quiet!

 

[Anonymous]

lol deets!

 

[Anonymous]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jdeets:
<STRONG>IMO, The Sump would be much quieter if you removed the Cheese Sandwich from it. But we wouldn't want that...

</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

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