Silent drain plumbing?

[reefkeep66]

I'm currently in the process of building my 75g rimless tank and I'm almost to the point to plumb. I've decided to hard plumb it all but as this being my first " real" tank im trying to decide what's going to work best for my drain. I've looked up the herbie method and the durso but my tank was predrilled 1" drain 3/4" return. I've seen people put gate valves right below the drain and supposedly that makes I quiet? As this being my first build I wanted to ask you fine reefers and see what you thought! Thanks in advance.

 

[drydock]

I wish they would quite predrilling only 1 drain. If you are running a single drain be careful about trying to use the gate valve. It's tricky to balance the valve setting with the return pump flow - if that drain gets clogged at all you can run into overflow problems. That's why methods like Herbie use two drains.

 

[reefkeep66]

So if I didn't use the gate valve do you think I'd be alright with a ball valve somewhere on the drain? I'm hoping I can balance it where there's not a lot of suction noise.

 

[crew]

From my experience, a durso drain is quiet but 2 dursos are even quieter. If you put an upside down durso right where the water meets the sump, you will eliminate most of the noise from the sump. Sure, it won't be as quite as the herbie method, but it's also less risky. Most of the noise you are hearing is air trying to escape in the pipe. By adding an upside down durso right where the drain meets the sump water, you give the air somewhere to go, leading to much quieter drains. All of the bubbling noise will be gone.

 

[willie1983]

Crew;987174 wrote: From my experience, a durso drain is quiet but 2 dursos are even quieter. If you put an upside down durso right where the water meets the sump, you will eliminate most of the noise from the sump. Sure, it won't be as quite as the herbie method, but it's also less risky. Most of the noise you are hearing is air trying to escape in the pipe. By adding an upside down durso right where the drain meets the sump water, you give the air somewhere to go, leading to much quieter drains. All of the bubbling noise will be gone.

Can you post a picture?

 

[freezerrat]

I have my tank plumbed with both factory holes as drains. The 1" is about half way down the overflow chamber and has a valve to restrict flow to be a full siphon. The 3/4" is taller, about to the top of the overflow. Restrict the main drain so the level rises and just trickles into the 3/4". Also, the outlets are submerged in the sump. It's dead silent. The only part I don't like about the setup is the return is fed over the rim.

 

[freezerrat]

Good points guys. I did it after it being described to me. I didn't bother to ask more details and guessed on which pipe did what.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

In my 180.....I have both as drains in the overflow. The 1" is a durso and the 3/4" is slightly higher but a direct line to the sump. I have union ball valves on both but they run wide open. I generally only use those to shut off water when doing sock changes. I built my own return over the top of the tank with 8 outlets and loc line so I can direct flow wherever I want it. It's not dead silent but I can't hear the drains over the return pump so it's all good.

 

[redstang]

I also plumbed both predrilled holes as drains. One sits about 6-8" down and the other just a bit below the overflow. I have a gate valve on the lower drain while the higher one is wide open. Only water noise I hear comes from my skimmer exit. So that's next on my to fix list

 

[jdw]

I enlarged my 3/4 to 1", and drilled another hole myself. So I have a total of 2x1" holes and 1x1.5" hole. I setup a herbie with those holes. It's a tight fit in there but it works, doesn't leak, all my pipes are still inside tank, and quiet.

 

[redstang]

Yeah, I drilled my return on the back wall but still inside the overflow area. I'm very happy with my setup. I hated the drilling part though lol!


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[jdw]

It's nerve wracking

 

[reefkeep66]

Is there really any cons of having your return run behind the tank?

 

[jdw]

Aesthetics mainly.
IF there's a leak, it will fall into tank as opposed to hardwood/carpet/tile/wall/etc..

 

[mikesmith34]

Goggle search herbie overflow and look at the set up. That's how I set mine up very simple. 1" drain with 3/4 as back up. I don't agree with those saying use 3/4 as drain. You will want more flow than that. Run your return from the pump over the back of the tank. If you have a canopy it will be hidden. If not you are back to astetics. The 1" at full siphon can move a pretty good amount of water and of course you can fine tune it with your gate valve.

 

[redstang]

Fwiw, I have my main drain cut back significantly with a gate valve. But you do want to be absolutely certain that your overflow can handle the flow in case your main drain gets clogged.


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[rdnelson]

redstang;987304 wrote: fwiw, i have my main drain cut back significantly with a gate valve. But you do want to be absolutely certain that your overflow can handle the flow in case your main drain gets clogged.


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+10000

 

[crew]

Here is the reverse durso I mentioned yesterday. It's nearly as silent as the herbie method with considerably less risk. The water enters the sump nearly silently and the air escapes through that capped (with a hole drilled) vertical piece instead of gurgling back up through the drain.

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[hiimsean]

As others have recommended, I'd go with the herbie with the 3/4" as the main drain and the 1" as the emergency. My tank was pre-drilled with 2 1" holes. I wish I had the balls to drill the return cause it's kind of a PITA to run it over the back of the tank. Here's some pics from my setup. I also popped my return through a hole in my mesh top.

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I did extend the emergency up a bit to reduce the waterfall sound and have a little water flowing through it. Both empty below the waterline in the sump and is basically noise free

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[reefkeep66]

I like the idea of the reverse durso but any idea how to use it with a filter sock? I was looking at some plumbing parts which a guy gave me with the tank and put together a durso. It's 1.25"

alt="" /> I also got about 4 ft of 1" and 3/4" schedule 80 I plan on using for something.