Plumbing Question

[Heavymman]

Hi all,

I am really scratching my head here and I wanted some advice. I recently bought a 60 gallon cube that was already drilled in the bottom with an acrylic overflow. My question is , the bulkheads that fit are 1” and 1 1/4”. The previous owner had a 1” durso reduced to 1 1/4” to fit in the bulkhead and a 3/4” return reduced to fit in the 1” bulkhead.
I am putting a COR 20 return pump in the sump so I was thinking of keeping everything 1” especially since I will be adding a reactor manifold off the return. I would than T at the top and reduce to 3/4” for two returns. I was also thinking of keeping the overflow at 1 1/4” Durso. The problem lies in the height of the durso, it would be a few inches lower now to fit everything, approximately 3-4” under the teeth on the acrylic overflow. Would that create a noise nightmare? Does it make sense doing it that way? Any advice is appreciated, thank!

 

[Danj]

In my experience, dursos are a noise nightmare anyway, and adding a few inches of drop behind your weir would probably just exacerbate the noise issue, though maybe not depending on how much flow and long the weir is. Only way I know to be sure is to test it out [emoji53]. But of course how much noise is "too much" is highly subjective, so I'm sure you'll find a range of opinions here. For me, if I hear running water when sitting on my couch 15 feet away, it's too loud.

Any chance you have enough room in the overflow to drill another hole for a siphon drain? That would be ideal in my opinion. Then you can use the second drain for an emergency overflow line.

 

[Heavymman]

In my experience, dursos are a noise nightmare anyway, and adding a few inches of drop behind your weir would probably just exacerbate the noise issue, though maybe not depending on how much flow and long the weir is. Only way I know to be sure is to test it out [emoji53]. But of course how much noise is "too much" is highly subjective, so I'm sure you'll find a range of opinions here. For me, if I hear running water when sitting on my couch 15 feet away, it's too loud.

Any chance you have enough room in the overflow to drill another hole for a siphon drain? That would be ideal in my opinion. Then you can use the second drain for an emergency overflow line.

I rather not trill the tank, I always thought Dursos were quiet but this is my first build with a sump so shows you my experience lol. I could use the 1 1/4” as emergency drain and 1” siphon then hang the returns off the back I guess.... not sure

 

[Danj]

Yeah, same here. I've always been a little too squeemish to drill my own tank. That said, I have worked with a friendly local glass shop and had them drill my tank for me. Only cost a few bucks, and I supplied the bit and the tank. Some shops will condescendingly insist that it can't be done, despite all your protestations, and obviously those are the ones to avoid.

Hanging the returns off the back is a good option as well, though less of a clean look if you can't hide them somehow. I ran my last tank that way and had no complaints other than the exposed plumbing not exactly fitting in with the living room decor. Good luck!

 

[Heavymman]

Yeah, same here. I've always been a little too squeemish to drill my own tank. That said, I have worked with a friendly local glass shop and had them drill my tank for me. Only cost a few bucks, and I supplied the bit and the tank. Some shops will condescendingly insist that it can't be done, despite all your protestations, and obviously those are the ones to avoid.

Hanging the returns off the back is a good option as well, though less of a clean look if you can't hide them somehow. I ran my last tank that way and had no complaints other than the exposed plumbing not exactly fitting in with the living room decor. Good luck!

Lol same issue, have to make it nice for the living room... I guess we will see.