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View Full Version : super easy $2 fix for noisy overflows



weatherby68ss
11-11-2011, 03:07 PM
After trying to fit durso stand pipes into my overflow unsuccessfully I came up with this simple solution. Its two 6" sticks of 1" pvc pipe with 1/4" holes drilled into it below the water line. Caps with 1/16" holes drilled above the water line to allow air in. I started out with 3 holes below the water line and added 1 at a time untill the water was at the level I wanted, 6 holes in each pipe total for my setup. It is now totally silent.

kotlec
11-12-2011, 03:14 AM
Can you post picture? I thing details are very important and helpful.

weatherby68ss
11-12-2011, 07:23 AM
its a little hard to see in the pic but the idea is for the water to enter the drain pipes below the surface through the 1/4" holes. this way the water is not falling and making noise. i kept the water line high enough so that it dosent have to fall at all. Im using a mag drive 9.5 pump so there's 700gph or so flowing through my over flow that is now wisper quiet. :D

RkyRickstr
11-12-2011, 07:36 AM
Better keep on top of that.. little slime, food or algae covers one or two of the holes and you my friend have yourself a flood.

weatherby68ss
11-12-2011, 07:41 AM
it has been running for around 3 months now with no problems yet. i thought the same thing but im guessing the water is flowing fast enough to keep the drain holes clean? also if the holes do get a little stopped up the water level will rise in the overflow box and cover the air holes in the caps. this will make loud gurgling noises kind of a alarm to let me know something is wrong. hasnt happend yet though

coralcruze
11-20-2011, 06:10 PM
it has been running for around 3 months now with no problems yet. i thought the same thing but im guessing the water is flowing fast enough to keep the drain holes clean? also if the holes do get a little stopped up the water level will rise in the overflow box and cover the air holes in the caps. this will make loud gurgling noises kind of a alarm to let me know something is wrong. hasnt happend yet though

been in the hobby 15 years to know this setup is a huge mistake... don't take this the wrong way but others here are trying to tell you the sme thing... weve been there. Now if you truly want a quiet overflow and yet safe against floods... check out Beananimal's desing on Reef Central. its the best system that I have seen to date. It implements full siphon three pipe system. I built it on my custom setup and its amazing what happens when you eliminate air from a water line... it makes absolutly no sound at all and also you benefit from larger flow and turnover rate (if thats what you are looking for). in other words the same 1" pipe as you are using at full siphon will handle 10x the water volume as in your example trying to push air and water through the same diameter... goo luck.

kotlec
11-21-2011, 01:24 AM
Its there :
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

coralcruze
11-22-2011, 12:28 PM
Its there :
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx


yup thats the one I was talking about... Its the best overflow system we have in the hobby. just do a you tube search and you'll see its true power and grace.

leebee
03-08-2012, 10:35 PM
After trying to fit durso stand pipes into my overflow unsuccessfully I came up with this simple solution. Its two 6" sticks of 1" pvc pipe with 1/4" holes drilled into it below the water line. Caps with 1/16" holes drilled above the water line to allow air in. I started out with 3 holes below the water line and added 1 at a time untill the water was at the level I wanted, 6 holes in each pipe total for my setup. It is now totally silent.
I had something similar about 20 years ago, but I left the cap off and had a sponge over the pipe so as to filter the water as it drained. If it backed up the water would just run over the top to the sump, but this never happend. A piece of airline tube down the pipe reduced most of the noise. This worked fine for years till I closed the tank down.

Floyd R Turbo
03-12-2012, 08:20 AM
+1 on disaster waiting to happen.

mess7777
04-07-2012, 11:33 PM
I saw a thread on RC about using a ziplock type bag and a couple tie wraps. Supposedly works well, haven't tried it myself. I am awake right now due to overflow noise....my Maxijet return(upgrading tomorrow) must have had something blocking it's input a bit causing it to slow down. The result was a intermittent slurping noise into the overflow. Luckily moving it around a bit did the trick, can't wait to get that out of there.

jacob.morgan78
04-20-2012, 11:27 AM
Would it be better if you had a "T" off of the drain pipe with a sort of emergency drain that is open above the water line? That way if your method were to clog for whatever reason, there is a backup.

I'm in no place to tell you that it's not a flood waiting to happen but thought this may help. If I were you, I would listen to other's advice before mine! :-)