Quiet Reef?

Thanks for the feedback everyone - keep it coming.

Will do.

Already done - this was the first thing I added as the Eheim was outflowing the overflow. I am using flex pipe only for now, aware of the vibration it creates.

This is basically what the lifereef silencer is. Doesn't work 100%, I feel like there's too much flow that overflow box itself is not keeping up with. To help dial this in I will be adding a gate-valve in the future when I finish the hard-plumbing setup.

 

If you do a gate please have an emergency

 

In that case, go Bean?
http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

http://www.3reef.com/threads/diy-beananimal-overflow-and-sump-build-pictures.116357/

 

I don't think there is such a thing as a quiet reef especially with a sump. When I turn my system off it get really quiet in my house. Then I realize how it does put some noise out.

 

Mine you can hear a pin drop until the water level in my sump drops. Need a ATO.

 

Looking at the link Matt put up, I sure wish I could implement something like this. I don't think it is quite made for remote situations though.

 

My pump was loud lately. It's a Reeflo Dart and the fan on the back was loose using a very loud annoying humming noise. I just unplugged equipment on by one to find the source and worked on it to get it silenced. You can also put Dynamat on the inside walls of your stand to lessen the noise inside the stand. I'm Lucky all my equipment is in my closet behind the tank. Durso standpipes in the living room side so no real noise.

 

Boy there's a flashback to when I had four kicker twelves in my trunk!!!! Great idea

 

If you are thinking about drilling the tank. look into the Bean Animal system. I currently use a Durso type and it works ok in terms of noise now that I have it dialed in ok, but the Bean Animal should allow for more flow and be silent. Quite is an achievable goal!

 

Thanks Matt,
It's been awhile since I've read the Bean Animal Bar and Grill thread.
I especially like this quote- which essentially explains why I went with a 72" long overflow/100% surface skimming on my 180DT.

Surface Renewal
An extreme example: Take two identical 40' wide ponds that are fed with the same amount of water, one with a 4' wide dam and the other with a 40' wide dam. It follows that for the same flow (lets say 100 gallons per minute) over the dam, that the narrow dam will have a very thick waterfall and the wide dam a very thin sheet of water cascading over it. Now place an oil slick over both ponds! It will take significantly longer for the 4' wide dam to clear the slick fro the pond. Why? Because much of the water flowing over the dam is from below the surface! Now apply this logic to your tank, but instead of an oil slick, understand that the surface of the water attracts organics from the tank. The logical conclusion? For any given flow rate, the wider the overflow, the better your skimmer and/or in sump filtration will work!