Splashing water noise driving me nuts

[Enkay]

Hello All,

 

I am in the process of setting up my very first Saltwater tank and the sump and all the plumbing is new to me. One of the issues I am facing is the crazy amount of noise that is made when the water goes back into the tank. This sound is louder than Niagara. My tank is in the basement and we can hear it all through the house.

 

Needless to say, it is driving me (and more my wife) crazy.

 

Now, the return is coming up from the overflow box and has an elbow at the top and has the nozzles attached to the pipe. The water coming out of the nozzles themselves does not seem to make any noise but there is a hole drilled in the inside of each elbow from where the water splashes out and makes this tremendous splashing noise. I was told that the holes are necessary so that my house does not flood in case of a power outage.

 

I cannot believe that there is not a better way to reduce the noise and prevent a full drain of the tank at the same time. I am a mechanically challenged person, so I would very much appreciate advise/help in this very important matter.

 

If I cannot get this noise to go away, my first attempt at saltwater might get thrown out the door by the better half.

 

Thanks in advance,

Nagesh

 

PS. I can post pictures if need be or if anyone wants to come by and take a live look at everything to help me out, you are more than welcome. I am in Annandale.

[surf&turf]

Those holes should be just below the water line as well.

[CaptainRon]

Plug the holes in the elbows with some two part epoxy and redrill the holes in the black lock line that's inside the tank. If I understood everything correctly, that will do the trick. Just need to pay attention to where you drill the new holes - you don't want them too deep as that could allow too much water to siphon back into your sump.

 

You'll also want to make sure your sump can contain any siphone from the main tank if the power goes out.

 

Good luck

[Enkay]

Thank you surf&turf and Captain Ron.

 

So if I understand correctly, the holes should be below the water line so the water does not splash and make noise but shallow enough so that it starts sucking air if the sump pump stops working. That does make sense. I will try that tonight. Hopefully there will be peace and quiet in the household after all. .

[Origami]

Zip tie a small cube of open-cell foam to the elbow so it covers the hole. I had this same issue with an old 180 that I had some time ago. The foam stopped the water from streaming down and making noise and kept the siphon-break function of the hole intact.

 

(Because of the way the overflow was constructed, the siphon break was above the water level in the overflow. Thus, in my case, there was no way to put the hole below the waterline.)

[sachabballi reef]

Zip tie a small cube of open-cell foam to the elbow so it covers the hole. I had this same issue with an old 180 that I had some time ago. The foam stopped the water from streaming down and making noise and kept the siphon-break function of the hole intact.

 

brilliant!!!