Noisy Sump

[shawnth]

Hi I'm completely new to this hobby, just got my aquarium/sump setup today. Hooked everything up, totally excited and then realised how noisy my setup is. I was wondering if anybody had any advice in how to make this more quiet. I have 2 issues:

- Vibration from the pump is too loud. I've read somewhere sticking some foam between the pump and whatever its sitting on (in this case the stand) would help so I intend to try that out.
- More annoying is the sound of water falling down the overflow to the sump. Picture included but its making a loud sound when it initially falls into the first box (not sure what this is called), and then again when it falls into the actual sump. I'm hoping the 2nd drop gets better when I fill the tank more completely with water (holding off as I expect the level to go up once I add live rock).

http://flic.kr/p/e7aUPR

I've read somewhere that a filter sock may help, but I frankly don't want to have to deal with having to change out a filter sock every few days.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I believe in socks, 3 types of filtration. Physical-husbandry, mechanical- socks and filter mats, and chemical- nitrogen cycle. Put them in the washer with water and they are good to go. 2nd try adding a ball valve inline. Slowly close it. Try extending your pipe under water in the sump and you will not hear the noise. Good luck

 

[shawnth]

I've added a filter mat to the box that sits on top of my sump wich the overflow tube dumps water into, and now the sound of water is substantially less. Not sure what this box on top is called, all the instructions for my setup are in Japanese but it seems to be called a wool box so I'll refer to it as that in this thread.

I still hear a good amount of splashing sound of the water when it falls from the wool box to the rest of the sump. Anything that I can do there ? If I somehow attach a pipe from the wool box down to the sump would that even work ?

 

[JohnVH]

I glued airline tubing to the bottom of my return pump to cushion vibration. Socks work well but you still can get some noise. I built a Reverse Durso pipe for my sump and it worked very well. Just google Reverse Durso to see one, they are very easy to build.

 

[2XAl]

Google a Hoffman gurgle buster. It's on my to do list- I tried jamming a piece of airline tubing about a foot down the overflow drain and it worked slightly but still not as quiet as I would like.