Terrible Advice Tuesdays (T.A.Tues): Store Made Dursos Are Better?
Terrible Advice Tuesdays: A (local fish) store or pre-manufactured durso standpipe is more efficient than one made by you.
The rest of the story: Really?! Let me guess who started that idea.
Every “store made” or pre-manufactured durso standpipe I’ve ever seen is made from the exact same PVC pieces that you would buy at any hardware store. Furthermore, they are put together in exactly the same way. To make matters worse, a lot of the store made dursos have some bad design elements like step down pieces before the bulkhead and standpipes that are glued into the bulkhead. Therefore, I’d give preference to a properly made “hobbyist” durso.
For the hair splitters out there, perhaps a store made durso has pieces that are pushed together more so there is slightly (big emphasis on slightly) less turbulence through the pipe. What effect does this infinitesimally small reduction of turbulence have on your tank? NONE.
Build your own dursos and your tank will be fine.
(For those of you with the No-Nonsense Guide to Setting Up A Saltwater Tank, Vol 1, watch the “Durso” video to see how I build my dursos and the trick that keeps them completely silent).
Browse the Store! Questions?
Amen Mark, seems like I have modified all of my equipment weather it is DYI or store bought. Everybody’s system setup is different and requires a tweak here and there. 🙂
Mark H…this is true. When are you going to bolt-on that 8 foot extension to your tank?!
Mark, don’t tempted me…
I still need to fix mine, it’s slightly to low thus making a little bit too much noise.
The only maybe better thing about a shop bought “durso” is the magic muffler this is some smart durso. However it will still work the same.
I agree with your emphasis on “properly” built. Any discussion of DIY vs “professional” must include this. Of course, the DIY can very well be better than the professional. As a budding DIYer my initial constructs are usually of inferior quality but I learn and improve; professionals will not always do this.
Totally agree. In my case a Durso was inappropriate so I built two Stockman pipes as I have two mid tank overflows. Works perfectly and cheaply.
It’s true, I have found that as I plan out each aspect of my reef I encounter “professionals” insisting I purchase their products rather then build my own. I even had a LFS owner tell me that my plan to do a beananimal style overflow would result in headache because there is not a manufactures product for it and hobbyist tend to mess things up. Needless to say I am still doing the beananimal, a) because I want a silent system b) because I like building stuff c) because I don’t like seeing the stand pipes coming from the bottom of the tank.
Good Morning Mrak,
I agree with everyone. I have made two of my own protein skimmers and a hang on refuguim and I am going to ake my own drip filteration system. I try and make my own stuff and tweak it has I go. DIY all the way!
So what about a homemade surge device VS a controllable power head 🙂
/troll
my protein skimmer’s return lip is so high above the water that I rinsed out a pepsi 20oz bottle, cut one end off it, put a rubber band and some tape on it and walah!, sound reducer. the water doesn’t splash into the return area, it slides down the inside of the bottle to the top of the water. I’m sure I could’ve bought some fancy doo-hickey for that, but this way I had a pepsi and helped my system at the same time.
The nice thing is, these days there are always plenty of options and resources, like what Mark is doing here to help reduce unnecessary cost. there were a few things I got at first that I didn’t really need, but nothing too significant or drastic. So, I feel very fortunate. Especially now that I’m up to a 125-gallon tank.
Mate you just lost along time patron, I once believed you were there for the people not the all mighty buck. I have built two tanks on your advice
but I guess the dollar is more powerful.
I have spread your word to many friends and forums
I know it takes money to do what you do, but still to have someone kill their fish or corals simply because they got bad advice from some idiot at the LFS. the problem is they cant get good advice unless they part with the almighty dollar.
the following is from your site and it really shows what you are there for $$$$$$$$
The content you’re trying to view is for members only. Membership is for people who have purchased a Mr. Saltwater Tank Guide(s).
I teach people how to grow plants and veg and become more independent in the garden as the cost of living goes up I know I am making a difference in their lives, and i do it for free.
just to let you know we have purchased you book from a member on a forum who no longer is into fish.
Jim’s a jerk. Mark could easily not have any of the free content on his blogs videos or website. Time is money and everyone deserves to get paid for their time and effort. I DIY most things even my lighting. Being an electrician helps in that but the only thing on my tank that is “store bought” is my sump,pumps, power heads, and protein skimmer. Oh let’s not forget the tank itself. Lol. Keep doing what your doing mark! Wish I could make your seminar in Austin but I gotta move this weekend. Sure could use the how to move a tank info. But I moved my 70 gal from Mississippi to Texas with little loss so, hopefully the move to huntsville will go as smoothly with the 135.
Jim- If you are a long time patron then why can’t you log in? I don’t see the point of your rant if you have actually been sending people to check Mark’s site out for so long then you already knew they would have to login to get most of the detailed info. Perhaps you have been using the guide you bought from a friend and didn’t know how things worked but that doesn’t mean you should cry about it here. Mark presents the idea of tank personalities in a unique and specific way. It’s a methodology that empowers the reader to target learning about saltwater tanks to their level of commitment and interest. This is part of what you are buying with the guide and this system is how Mark delivers his experience knowledge. The info is not always unique but it all in one place and not scattered over dozens of sites and thousands of forum threads. Pay for Mark’s time upfront or spend your time on your own. For me Mark’s guides have been well worth the money in helping me learn.
Besides, Mark has lots of free info in his youtube videos. Use what is free and you want more info you can spend your time with google and gather the info on your own from a myriad of places or you can buy a very concise guide at a fair price. With Mark’s guides you’ll also get the detailed videos and information that come with it.
What does “turbulence” have to do with the piping? Uh; probably nothing because whatever we are doing wouldn’t matter.
No “store made” product should be any differeent that what you can make yourself at home. Come on guys; this isn’t rocket science it’s glueing some pipes together.
A Diy DursoStandPipe is the only way to go i couldn,t agree more you have to have the right angles you need and you can modify it as you need also and (pvc) is cheep and making one of these or two is not hard . If a person is not handy thers videos on you tube etc.. on how to make them… The ones i drilled several holes elbow part and have sponges on them which i clean in removed aqaurium water sometimes 2 times a week the sponges really catch alot waster – uneaten food etc… peace— Jimbo
I had the very same dilemma when setting up my new system. I considered making my own. Wasn’t sure whether to go for a durso, Stockman standpipe etc. I then heard about the “Maggie Muffler”. Ordered one and never looked back.
It works great, available in different sizes (even colours!), adapters available for different pipe sizes – imperial, metric etc. (I live in the UK), quiet as a mouse and easy to clean. Problem solved!
Didn’t want to post the URL here in case Mark didn’t approve (I am in no way conned to their company) so google “Maggie Muffler” and have a look for yourself.