Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 Im currently setting up a tank that i bought from another member on the forum and am having issues with the plumbing. here are a couple pics of how it looks. i think the issue is that i cant get the water level in the overflow to rise over the black drain cover. it gets about half way up and thats it. i have the ability to close the drain little by little but when the drain closes enough to make the water in the overflow rise, the return pump pumps all the water out of the sump. If i open it back up just a little to keep that from happening, the water level lowers on the black drain. Also, large bubbles shoot through my drain pipe approx every 20-30 seconds. Is that normal, something to be concerned with. I have a 180 that has durso stand pipes and it works well, but ive never had anything with this type of plumbing. Hopefully its something easy that im just dumb enough not to know. Please help because i am lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 in the pic of the sump, i was told the left pipe is for air, which is supposed to help with the drain. when i run it, water comes out, not alot, but a trickle to a low flow and it makes it really loud. i tried to attach a piece to extend it below the water level and it helped tremendously with the noise from the sump. Still had large bubbles every 30 seconds or so though and a noisy drain up top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 see those 2 holes? one drain goes thru each hole. the holder underneath the holes is for a filter sock- the square type. As far as getting it to go over the cage, it's not necessary- just pump enough water tto not overwhelm the drains- sounds like the return is strong and would benefit from a gate valve to control flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 the drains wont fit through the two holes, the pipes are too far apart, im not planning on using filter socks anyway so i didnt think that was a big deal. i thought putting a gate valve on the return line would put back pressure on the pump and would lead to pump failure down the line, am i wrong about that? i played around with it a little more last night and finally got the water level to raise over the cage approx 3-4 inches and to also stabilize in the sump. Now the only problem is that its incredibly loud. Pretty much all the noise is coming from the "air" drain. If i try to open the drain a little then the back level drops, if i close the drain a little then the sump runs dry. Its really frustrating. considering just replacing it with a durso stand pipe. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 Is there only one hole with one drain pipe in the tank's overflow? If that's the case you can either convert it to a durso (easy), or drill a second or third hole (less easy) and convert it to a herbie (2 hole) or beananimal (3 hole) setup. Beananimal is the quietest and most robust drain setup. But Dursos are pretty good too. I've never seen a drain terminate in the sump like that. I would change it to a single pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 That's what I'm thinking too- durso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 Take the black strainer off the standpipe and replace it with a T that has a street 90 looking down on the side of the t and a cap with a hole on top of the t. That is a durso. Also take the T off the bottom where the sump is and put a straight pipe into the water. Never reduce a fitting to a smaller size on a drain. The air is supposed to enter the drain at the top so it does not syphon air down the drain while running and cause gurgling noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 I like that idea, thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 Make sure no fish or snails can get into the overflow when you have only one pipe. That's disaster waiting to happen. Also never use a strainer because light can create algae and stuff over it and it will clog causing your tank level to rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpassar12 February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 (edited) How big is the tank and how wide is that pipe? Hard to tell from the pic 3/4 or 1 inch?. I would be nervous with a single drain pipe. Use gutter guard ( home depot roofing section cheap) to keep the snails out instead of that black cover, kill the Tee at the bottom, don't put a gate valve on the drain. ex https://www.screencast.com/t/pg9cUqc1i Edited February 21, 2017 by dpassar12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 The drain pipe is 1 inch. I can use gutter guard, but this tank is for an eel and he will have access to this pipe, so maybe I can just zip tie the ends together to keep him from escaping. Are there any advantages between the two options you created? Tank is 100 g 36x36x18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpassar12 February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 I don't have any experience with eels but I have heard they are escape artists. Not sure what type of cover you need on your drains and tank. Option 1 at least lets a snail or anything else clog one of the 1 inch drains. As long as the clog does not make it to the tee then your other drain will still work. Personally I would drill a 2nd hole and add a 1.5 or at least another 1 inch drain in addition to the current one. I would use the elbows if you want quiet. I will let an eel expect comment on what to put over a drain for an eel.. FYI I have 2x 1.5 inch drains on 120 frag tanks and 4x 1 inch drains on my 180 display.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 February 21, 2017 Author Share February 21, 2017 How hard is it to drill acrylic. This is my first experience with an acrylic tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpassar12 February 21, 2017 Share February 21, 2017 IMO easier than glass. make a template with a small piece of plywood and you can do it with a regular drill. Make sure you get the right size bit for your bulkhead. Space your second hoel out so you have room for your drains. If the original bulkhead was used already I would replace the rubber gasket or pickup a new bulkhead just to be safe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXhq04ipPUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXhq04ipPU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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