Durson Drain Pipes

[jhallewell]

Has anyone built these for your reef tanks. I currently have a small drain in my overflow, and the overflow is filled with bioballs. I put the bioballs in there to quiet the noise down. I have now got hair algae and think this may be one of the reasons. Nitrates from the bioballs? I was going to buy an allglass durso pipe, but they want $50 bucks a pop. I dont need the return, just the durso drain. Some people have built there own I am sure. Any ideas, and are these still quiet? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jhallewell]

Sorry, I spelt Durso wrong!

 

[mojo]

You can buy them directly from Mr. Durso himself for $15-20, or build your own with the plans on his site. http://www.dursostandpipes.com/">http://www.dursostandpipes.com/</a>

Your problem with nitrates may be from bioballs, but there may be other contributing factors. Your best bet in minimizing overflow noise is a durso.

 

[rgzfly]

Mojo sent you to the right place. I didn't use the plans from there but mine are exactly the same as the ones on the site. I'd say about $5-$10 in materials. Just make sure you put a small hole in the cap at the top. As far as the hair algae goes Mojo's right again. Excess nitrates or nutrients, could be your bio balls or too much food. Could also be from high phosphate levels. You can find a phos reactor for pretty cheap, I run rowa phos, but two little fishies products work just as well. Start out by removing the bio balls adding the durso, then do a 25% water change. The hair algae won't remove itself, so you either need a good cleanup crew or you could possibly turn the rocks over to get them away from the lights. Or worst case get out a toothbrush and use some elbow grease. Chem Marin makes a product that you apply directly to the hair algae. I've been impressed with them in the past. I've never tried anything from them that didn't work as advertised.
My two cents,
Richard

 

[maveri9720]

Instead of drilling a hole in the endcap on top, click on the Popular Modifications tab on the top of the Durso website, then click on Air Valve Modification and do something along those means. I have gone through a few endcaps and alot of time drilling and filling holes to get the right height for the water in the overflow.

Doing it this way saves ALOT of time tuning. Instead of drilling or filling a hole, you just adjust a valve to determine airflow.

I wish someone would have told me about it when I started trying to tune mine.

Good Luck.

 

[jhallewell]

Thanks for the website guys Has anyone tried the stockman adjustment to the Durso? I have heard that they reduce the gargling noise. As for your responses about Nitrates here are a few more things. I havent fed the tank in months, and I have two phosban reactors running Rowaphos 24-7. I left the lights off for 3 days and ran heavy carbon. I told Mike and Todd at the meeting on Tuesday that when I test for phosphates it reads zero. I got some Chaeto from Todd (thanks) so if there are any phosphates that the algae on the rock was using then hopefully the chaeto will take care of this. My tangs and foxface are fat and happy though. I do a 15% water change every 2.5 weeks, but have realized that even with Ro/Di water, each time I do a water change the algae seems to get worse. I read somewhere that it was from the nutrients from the fresh saltwater. Ro/Di unit has new cartridges so this is not the issue.

 

[kh971]

A durso will process more water than a stockman, I just tried this 6 months ago on my new 210 aquarium. I actually put 2 1 1/2 dursos in my all glass tank with Megaflows. I tried 1 1/2 stockmans first but the dursos handled more water faster and quieter.

 

[mojo]

jhallewell wrote: but have realized that even with Ro/Di water, each time I do a water change the algae seems to get worse.

Ro/Di unit has new cartridges so this is not the issue.

The only way to be sure of this is to test - never make assumptions. Test the TDS, ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates of your newly made RO/DI water, and test the last three parameters of your new saltwater after you mix it up. If anything is above 0 on any test, then you're just introducing nitrates into your system.