BeanAnimal Design with Reef Ready Tank

chrismhaase

chrismhaase

Active member
So i am planning a 180 and was trying to figure out if it is necessary to order a custom tank so I could do the Bean Animal design with the full weir. I also was trying to not to "rig" the weir in connecting it between the already in place dual Reef Ready overflows. Is it possible to get all 3 pipes per BA design and use the fourth hole for a return?

Has anyone done this? Do you see any issues in splitting up the 3 drains?
 
It's been done however I'm not sure how successful it was. On my reef ready tank I ran with dursos and dry emergencies. It worked but was kind of noisy. I think if you joined everything underneath it would be a maze of plumbing and get rather complicated.
 
I guess my question is, if you are trying to get the 3 lines to drain, does it really matter if they are in the same box?
 
Honestly I think the only way to work it out for an individual setup is to try it. I know that's easier said than done but the challenge is how to balance the flow between the two overflows. From the gigantic BA thread you can bridge both overflows ( huge pain in the @ss IMO ) or use one for siphon and dry emergency and one for open channel and make it a dsb. ( I'm sure I'm missing a lot of details and will be corrected but I haven't read the 8000 page thread).

The principals of the system are pretty simple and if you really want it and you have the RR tank I would just try it.

Do you have 2 holes per overflow or 3? My RR tank and a 1 inch drain and 2 x1/2 in returns per overflow. I would just figure out the plumbing and go from there. With mine I was going to run a full BA per overflow box.
 
I did it on my 300DD. One overflow has a siphon and emergency, the other overflow has a siphon and the open channel. The siphons join together directly under the tank, and the gate valve is at the end of the run at the sump in the next room. It worked the first time I tried it, regardless of the fact that Bean and others in the original thread said it wouldn't. They seemed to get pretty upset that I suggested it would work. There are also a couple other threads out there of people who have done it successfully.

Make sure your tank is completely level so the overflows get the same amount of water flowing to them, and make sure the siphons are the same height. Joel has the basic idea down, although I wouldn't make one of the overflows stagnant with just an emergency. Mine both get plenty of flow through them. Or Joel's durso setup would also work. Or you could do dual herbies. The one you're proposing is basically a mix of herbie and bean. Not a true bean because everything isn't in the same overflow, but the principle is the same and it works great.
 
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2212298 is info on linking the weirs that you don't want to do but info non the less. The issue you may run into depends on your preference. If you want the minimum 3 pipes 2 in 1 with a return one weir will be doing the workload. You would need to know how much gph you wish to go to your sump and then use a calculated to see if a single weir can support it. Note you also reduce skimming effecency, this would have to be a judgment call.(calculator is available on this site). That ofcoarse is minimum and you don't count the teeth only the area water would pass over. The other weir poses the following issues. If its the emergency final drain and return it will be always full of water with no movement. You will have to make double sure it is clean of obstruction's. Is you have the secondary pipe you will get some water movement but minimal depending on how low you tune your siphon. If you have the ability to run the return over the edge of the tank you could run one siphon pulling half from both and then the backups in each weir. Just remember any single weir needs to be able to handel your gph. As each pipe fails,fully clogged, you end up relying on a single weir.

Sorry a few random thoughts are out of place but im typeing this up on a potato of a phone atm. gl!
 
Drakon has a good point I failed to mention. My return is only pushing about 700gph so it's not something I need to worry about. You may depending on yours.
 
You must join the weirs, Hobbzz has a joint herbie just like mine joining the siphons gives you that joint weir. Without the weir the overflows won't be at the same height and you'll either have one too high or one too low creating noise. A dual herbie (one herbie in each) works too but slightly more maintenance and initial setup difficulties. If you do the joint make sure your siphon lines are plumbed exactly the same from where the joint T's to the sump.
 
I've had several herbies, and they all worked great with minimal complications. I prefer the joint herbie over two individual herbies, but when I get my next tank I won't buy reef ready and will go the coast to coast overflow with a bean animal. You can probably do the BA for less money than a RR tank as you just need a plain tank and a few pieces of glass. Easy to DIY if you have the time/inclination.

My joint heribe is going on 2 years with no issues (after if put a lid on the overflow)

Another option I've seen people do is drill a third hole at the bottom of each overflow for the third pipe.
 
chrismhaase said:
Does anyone know if you can buy a 180 G tank that is reef ready with 3 drains per overflow set?
Click to expand...

Other option would be to buy a non-reef ready mass-market tank and either drill the holes yourself or have the LFS do it. That is what I will do next time
 
You can get a 180 dsa reef ready that has 3 drains 2 returns in one single centered overflow also they are sweet tanks
 
chrismhaase said:
How long have you been using it? I assume since you love it, it was an easy setup and hasn't had an issues.
Click to expand...

I used one on my new build. It's been running for around 2 months. Really quiet and it wasn't that hard to set up. Just make sure to use strainers and a lid for your overflow if you can.

I also routed my return through my overflow box. Notched a few teeth off of the overflow and used locline out of it. I have no external plumbing and it's a really sharp look.
 
chrismhaase said:
I assume since you love it, it was an easy setup and hasn't had an issues.
Click to expand...

Siphon/open channel is a very reliable drain system. I set one up on a 180 beginning in about 1990 (before it was popularized by Herbie's now famous post) and ran it without incident until 2007. There are certainly advantages to the third drain in the bean animal approach, though the dual has always sufficed for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Re: bean animal help!
Replies
2
Views
193
wvned
wvned
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
186
SFMAquariums
S
E
Red Sea weir overflow
Replies
9
Views
363
griss
griss
A
DRILL aquarium only 1 DownPipe?
Replies
1
Views
361
Timfish
Timfish
A
DRILL aquarium only 1 DownPipe?
Replies
0
Views
286
Andrés Garza
A
Back
Top