Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
any tips on how to make my sump less niosey
- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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Apparently 1.5" pipe doesn't make this sound. I have this size pipe but theres a slight restriction on the connection, though doesnt make the noise like the ones with 3/4" and 1" size pipes.
some lads have tried using a valve on the pipe underneath to slow down the flow and not create the noise.
One guy removed the upstand pipe from the weir, which leaves a head of water in the weir to drain down to the sump (like the tank in your attic)
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- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
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- wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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- joey (joe watson)
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one has a tap valve on? if so, this should be running from the bottom of the overflow, and the other pipe from the top of the overflow. you need to open this tap a little to let some water flow from the bottom (but still go down the top pipe too), at just the right speed so the thing drains properly with no noise. if its too open it'll sound like a waterfall down the empty overflow chamber
source: experience
on a side note: is the stand mdf?
Location: Portlaoise, Midlands
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- joey (joe watson)
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Location: Portlaoise, Midlands
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- wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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The Key is to have the red tap adjusted just the right amount that it holds the water in the weir at that level.
This is how I have my tank at home and it is virtually silent, and I know my tank won't overflow while I'm out if a snail or somthing blocks the primary drain.
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- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
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- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
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- wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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Ihave come across it before that the intake pipe is blocked with snail shells or something similar which restricts the water flow, causing a really strange gurgling sound because air and water is trying to pass at the same time... like trying to empty a large plastic bottle of coke by turning it completely upside-down.just tried all whats in the diagram but its much the same maybe a wider pipe what do you think.and cheers for that
The pipes that come with the tank are perfectly suited to move the water quietly, so changing them would be pointless.
I think there must be something else missing here, it has to be an easy fix!

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- wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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Remember the pipe on the far left doesn't actually have water running through it at all times, it is for emergencies if the "primary" one in the middle blocks.
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- ciaranm (ciaran murray)
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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The outlet from the bottom of the weir has a head of water over it so doesn't make the noise.
The valve helps to set the flow rate to maintain the head of water in the weir.
The other outlet is back-up in case of blockage of the first pipe.
There is also a Durso pipe setup ( you can google it)
basically a tee and elbow on the top of the outlet
This site is where they say an 1 1/2" pipe doesnt make any noise.
Just make sure your sump can take the volume of water from the weir plus the difference in water level from the main tank which would also fall into the weir if pump/power failure.
As an experiment I would suggest using an 1 1/2" pipe which then reduces to existing pipe size to see if it can hold sufficient water to prevent noise.
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- wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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Just make sure your sump can take the volume of water from the weir plus the difference in water level from the main tank which would also fall into the weir if pump/power failure.
This helps...
If the water level is at "max on" and I switch off the return pump it won't go past the "max off" mark. The "min on" mark is an indicator so I don't let the pump run dry from evaporation etc.
... No problem mate, I'm happy to help!
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