Need plumbing help

[RayAllen]

Ok guys. This weekend I set up the 180 which has dual overflows. Im having a few flow, sound and restrictions issues.

The break down Durso stant pipes have 1 1/4" sch 40 pipe, which drain into 1" sch 40 pipe underneath. Im thinking that right there is my problem going from 1 1/4" to 1". The drain on the right also has to travel further and has 2 90 elbows to go through. The hole drilled on top of the durso to allow burping is just a little smaller than a 1/4".

I have my mag 18 return turned way down with the use of two ball valves on each return line. Ive had it on with the ball valves fully open the overflows seem to be able to handle it but it soulds like loud toilet flushing and theres a lot of bubbling and fizzing in the sump.

Some pics for reference

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[RayAllen]

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http://www.maast.org/images/misc/pencil.png

[Bill S]

Ray, 2 x 1" drains are probably not enough for a mag 18. I have a similar sized return, but have 2 - 1.5" drains in the overflow (1 will just barely keep up, in case the other gets clogged). When you add 90s into it, it gets worse. Since you are using drilled holes, I'd replumb in a larger pipe size or hose, everywhere but the bulkhead. The bulkhead will continue to be your limiting factor on the drain, but at least you won't be adding additional friction elsewhere. Those 90s are brutal.

To silence the sound, you need to get a piece of rigid tubing down to where the "burp" is being held up.

[RayAllen]

Thanks Bill you confirmed what I was afraid of. Im going to cut off the plumbing underneath and add 2" hoses. Going with 2" because thats what will fit around the bulkhead. That should take care of some of the restrictions, obviously taking away the 90's and giving a little more girth with the hose. Wish I wouldnt have glued the pvc into the bottom of the bulk head, oh well that will just have to stay there. No way thats coming out, pvc glue is some strong stuff!

So basically it will be 1 1/4" standpipe to 1" bulkhead to 2" hoses. That should help a bit.

Just have to except that the mag 18 will have to be dialed down.

[hobogato]

actually ray, you are supposed to step down in size to make the dursos effective. you will still have a choke point in the 1" bulkhead. adding larger drain lines may help, but i dont think it will completely get rid of the problem.

[Neptune@gabesfish]

The only reason its burping and flushing is cause of the hard 90s in drain.. 2 1" holes in a reef ready tank with a mag18 is plenty big..Trust me I have set up many on top of many tanks and all for the most part if they were reef ready have 1in drains in them..

[Bill S]

Yeah, Ray has 2 problems: 1) noise and 2) volume. Unfortunately, they tend to work against each other. As Gabe says, 1" x 2 should be fine for the drain, as long as you have a smooth run.

[RayAllen]

Thanks guys. So I just need to take out the 90s and stay at 1". Will do that tonight. I hate plumbing, LOL.

Ive been to lowes and home depot way to much over the last few days.

[roscozman]

Ray - I had the exact same problem as you. Let me tell you I have a Dart pump and the two 1" drains is plenty for this pump. I do not even have it dialed down. From the looks of your ball valves above the mag 18, you look to have each at 50% already.

You can cut the PVC just above the 90degree elbow and use spaflex tubing. I even have the glue you can use for free (spaflex uses a different kind of glue vs. PVC). Take a look at our sump area here:
http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?56211-Rebuilding-our-240./page3

I also had sump burping noise. I eliminated this by placing the end of the flex tube half in the water and half out. I read some where that the air needs to escape out the tube before is comes in contact with the water. The durso is allowing air into your drain pipe. My tank is in the living room and the noise was a problem. The loudest part of my system now is the MP40's.

Again, since I live close to you, you can pick up the glue tonight and I can show you what I did to eliminate the noise. You can also hear it for yourself.

[Europhyllia]

Looks complicated!
:o

[hobogato]

i agree, two 1" drains can handle a mag 18. however, it leaves little room for problems. one of those drains alone will not be able to handle all of the flow should a snail or something else cause a blockage. as long as you can be sure to keep stuff out of the drains, you should be fine.

[txg8gxp]

From everything I have read, a 1" bulkhead with a 1 1/4" durso standpipe is good for 600-700gph. I have a mag 7 on mine and it works fine, but wouldn't want to try a bigger pump.

[Europhyllia]

i agree, two 1" drains can handle a mag 18. however, it leaves little room for problems. one of those drains alone will not be able to handle all of the flow should a snail or something else cause a blockage. as long as you can be sure to keep stuff out of the drains, you should be fine.
would you suggest to use a return pump that matches the flow of one of the drains as extra insurance rather than max it out by relying on both then?

[hobogato]

that is usually what i do when setting up a tank karin. redundant drain to prevent flood.

[RayAllen]

I will take a look at the spa flex tubing. I will take precautions to keep snails you. Ross sending you a pm.

[roscozman]

Looks complicated!
:o

I used to say the same thing when I was looking at other set-ups. It is really pretty simple and I have actually added more (ATO & Dosing Pumps) since these pics were posted.