Fuge overflow gurgle. Help with plumbing this bad boy.

Eclyps19 · Dec 9, 2022

Maybe I didn't think through my ATO to Fuge conversion...

Here's a super simple diagram of my fuge setup. It's sitting above my sump, has a single adjustable line feeding it from my manifold and a single overflow near the top of the fuge tank that is a simple elbow that leads all the way down into the sump water.

So a couple things that I didn't think through:

1. This thing sucks air like nobody's business and is just loud and annoying. Duh, not sure why I didn't think of that. Is there an easy solution here like just... drilling a hole in the top of my elbow so it sucks in air from there rather than from the fuge? See the purple arrow. Or do I need something more sophisticated?

2. I figured that I would just have less flow going into the fuge than I do coming out of it to ensure that I never overflow. Maybe that's not the greatest approach? I feel like maybe I should have drilled another hole in here to act as my emergency overflow. Should add another hole somewhere lower so I have some wiggle room with my flow? I really don't want to, but if this is a disaster waiting to happen then I will...

Actual photos

RedoubtReef · Dec 9, 2022

Too much flow. Cut it back so that it only flows through half the diameter of the pipe. I would also tee off of that since you only have one drain and use 2 strainers. I had a very similar setup to what you are running there and did that. Another option would be drill it for a second bulkhead so that you have 2 separate drains. This would let you have a little higher flow rate and provide some security in case one of the drains gets blocked.

Eclyps19 · Dec 9, 2022

RedoubtReef said:
Too much flow. Cut it back so that it only flows through half the diameter of the pipe. I would also tee off of that since you only have one drain and use 2 strainers. I had a very similar setup to what you are running there and did that. Another option would be drill it for a second bulkhead so that you have 2 separate drains. This would let you have a little higher flow rate and provide some security in case one of the drains gets blocked.

Alright, well reducing the flow significantly helped with the gurgle. I just don't know if this reduced flow will produce enough of a tumble now. You mentioned teeing off of my one line with two strainers. I assume you mean inside the fuge add a T there. Would that allow me to increase the flow at all without the gurgle?

RedoubtReef · Dec 9, 2022

Yes, inside the fuge. You still won't be able to increase the flow for higher turnover though. You would need to add a powerhead for increasing flow if you're trying to tumble chaeto. I'm not sure that has to be your focus though. Mine always grew like crazy without tumbling but I did have powerheads adding flow to the fuge. You can also just flip it/turn it manually every so often. Trim it back regularly and give it away/trade/sell it when it starts filling up the space.