Drain problems with Marineland 93 cube

[jonboyb]

Started setting up my ATO for the cube last night and noticed something I hadn't seen since I set it up. Every 10 seconds or so my drain purges a big air bubble into the filter sock and my sump level will move about 1/4" which is going to wreak havoc on my ATO float. The tank has the factory 1" drain and Marineland vented standpipe kit. I was using a 1 1/4" flexible hose back to the sump bent like and "S" and thought it might be the problem but I tried a straight routing and even slipped a hard PVC 1" line on instead of the flex line and it still burped every 10 seconds. I've tried valving the pump differently, restricting the drain slightly, etc. with no changes.

Ironically my tank is dang near silent and even the burp is barely audible. In fact I never heard it in the 2 weeks the tank has been up, just noticed my sump level move a little when putting in the ATO float.

 

[mockery]

You need a larger opening of the air to get in. Try in enlarging the hole on the top on the stockpipe.

 

[jonboyb]

Hmmmm.....makes sense. The only noise this whole setup produces is a slight whistle from the vent tube like it's gasping for more air.

 

[william1]

+1 on making the hole a little bigger...

 

[weaglereefer]

Make the hole in the top of the stand pipe big enough to fit some airline hose or RO/DI tube in. Cut a 12" long piece and slide it up and down in the stand pipe til you find the sweet spot.

 

[jonboyb]

The factory vent tube is basically a hard RO/DI style tubing and about 4" long.

 

[william1]

jonboyb;424529 wrote: The factory vent tube is basically a hard RO/DI style tubing and about 4" long.

You can replace the hard tubing. If that doesnt work try to make a gurgle buster there great, and silent.

 

[jonboyb]

Just out of curiousity, is there any potential problems if I make the hole too big? If not I'll just drill a good sized hole and be done with it.

 

[mockery]

I believe that you can get to a point where not enough water can go though. I could be wrong so wait for another person to make sure.

 

[jonboyb]

Removed the vent pipe from the hole and it's draining perfectly now with zero burping or sump variation. Apparently I need the pipe ID to be just a hair bigger.

 

[jonboyb]

Still want a pipe on there though. One stray snail could crawl up an inch or so out of the water and cover the hole....and my snails seem to have lungs

 

[weaglereefer]

Well, keep in mind that if that happened, you would hear the surging, and hopefully know immediately what it is.

So you have thrill seeking snails too? I have some that ride around on a Hydor Rotating Deflector for hours in my Aquapod. Pretty funny.

 

[weaglereefer]

I think he was talking about the water level in general in the sump. It will make the float rise and fall, which would in turn kick the pump on and off and probably not be good for it. The level adjusts in the return section, not the drain section (unless you're flowing massive amounts of water with very narrow bubble traps).

 

[jonboyb]

ATO float is in the return pump section. The burp kept causing a fluctuation.

 

[rbredding]

curious, how could the size of the hole in the drain be too big, it's a syphon break, the drain should be gravity draining, so the size of the hole shouldn't ever have an effect on it..

right?!

 

[jonboyb]

I'm with you RB. Don't see how bigger would hurt....but I'm not taking any chances without knowing for sure.

On another note, only evaporating 1/3-1/2 GPD (with no lights on though). I expected alot more. I'm sure it'll shoot up once I start cooking it with lights.

 

[rbredding]

jonboyb;425065 wrote: I'm with you RB. Don't see how bigger would hurt....but I'm not taking any chances without knowing for sure.

that's what I was getting at earlier... the reason that you heard the burping is because (probably through the resistance of the line) the siphon break wasn't working properly, the 1/4" rise in your sump was because a siphon was created, dumping more water into the sump on a temporary basis..

sounds like with the resistance of the line on the siphon break, it was too small to actually break the siphon, yet too big to allow a siphon to occur for a sustained period of time..