restricting overflow risky?

[kskvarci]

I've got a reef ready 65 with a durso in the overflow. I've got a little 15 gallon sump.

Ever since i set the tank up about 4 months ago, I've been having issues with noise and microbubbles from the drain. No matter what baffle configuration I tried, it was impossible to erradicate the bubbles given the water speed through the sump combined with the sheer volume of bubbles coming out of the drain.

Tonight, I was playing around and closed the ball valve on the overflow.. Low and behold, all of the bubbles stopped, and the tank got about 10 times quiter..

I tweaked it so that the water level in the sump is stable. Open just enough so the sump level wont drop. The water level in the overflow is very high however. So high, that it is barely different than the tank water level.

So is this a risky way to run the overflow? I'm hoping that I can keep it this way as it allows me to remove all of the sponges from my sump, makes my skimmer work better and is so much quiter..

Tonight, I'll leave it running with a flood alarm on the main tank water level just in case

What do you think?

 

[denvig]

I think your balancing on a fence if you get just a partial block in your return you will empty your sump volume in your tank and have a flood. If your overflow is backing up as you say it leaves no margin for error. Pumps and or returns can get partial clogs very easy. Algae, a snail etc.

 

[kskvarci]

yep, i figured as much... I just needed someone to tell me Theres got to be some way to get the air out of the drain without putting myself at risk for a wet rug. If I plug the hole in the cap of the durso, my problem goes away until the siphon pulls the water in the overflow down to the bottom of the intake.. This is driving me nuts.

 

[denvig]

Try putting an air line valve in the hole on the durso to fine tune the air intake.

 

[NateHanson]

Maybe you need a smaller return pump. If none of the tweaking suggestions work for you, it could just be that you're trying to blow too much water through the small sump, and the turbulence is too great.

Nate

 

[Armando]

The problem here is that you have a much smaller water passage now, so small things (snails, algae, etc) that would pass through your previous pipe, can now get stuck in the ball valve and clog it causing overflow.

 

[kskvarci]

Found this post which fixes my problem with flying colors. The way I have things set up, Its very difficult for anything to get into the overflow other than water. I have an acrylic cover on the overflow with air holes that keep everyone out. With things set up as in the post below, the odds of both drains getting clogged are pretty slim. In addition, i have a float switch that shuts the return pump down if the sump level falls too low.

This plumbing method gets rid of all the noise and all the bubbles.. If you have a noisy sump ( hot tub style ), clamp down your drain until its silent and you'll see why I'm driving at this.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892&highlight=air+in+drain

 

[Armando]

Man I'm going to need a vacation to have time to read that post!

 

[kskvarci]

Man I'm going to need a vacation to have time to read that post!

no joke... The guy who wrote it is a little "too" enthusiastic if ya know what I mean...

But hey.. It works..

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Better to use other methods to eradicate the bubbles & noise. I have dual 1.5" drains w/1400gph+ flow. Either drain will almost handle the entire volume.
I came home one day & sat down & looked up at the tank. I realized I could see the cross support bars to the 125g underwater!!!
The drains had slowly clogged w/algae & coralline & severally restricted the flow.

 

[kskvarci]

Better to use other methods to eradicate the bubbles & noise. I have dual 1.5" drains w/1400gph+ flow. Either drain will almost handle the entire volume.
I came home one day & sat down & looked up at the tank. I realized I could see the cross support bars to the 125g underwater!!!
The drains had slowly clogged w/algae & coralline & severally restricted the flow.

I'm going to have to be carefull with algae, coraline issues, etc. I dont think the risk is any bigger than it was before however. Also, I'm only pushing about 450 GPH with head.

I've put a black cover over my overflow. I get little if any algae growth in there. At least so far.. We'll see how it work out. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm going to be building a cover for my drains, have to cut down on all the algae

 

[kskvarci]

I'm going to be building a cover for my drains, have to cut down on all the algae

Yeah, i used to have some funky stuff growing in there. A week or two after I added a non-transparent cover it disapeared. surely a good idea.