overflow tank

jgillmer

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Hello there... we just bought a 90g saltwater setup from someone who had it running for about 8 months. When we set it up (we're new to this), the overflow was/is driving us mad! It sounds like the same noise a bathtub makes when its in the last part of the drain... or like a toilet flushing... Any idea how to combat this?

Also, the tank is WAY full... we tried taking some of the water out, but the overflow pump was just pushing the water back in... does this mean the pump is too large? Or is there a valve that we could put on the line to reduce the amount of outflow into the tank...

Please help! Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
What size tank is it? is it a stand pipe you have and is it behind a weir/glass section? Is it just one pipe or do you have more? There are ways to make them silent but we'll need to know more about the set-up first.

ste :)
 
the thing with a sump system is that the main tank will always remain at the same level.

i dont think there is anything you can do..

ah - unless the pump is putting too much water into the main tank - which would mean the overflow would have more water passing throught it and may well be louder than it should...

hmmm... tricky one. you could T the pipe from the pump to the tank and return some of the water to the sump again.

that'll reduce the flow back to the tank.

BUT it will reduce your flow rate. :dunno:
 
ste2k3 said:
What size tank is it? is it a stand pipe you have and is it behind a weir/glass section? Is it just one pipe or do you have more? There are ways to make them silent but we'll need to know more about the set-up first.

ste :)
90 gallons. I'm not quite sure what you mean by a stand pipe... the sump box is underneath my stand... it has one pipe (tube) coming from the overflow box on the back if the tank, and then the inlet from the sump to the tank. It seems to me that the overflow isn't taking in as much water as it should. ... its below the cone on the tube in the overflow box. Sooo... Its pulling air along with water into the sump. Is there any kind of valve I can install into the return flow pipe? I'm wondering if I slightly cut down the rate of return, if my overflow box would stay slightly fuller, eliminating the noise from it draining... (not sure if that made sense or not).. Any help would be appreciated. Right now we have the box stuffed with filter gauze to try to cut down on the noise. I'd like to get this figured out, as this tank is something I've been wanting for a very long time....

Also, I bought it with a Magnum 450 canister. Is this too small for a 90???

Thanks! :fun:
 
what make/model is the overflow box? forget what I just said, I thought the tank was drilled. I think I know what you mean. can the box be lowered down in to the tank more? you could get a ball valve and restrict the flow BUT if a snail etc were to go down, you may find yourself with a very wet carpet.

ste :)
 
Yes, what kind of box is it? Does it have a round candy cane type tube for siphoning water from the tank, or is it all acrylic?

GL
 
Come on ste, GL, DUH -- what size return pump? We need to know that too! :nod:

Presumably you have a pipe going from your overflow to the sump tank. That pipe
extends from the bottom of the box. What extends upward from the hole at the bottom
of the box? There should be a pipe with a cap, if not you should get a pvc pipe and cap to fit, with an opening underneath the cap for the water to enter into the pipe. I can't draw it but if you search on durso cap you will see what I mean.
 

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