What happens if.....

[reeferkeifer]

I'm not familiar with the terminology but what happens if I make the hole on the top of the cap Larger?

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[mikesmith34]

Why do you want to do that? Are you having gurggling

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

The only reason why you would do that is if there is gurgling noises. The larger hole would allow more air in and reduce the noise. If that's the issue, you need to increase size slowly until the noise stops. Use incremental drill bits and don't skip any.

 

[acroholic]

Not much happens if you enlarge it. That cap acts like a muffler for sound and the hole is an air inlet so you don't get air lock in the drain Durso. It takes a tiny opening to accomplish that.

If you really want to see what happens, stop by a Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a correct pipe size white pvc cap for 75 cents, drill a larger hole and switch it with the black cap and see if you see any benefit. If you do then repeat it with the stock cap.

 

[reeferkeifer]

The only gurgling I hear is after I feed thawed mysis shrimp. It will gurgle for about an hour and then the water goes back to flowing smoothly into the sump with no sounds.

I have a gate valve in my flex pipe just before it enters the sump. I do not have the valve 100% open. From the 12 o'clock position, which is all the way open, I have the gate valve set between 1 and 2 o'clock. If it is all the way open then water gushes into the sump making a whole bunch of noise like a waterfall. By having it set where it is I don't know if I am restricting anything in regards to filtration. I wasn't sure if making the hole bigger would help the smooth flow of water if the valve is 100% open if that's the way it should be.

So far though, my tank parameters have been stable/perfect over the past 2-3 months since its been up and running. And I've had the gate valve set the same way ever since.

Am I over thinking this? Thanks y'all for your input.

 

[acroholic]

You should never restrict a drain line from a reef tank into a sump. You regulate the water going into the sump by the amount of water the return pump puts into the tank. There should always be an open drain line. If you incorporate a valve for separating the line from the sump, it should always be open 100% during normal operation. Big risk of flood otherwise.

Valve down the return pump, not the drain.

 

[camellia]

+1
Trust him!
If your water entering your sump (waterfall noise) is the only reason your restricting the line, there are ways to muffle it.
Does your drain have a filter sock (holder)? If not you can use a small piece of PVC (with air holes drilled in it) for the water to go from the bulkhead to the water in the sump.
Post a pic of the drain line entering your sump so we can give you some more ideas to help reduce the notice.

 

[reeferkeifer]

So this picture shows how much I have the ball valve closed a bit at all times. The picture was taken when I first set up the tank but it has stayed the same way since. You can see I have socks, 3, but the water does not flow directly into a sock. It first hits the plate that holds the 3 socks, which is only about 3/4" from the end of the drain hose, and the water spills into the socks. When the valve is all the way open it splashes pretty good and sounds like a water fall. The way I have the valve set now it seems to have found a happy medium between the amount of air and water flowing in the tube feeding the sump so that the water flows smoothly and is very quiet. The waterfall is a gusher and gurgles like crazy. I have a Blue Line pump but I am not sure what the flow rate is as I bought it used from a store and did not ask that question.

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[mikesmith34]

Acroholic;993255 wrote: You should never restrict a drain line from a reef tank into a sump. You regulate the water going into the sump by the amount of water the return pump puts into the tank. There should always be an open drain line. If you incorporate a valve for separating the line from the sump, it should always be open 100% during normal operation. Big risk of flood otherwise.

Valve down the return pump, not the drain.

Dave when I set up my Herbie that's were the instructions said to put it. It did say NEVER on the emergency drain line. The valve on the drain is how I balance it out for silent full siphon. Of course this is irrelevant in his set up.

 

[acroholic]

Mikesmith34;993308 wrote: Dave when I set up my Herbie that's were the instructions said to put it. It did say NEVER on the emergency drain line. The valve on the drain is how I balance it out for silent full siphon. Of course this is irrelevant in his set up.

A Herbie is something I am not familiar with at all. I have always used straight pipes, and have never had a Herbie, Bean Animal, etc. I cannot comment on how to set one of them up. With multiple openings, as I think a Herbie has, you may have that luxury, but not in the OP's setup.

But with the OP having A Durso, which is not much different than an open pipe type, I would never close the drain opening.

 

[reeferkeifer]

What's an OP? I don't understand why I would have to worry about flooding. Is it because the return pump would pump water into the tank faster than the water can drain down and into the sump?

 

[rdnelson]

OP is original poster as in you.

Restricting the drain in anyway could result in something such as a snail blocking flow. That would cause an overflow.

 

[reeferkeifer]

rdnelson99;993316 wrote: OP is original poster as in you.

Restricting the drain in anyway could result in something such as a snail blocking flow. That would cause an overflow.

Makes sense. I am still getting used to the lingo.

 

[reeferkeifer]

I am guessing that the air/water flow is what is causing the rushing/waterfall sound if it is all the way open. If I made the hole a little bigger would that help?

 

[reeferkeifer]

After asking around I have been told that I have it backwards. I should have the valve on the return line and not the drain line. If I slow the return flow then the drain flow will slow as well. The fact that I have the return flow at full power it is filling the tank very quickly which is why all the water is gushing down the drain. If I slow the return then it will slow the drain. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[acroholic]

ReeferKeifer;993328 wrote: After asking around I have been told that I have it backwards. I should have the valve on the return line and not the drain line. If I slow the return flow then the drain flow will slow as well. The fact that I have the return flow at full power it is filling the tank very quickly which is why all the water is gushing down the drain. If I slow the return then it will slow the drain. Correct me if I am wrong.

Keifer,
That is what I meant when I posted earlier to valve down the return pump, not the drain. And like Rich said, OP stands for original poster, just a shorthand way of referring to you instead of having to type out ReeferKeifer.

If you restrict the drain, you have the chance to overflow the tank and/or empty out the sump and burn out your return pump if, for any reason the drain becomes blocked, like a snail as Rich said, which is a usual culprit, plus any other damage water can do to flooring, the stand, aquarium electronics, power outlets, etc.

Restricting the output side on a pump does not hurt the pump in any way.

There are overflow designs with names like Herbie and Bean Animal that have multiple redundancy built in, meaning you may have three bulkheads installed in a tank that really only needs one to physically drain the volume of water per hour you need, and in those cases you may be able to use valves because you have one dedicated open pipe that is emergency only, and two that you can partially close to get a quiet flow, but most RR tanks only have a single (smaller RR tanks) or a double opening (large RR tanks), 99% of all reefers don't have that luxury. That is why the general rule is to never restrict a drain line in a reef tank.

 

[berje]

That is correct.

 

[reeferkeifer]

Thanks Dave and everyone else that jumped in on the thread. This site and all its members kicks a**. One of these days, I will be able to respond the same way you guys do to a newbie reefer.

 

[rdnelson]

ReeferKeifer;993340 wrote: Thanks Dave and everyone else that jumped in on the thread. This site and all its members kicks a**. One of these days, I will be able to respond the same way you guys do to a newbie reefer.

That's what the club is all about. Everything I know I stole from Dave (and a few others).

 

[mikesmith34]

Acroholic;993311 wrote: A Herbie is something I am not familiar with at all. I have always used straight pipes, and have never had a Herbie, Bean Animal, etc. I cannot comment on how to set one of them up. With multiple openings, as I think a Herbie has, you may have that luxury, but not in the OP's setup.

But with the OP having A Durso, which is not much different than an open pipe type, I would never close the drain opening.

I would have thought you would have the bean animal on that big monster of yours.

To the OP ... I had no idea what these types of drains were either. It's just differant types of drains//returns. Go on you tube and type in herbie drain and bean animal drains or you can just goggle it. It will be a lot easier to understand because it has pictures and videos and you can understand the differant types