return lines underwater in sump?

[turbo2oh]

I've had my tank setup for a few months and I was pretty happy with the noise level for the return line. I have a 60g cube with a glassholes 1500gph return. I had both return lines going about  3 or 4" below the waterline in the sump.

 

I was reading some random threads on another forum and it seemed like most people only had them 1/2" or so below the water line in the sump. I decided to cut mine to about 1 or 2" below the water line as well and now one line is louder than before.   I guess I couldn't just leave fine alone.

 

A few questions:

 

1) Is there any risk to having the return lines run significantly below the water line in the sump? If there isn't I might replace the flex hose I cut at the end with a longer piece again to reduce the noise.

 

2) Also one return line shakes some (I'm guessing based on the angles of the return) is that normal? 

 

Thanks!

Edited November 13, 2014 by turbo2oh

[fishgate]

Mine is 3-4" below. Shaking usually indicates turbulance due to flushing. It shouldn't hurt anything if it doesn't bother you. Do you have enough air coming into your stand pipe (the hole in the top of the standpipe)?

[turbo2oh]

I used a skewer to clean out the stand pipe but it was pretty clear. Would it help to add another at the lower elbow right before it empties into the sump?

 

 

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[Shoelace]

Did you install the glass-holes airline tubing that goes into the hole on the elbow of the overflow line?  That allows air to enter lower in the stand pipe and break up the large air pockets that can cause flushing and vibration.

[turbo2oh]

Did you install the glass-holes airline tubing that goes into the hole on the elbow of the overflow line? That allows air to enter lower in the stand pipe and break up the large air pockets that can cause flushing and vibration.

Hm those are what I was referring to when I said I cleaned the standpipes. Wrong terminology?

 

 

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[bravanc]

i have mine going into a sock and the hose is 5-6 inches below the water line.  you can add a gate valve or ball valve on the output of the return into the sump and adjust the flow too.

[Coral Hind]

There is normally no issue with the pipes extending deep below the surface unless you have high flow with a high amount of air getting suck down which can cause large bubbles to pop out and create splashing. Each tank is different so you can't read something online and think it will work with your tank perfectly. A lot of this hobby is trial and error.

[Shoelace]

Hm those are what I was referring to when I said I cleaned the standpipes. Wrong terminology?

 

Ah, sorry.  I think the standpipe usually refers to the PVC pipe itself.  But it's good that the tubing is clear.

[s2nhle]

There are 2 main keys to these systems running quietly. First, they main drain has to be a full siphon with no air in the pipe. To accomplish this without intervention each time, the discharge of the main siphon needs to be close to the surface. if it's too far below the surface, it will prevent the all air from being discharged, or take an inordinately long time to do so.

The second requirement is that the 2nd channel is running at a low enough volume so that it doesn't gurgle. The amount that this pipe can handle depends on the size of the pipe but ultimately determines the silent 'bandwidth' of the system, or range of flows over which it will remain silent. If the flow in the secondary drain exceeds its capacity it will begin to gurgle.

 

Hope it helps.

[Rob A]

I have a couple returns that shake and I was worried about the stress this might cause on the bulkheads so I jammed some Styrofoam between the pipes and the edge of the sump to stop it. One is attached to a 10 gallon so I was also worried about the grass cracking with that pipe wiggling around.

[Djplus1]

I'm a little confused by this thread. Are we talking about the drain lines or the return lines? It sounds like we are talking about the drains, right?

[Shoelace]

I'm getting a little confused, too.  It's a glass-holes overflow, right?  That's basically a durso-like setup.  It does not have a siphon.

[turbo2oh]

I'm a little confused by this thread. Are we talking about the drain lines or the return lines? It sounds like we are talking about the drains, right?

My mistake. Yes the drain lines. I guess it's the "return" to the sump.

 

 

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[Rob A]

Oops, wasn't paying attention. I said "returns" too when I meant "drains"