Here's a video of my Shadow overflow. VERY QUIET!!!

[Dubs83]

I have a jebao wp40 on one side, near the top. I have a vortech mp40 on the other side, also about 4" from the top. I don't point anything downward, because I don't want to mess up the sand. Not sure specifically what you want a video of, but I did do this one. Maybe it will show what you want.

Were you able to pick up a flow meter and find out how much water you’re running through it? I’ve literally tried everything. You and I have a very similar set up (125g with two MP40s on opposite sides). I’m at 900gph and it is LOUD. MP40 are roughly 4” from the top and alternate between 30% to 100% and are anti synced. So only one at a time is ever at 100%. I’ve tried enchemat, different heights on the stand pipes, different flow intensities and NOTHING. I can tell you that my water moves much faster between boxes (making his assumption from just looking at your video). I know @justingraham finally fixed his but it involved tossing the rear box and going with something else. My reef has been up just over a year and I’ve never enjoyed it in silence. I have given up and will say that the shadow overflow is probably my least favorite piece of equipment in the tank. I was really hoping to get it quiet. Anyhow, I digress. I’m not trying to bash but it just hasn’t worked for me.

Do let me know if you got that flow meter and have a definite number. I’m curious.

Paul

 

[mixer911]

Were you able to pick up a flow meter and find out how much water you’re running through it? I’ve literally tried everything. You and I have a very similar set up (125g with two MP40s on opposite sides). I’m at 900gph and it is LOUD. MP40 are roughly 4” from the top and alternate between 30% to 100% and are anti synced. So only one at a time is ever at 100%. I’ve tried enchemat, different heights on the stand pipes, different flow intensities and NOTHING. I can tell you that my water moves much faster between boxes (making his assumption from just looking at your video). I know @justingraham finally fixed his but it involved tossing the rear box and going with something else. My reef has been up just over a year and I’ve never enjoyed it in silence. I have given up and will say that the shadow overflow is probably my least favorite piece of equipment in the tank. I was really hoping to get it quiet. Anyhow, I digress. I’m not trying to bash but it just hasn’t worked for me.

Do let me know if you got that flow meter and have a definite number. I’m curious.

Paul

What size drain lines are you using? At 900 gph you are in the low flow zone. At that low flow it should be very simple to make quiet. Can you send me photos of the rear box overflow running.

 

[Dubs83]

What size drain lines are you using? At 900 gph you are in the low flow zone. At that low flow it should be very simple to make quiet. Can you send me photos of the rear box overflow running.

Lol we have this discussion every so often. Yes. I’ll get those over to you sometime between now and tomorrow (yard work seems never ending). Just buy a ticket to Newark NJ and fix it for me already!

 

[User]

bumping this, because im about to do a 180 with 2x xf250 gyres and i need it quite. the tank sits in a wall between living room and wifes office, and the deal was completely silent.

did you ever get more info from synergy reef?

 

[behold81]

5 months in, I've come to peace that I am never going to have a completely quiet Shadow overflow, with my powerheads (2 x Gyre XF-250) agitating the surface in any way.

I still think it is one of the best overflows a reefer can buy, so don't get me wrong.

But I just cant point either Gyre towards the surface as much as I'd like, and silence > optimal flow, at this point.

But once I fill with more corals, some them may be getting blasted in the face more than i'd like.

If I have any flow in the second pipe it’s noisy and if I stop that then it causes the main pipe to come out of syphon as it finally empties the reservoir.

It’s annoying. Would love to know what we are doing wrong. Surely this is solveable

 

[Matpat]

In the process of setting up a 125g with a Synergy Shadow overflow myself. I received the overflow for Christmas and after making the stand, sump, and drilling the tank, it’s finally up and running it’s initial fresh water leak test. After 3 days it seems to be passing the leak test.

I used 1.5” diameter pipes in 2.75”, 3.75”, & 6.25” lengths, along with a Current USA 6010 DC return pump (1900 gph) and I had a bit of noise in the front overflow.

I replaced the 3.75” secondary drain pipe with a 4” pipe and it helped a little. I increased the length of the 4” pipe to 5” and the overflow box is dead silent now. My return pump is running at 75-80% which puts it right around 1500 gph, not including losses for elbows, manifold, & 3’ head, which I’m guessing are minimal. I’ll see if it stays quiet once I install the wave pumps

I was prepared to keep cutting the 5” pipe 1/4” shorter to find the sweet spot but I guess I got lucky at 5”.

The only noise from the tank now is the nearly inaudible whir of the return pump and a slight trickle of water, either in the filter sock area, overflow from the refugium to the return pump area, or maybe both. At this point, if it stays silent after the wave pumps are installed I’ll be extremely satisfied with the Synergy Overflow.

Elimination of the water trickle is next on my list, along with making doors for the stand, canopy, and bookshelves next to the tank. Pushing the tank & stand against the wall & adding doors may quiet the water trickle but if I can silence it now, it’ll definitely be silent after it’s completed.

 

[justingraham]

In the process of setting up a 125g with a Synergy Shadow overflow myself. I received the overflow for Christmas and after making the stand, sump, and drilling the tank, it’s finally up and running it’s initial fresh water leak test. After 3 days it seems to be passing the leak test.

I used 1.5” diameter pipes in 2.75”, 3.75”, & 6.25” lengths, along with a Current USA 6010 DC return pump (1900 gph) and I had a bit of noise in the front overflow.

I replaced the 3.75” secondary drain pipe with a 4” pipe and it helped a little. I increased the length of the 4” pipe to 5” and the overflow box is dead silent now. My return pump is running at 75-80% which puts it right around 1500 gph, not including losses for elbows, manifold, & 3’ head, which I’m guessing are minimal. I’ll see if it stays quiet once I install the wave pumps

I was prepared to keep cutting the 5” pipe 1/4” shorter to find the sweet spot but I guess I got lucky at 5”.

The only noise from the tank now is the nearly inaudible whir of the return pump and a slight trickle of water, either in the filter sock area, overflow from the refugium to the return pump area, or maybe both. At this point, if it stays silent after the wave pumps are installed I’ll be extremely satisfied with the Synergy Overflow.

Elimination of the water trickle is next on my list, along with making doors for the stand, canopy, and bookshelves next to the tank. Pushing the tank & stand against the wall & adding doors may quiet the water trickle but if I can silence it now, it’ll definitely be silent after it’s completed.

Interesting your first post is this on this thread

Second thing your pump is wrong measure it at most you are getting 400gph

I stopped reading after those two things

 

[Matpat]

Since this is my first v

Interesting your first post is this on this thread

Second thing your pump is wrong measure it at most you are getting 400gph

I stopped reading after those two things

Since this is my first venture into the saltwater side of the hobby, I havent had anything useful (at least I thought it would be useful) to post until now. For me, making the overflow quiet was as simple as increasing the height of my secondary pipe to 5”.

I guess the silence is due to my undersized return pump or the fact that I’m only using one return pump?

Anyway, I thought this might be of help to some of those having issues with their overflow.

 

[justingraham]

Since this is my first v


Since this is my first venture into the saltwater side of the hobby, I havent had anything useful (at least I thought it would be useful) to post until now. For me, making the overflow quiet was as simple as increasing the height of my secondary pipe to 5”.

I guess the silence is due to my undersized return pump or the fact that I’m only using one return pump?

Anyway, I thought this might be of help to some of those having issues with their overflow.

Nothing personal this has just been a never ending argument I’m glad ur overflow is silent in your house because mine and a lot of others who are running 1000 gph isn’t

 

[Engloid]

Yours isn't silent, it's not the design. Its height of the drain tubes in the Box or excessive waves on the surface.

 

[Engloid]

I meant IF yours isnt silent. Tuning the height of the tubes is the reason you are getting noise.....unless its noise entering the box inside the tabj.....which can be caused by water in the box too low or lots of water surface movement.

 

[User]

Dubs try running 1200 gallons thru it my living room is like Niagara falls and the back of my box is covered in salt precipitation

Same, but with 850gph.

 

[User]

Your Macna video is deceptive. No offense.

Your e-drain is higher than your outer box, making it redundant. You have your water level above the bulkheads which is why there is no ‘weir drop’ making the noise... but you’ve lost the triple redundancy of the BA.

Myself, dubs and Justin have tried to set this up using a BA, and retain the triple redundancy and can’t get it silent over 850gph... because having the drain set at a height that makes it useful means you have a 2.3-3” weir drop, which is where the noise comes from.

 

[Engloid]

Your Macna video is deceptive. No offense.

Your e-drain is higher than your outer box, making it redundant. You have your water level above the bulkheads which is why there is no ‘weir drop’ making the noise... but you’ve lost the triple redundancy of the BA.

Myself, dubs and Justin have tried to set this up using a BA, and retain the triple redundancy and can’t get it silent over 850gph... because having the drain set at a height that makes it useful means you have a 2.3-3” weir drop, which is where the noise comes from.

You do know the water level in the weir is determined by the height of the suction pipe, right?

 

[User]

You do know the water level in the weir is determined by the height of the suction pipe, right?

Yes. What’s your point?

When I set my water level that high in order to eliminate any noise, the water is 3/4 inch below the top of the outer box, and my edrain has to be 1/2” below the top.

At 850gph, the edrain cannot form a siphon if needed- making it useless. I tested this twice by blocking the other channels - as you do when testing the BA.

It flooded. Because there isn’t enough height above the bulkheads to accommodate the BA running anywhere over 500gph. Remember- this is the flood resistant BA that I promised the wife would ruin her new hardwood.

At this point I have it running noisy, 2/3rds up the box until I get a replacement since I can put up with noise, but running without an e-drain isn’t an option

 

[Engloid]

Yes. What’s your point?

When I set my water level that high in order to eliminate any noise, the water is 3/4 inch below the top of the outer box, and my edrain has to be 1/2” below the top.

At 850gph, the edrain cannot form a siphon if needed- making it useless. I tested this twice by blocking the other channels - as you do when testing the BA.

It flooded. Because there isn’t enough height above the bulkheads to accommodate the BA running anywhere over 500gph. Remember- this is the flood resistant BA that I promised the wife would ruin her new hardwood.

At this point I have it running noisy, 2/3rds up the box until I get a replacement since I can put up with noise, but running without an e-drain isn’t an option

Simply put, this overflow CAN run 850gph SILENTLY. It's your plumbing that's making it noisy. I will try to upload a shot of my apex setup, showing I am running about 850gph. You can see in the video I posted that it's very quiet, if not silent. I hear more noise from my vortechs than the overflow.



You don't need the emergency drain to go into a full siphon. In fact, if you try it, it will act just as if you are running your primary without any valve in it. You will either not carry enough water or will carry too much and lose siphon. It may cycle over and over, chugging and making a lot of noise every few minutes. To keep a full siphon, you have to have equal amount of water going into a pipe as coming out of it. You have to have exactly equal water going into the tank as going down the siphon. Short of counting molecules, that's just not possible. Therefore, the setup has to be "tuned" using a restriction....which is usually a ball or gate valve. Take that valve out and see what happens. You will either run more than the primary can handle and overflow into the secondary, or you will lose siphon. Due to this, we tune the valve such that it flows just slightly less water than what's coming into the tank (and therefore overflowing into the weir). That slight amount has to overflow into the secondary.

If you want me to, I can pull the pipes from inside my overflow and measure them. None are glued in, so it isn't hard to do.

 

[User]

Thanks for the plumbing lesson. I’m pretty well versed on that side of it. I’m sure if you looked at my build thread, you’ll see I do have a pretty good handle on the plumbing needs and theory

I’m going to bow out, since you’re obviously one of the people for which this works, and can’t conceive that there may be other people who do actually know what they are doing but still have issues.

 

[Engloid]

Since you want to be rude, instead of accept some help....

It's obvious that you're not that well rehearsed with how this works or you wouldn't be complaining.

 

[User]

Regarding the edrain: at the levels shown in the macna vid, and my experience when running the water in line with the top of the bulkheads- the emergency drain can’t clear the water fast enough to avoid flooding the outer box at any flow above 4-500 gph. It doesn’t need to siphon, like you said, but it does need to clear at the same rate that your pump is pushing water back in to avoid flooding. With 1/2” clearance, this is impossible.

Have you tried blocking your main and secondary to check if the e-drain can handle your 850gph? How far below the top of the box is your edrain?

If it’s 1/2 ” below the top and you’re doing 850gph, get some towels ready

 

[User]

I’m done.