Noisy Sump Solutiuon

paulidee

paulidee

Member
I have my tank in my family room where we watch TV and the noise from the sump makes it difficult to watch TV sometimes.
The tank for the sump came with a glass top, but I have my protein skimming in the sump and the top is taller than the sump so I can't use the top.
I was thinking of getting some foam and cutting a hole in the top where the skimmer could come through to block some of the noise.
How does this sound or does anyone else have a better idea?
Thanks,
Paul
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
You can get plastic, I believe its acrylic, cut at Lowes and then you can use a dremmel to cut a hole to fit your skimmer. A lot of gas is exchanged from the sump so make sure you have some vents. I wouldn't use foam.
 
tarball

tarball

Member
What is causing all the noise? Is it the skimmer or the water flow from the over flow box?
There are things that can be done to quieten down both.
 
paulidee

paulidee

Member
It is coming from where the water first enters the sump. there is a black box that is supposed to hold the bio balls but I don't have any bio balls.
What else can I do?
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Originally Posted by paulidee
It is coming from where the water first enters the sump. there is a black box that is supposed to hold the bio balls but I don't have any bio balls.
What else can I do?
You can extend the drains lower in the sump, so the water is not crashing from the top of the sump to the bottom. I have done it with before with PVC or just some tubing to extend down close to the bottom of the sump. If you go this way, I would cut(drill) some relief holes at the top of the tubing or PVC to allow the excess air to escape. This is all being done in the sump, just so your not thinking I'm telling you to do this in some other area. Plumbing situations can be hard to describe sometimes over the net, at least for me. This will help with some of the noise from the water crashing into the sump from the display. If you have any ?'s please ask, I'll help if I can. You may want to get the acrylic like said and make your own cover for the sump, don't for get to make the vents in it, also stated. Good luck

Matt
 
paulidee

paulidee

Member
trippkid,
thanks for the info. There is another box on top of the other box that is supposed to hold the bio balls. This other box holds other filter media. Right now I have a pura pad there. So the hose that feeds the water stops at the top of this box and the water trickles down to the empty box that holds the bio balls. In other words I can't extend the hose to the bottom of the sump because of the other filter media box.
Is there another type of media that I could fill the bio ball box with that would stop the water from splashing? I see pictures of other sumps that have that box filled with something that looks like shredded paper although I don't see any media like that for sale.
Or what is your opinion of bio balls? I heard they create extra nitrate?
thanks!
 
indyws6

indyws6

Member
Greetings

Any chance you could post some pictures to help describe the sump situation you have?
Mine was noisy at first (it's still louder than I would like), but I did something similar to what has been mentioned and extended the pipe below the surface of the water.
Reference the picture below: My sump was delivered with just the 90 degree elbow you see at the top. I cut a section of 1" PVC pipe and added it so that the water would exit below the water line in the sump. You can't see it, but under water at the end of that pipe I have another 90 degree elbow that "points" the water towards the corner farthest away (where the end of the heater is...). Doing this cut down on the splashing, "smoothed" the flow and made a noticeable difference. It was being cleaned when the photo was taken, but I also use a filter sock over the PVC pipe and that, too, also helps minimize noise and splashing.
Hope this helps. Good Luck...
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
throw some filter media or sponges in there. It will help a lot but you'll have to rinse them out frequently.
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
You can use some live rock if you want. CPR makes the plastic strand stuff, also Eheim may have something like it too. I've also used a product called Cell Pore before, works pretty good. You could remove all the stuff in the drain area( Drip plate, and the eggcrate), extend the drain(s) and use the Pura pad in the baffle area. It is all up to you, a lot of times in this hobby, different things or ways get the same job done. Good luck, keep us posted
.
Matt
 
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