Plumbing my first overflow?

I am in the process of setting up a new 90 gallon tank with 35 gallon sump.  I have set up 2 tanks in the past and am currently running a 55 gallon right now, although I have never used a sump before.  I am running into some issues when plumbing the sump.  I set up the entire thing using pvc and it looks good, no leaks anywhere and seems to be effective, however... it sounds like a toilet is flushing the entire time due to air rushing down the overflow.  Every few seconds large bubbles comes out of the overflow so fast it splashes water all over the underside of the stand.

First you need to understand the durso valve and what it does. here is a picture of it.


if you notice after the overflow water reaches the inlet of the valve #2 it travels down the drain. if you look at the top of the drain (durso) you will see a nipple. the nipple is what allows airflow down and silences the flushing sound. Remember the height of the durso also contributes to the flushing sound. Note in the picture where that one is and try to match it.

Hope This Helps


Edited by ClownFishAddict - January 15 2013 at 8:39am

slide about 3-4 inches of air tubing into the hole you drilled. or just call me.

801 413-6652
Brian

Should fit snug and allow air to travel freely down the tubing. it should end about 1/2 inch below water level but you just have to play with it till it stops the gurgling sound.

No, the purpose of two is as a backup for the second.  You're using the same plumbing if you just split it and you will get flooded one day.  Best just to leave the Durso or get a third hole drilled.

Fat

"the pump runs out of water within about 30 seconds due to a bubbletrap in the sump, and only a small compartment of water available for the pump to push." - depending on the display tank normal water level, 30 seconds is still a few gallons on the floor/ all over your electrical potentially (i.e. Fire), at least in my system it would be or your dry running pump starts one (not that I have tested that but only way to tell for sure would be to run your pump dry for a few hours which I dont think you want to do). This being said I initially set up my 65g with a durso with a valve on both the drain and return and had the noise. I found that if you throttle back the return flow and the drain flow with the ball valves it will quite it down if you find a proper "balance" but could be bad for your pump depending on the model (some pumps also are adjustable - mine was) but still I ended up going with a "Herbie" set up with two drains, one full siphon, one emergency/skimming and I plumbed the return over the back of the tank. Silent. I set mine tank up in garage 1st and actually tested every possible failure (other than cracking the tank ) to be sure all my assumptions about what would happen in case of a power outage/ drain clog, pump failure, skimmer restart after power failure when sump water is much higher, etc were correct.

Edited by Bryce - January 15 2013 at 12:33pm

I'm thinking of if you were to split a single drain into two to make a Herbie. Part of the Herbie setup is having a ball or gate valve on the drain to tune it to full siphon which makes it quieter, it you use a single drain line split and have a crab lodge in the partially closed drain valve you will have a flood.  I have a durso in my display and a ball valve so I can shut if off "just in case".  I leave the valve open all the way.  When I change my filter socks I pick several crabs and snails out of it.  If the valve were closed to tune the drain, I'd have had a flood.

I have an appointment with my son at 7:00 tonight, but will be available before or after if you want to stop by and see.

I have it set up in my garage now to test everything out so i'm open to any ideas.

I have tried plugging the overflow and killing the return pump and neither way causes a flood.  I haven't tested my pump dry to see what happens (possible fire?) but i would prefer not to do that, considering it was pretty expensive and that would probably burn it out.
Its an out of the water, sump drilled on one end, type design.

Fatman i'd like to check out your setup and get some in person advice, that would be awesome. PM sent

Cool thanks again.  Ideally I probably should have done a herbie like you now that I have researched it a bit, with the overflow(s) coming up over the back of the tank.  But I really wanted to be able to back the tank up all the way to the wall so I was hoping I could have both the return and the overflow drain inside the overflow box.

Hey random question, which compartment did you have the skimmer in, on the end or in the center?  My overflow is coming into the center compartment, so the one on the opposite end from the return pump doesnt get much water movement, i was thinking that should be the refugium?

You can still do a herbie with 2 holes in your overflow. Do one hole as your full syphon and the other as your emergency overflow. Then take your return from your pump up the back of your tank and into the tank. Also if you keep the durso it sounds like its too high in the overflow. I would lower it 3 inches.