I have enjoyed a 75 gallon reef-ready Oceanic aquarium in my TV room for over the past 30 years. However one of the things that has been somewhat annoying has been the background noise it produces.
There are 3 pumps:
- Return pump (from the sump) (Rio 2500)
- In-sump protein skimmer (Currently Bubble Magus Curve 5)
- Rio 600 inside the aquarium
- Previously, but not currently, a small pump to circulate in a refugium in the sump.
In addition to that, there was a trickling/splashing sound of water as the water entering the slits of the overflow and the water squirting out the anti-siphon hole fell 18 inches to the bottom of the return chamber.
For years I’ve been downsizing my aquarium activity, but, since retiring in September of 2016, my interest in the hobby has been renewed and I have been setting up new tanks and reconfiguring existing tanks. After setting up a new 30 gallon reef tank in the basement using an old hang on the back overflow I had, I noticed how remarkably quiet it was. Looking further I saw the siphon tube dropped down just a few inches into one compartment of the overflow, then dropped down just a few inches more into the section that had the drain bulkhead. In that configuration, there was no long drop and no splashing noise. Hmm.
I started researching online to see what options were available to reduce the noise on the reef-ready overflow system. It turns out there are several. Since I had only the 2 holes in bottom of my aquarium, 3/4 inch return and 1 inch drain, I opted to try a Durso Standpipe. For years I considered replacing the reef-ready aquarium with a regular aquarium to eliminate the noise. But louder than all those pumps was the sound produced by the water movement of the return pump. Depending on the configuration of the drain hose, there could be a gurgling or flushing sound coming from that and/or a splashing sound as the water entered the sump.
At first, using the instructions that were available on Richard Durso’s website, I went to Home Depot and bought the plumbing components. For the pipe section, he recommends schedule 26 PVC because it is thinner and therefore has a wider internal diameter than the corresponding (standard) schedule 40 PVC. My Home Depot didn’t have schedule 26 in stock. I was kind of nervous about the installation because I had read about the potential for flooding if you screwed it up. I was also worried about not having the thinner walled / wider internal diameter PVC. So I relented and purchased the standpipe directly from Richard on his website. I also ordered the strainer he makes for them. The total cost including shipping was $44.89 .
Another concern I had was the connection between the standpipe and the drain bulkhead. Everywhere on the internet it was saying you had to glue PVC slip joints and not to use Teflon tape on them. However, Richard recommended doing exactly that; No glue at that joint; just wrapping the end of the pipe with Teflon tape and push fitting it in. The danger here is that if that connection leaks, then the several gallons of water held in the overflow would drain into the sump, possibly overflowing the sump, depending on the reserve capacity of the sump.
Additionally, I keep a glass cover on my reef-ready tank. Normally, the top of the Durso stand pipe is somewhat above the top of the aquarium. If you shorten the pipe, you may then drop the water level in the return chamber, increasing both the distance the water falls and the loudness of water splashing into it.
Durso Standpipe Under Glass cover
At first, I rearranged the glass canopy of my tank so that the pipe could protrude above the tank. That was a mess. It looked stupid, made the hinge lid of the cover not work correctly, and forced me to locate the light fixture over the opaque plastic strip that connects the glass panels.
Next I cut the PVC cap and the connecting 1 1/4 inch pipe joiner both very short so that the cap abutted the pipe directly with no visible joiner pipe between them. I then further shortened the stand pipe so that it fit about 1/2 inch under the glass cover. I drilled a hole in the cap slightly smaller than 1/4 inch.
The result of the trimming was that the standpipe fit under the canopy, yet the water level in the return chamber was only 1 1/2 inches below the bottom of the slits of the return
Wow! What a difference! That night I kept checking the aquarium because I kept thinking I had forgotten to turn the pumps on.
Problem solved!
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