Overflow is TOO Noisy!!!!

[sting ray]

Is there a trick to quieting the overflow in the back of my tank. Right now, the water spills over and splash at the bottom of the overflow. Is there something that I should put at the bottom of the overflow to keep the water from splashing so loud? Should I raise the water level in the overflow so the water doesn't have as far to fall? Suggestions Please! My wife is getting ready to hang me. Right now, you can hear the water throughout the entire house.

[doobie]

I have way too much experience in this area. :D

Give more details on your set up but to start depending on how you have it set up sticking an air hose down the overflow tubing or pipe can work wonders.

[sting ray]

OK, its a 92 gal. corner Oceanic with one overflow in the back corner. The tank is 25" tall. The water spills over the overflow and falls down to the bottom of the overflow. There's only about 6" of water at the bottom of the overflow. So the noise is comming from the water falling and splashing down into the water at the bottom of the overflow. Its not really making any gurgling noises from the water going down the pipe. Does that make sense?

[Tom Martin]

Go here:

http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/standpipe/standpipe-open.htm

It's very clear instructions on installing a custom overflow. All it takes is a few pieces of PVC. I installed it on both my display and refuge tanks and it cut the overflow noise down the the sound of a very faint waterfall. Very pleasing actually.

[doobie]

Yep the best thing to do is raise the level of the water in the overflow. That method Tom posted is so popular the guy got a domain name and sells parts for it:

http://www.DursoStandpipes.com

[Fishmonger]

Standpipes are for sure the wayy to go, we had overflows and standpipes on every single research tank at the university this summer, they make it all really quiet

[wcswebdesign]

I have had this problem with a noisy overflow box aswell. Mine is always caused by to much air in the hose. I isimply shake it until the air bubbles go out and its no longer quite.

[Tenrel]

Where does the water go once it gets into the overflow? When I first got my tank my wife about kicked my butt when she heard how loud it was. I kept the same setup up top, but instead of using a drip plate that drains over the bio balls, I eliminated the bio balls and drip plate, and just ran the pipe to about 4-6 inches from the bottom of the refuge, and problem solved, the water is draining into the refuge under water so you dont get that draining sound. I know you said the noise comes from the overflow, but do you have any type of drain pipe? My show tank has a corner overflow, and it has a 12 inch drain pipe.

[Thomas]

Since I have a lot of Live Rock, I got rid of my bio-balls. After I did that, the noise was ridiculous. I put a single layer of bio-balls back in and the noise quieted down quite a bit, since the dripping water was hitting the bio-balls instead of just plain water.

I haven't tried this yet, but with the air pump for my fresh water tank, i put a mouse pad under it to dampen the vibration noise and it worked great. I was thinking about putting somtheing like that under my sump to alleviate some of the vibration noise there also . . .

[Europa]

Is the noise in the overflow, the sump, or both?
If it's in the overflow, adding a Durso Standpipe will fix the problem. http://www.rl180reef.com/180/pages/standpipe/

[Rickyrooz]

Have you tried a ball valve to slow down the flow?