Please help with bean animal!!!

[foxrazr]

From the beginning I wanted a bean animal overflow for my system. I am in the middle of updating my 180 gallon system with new equipment. I had a custom made sump and I now realized that I made a mistake with my design. I won't be able to submerge the drains in the sump. Is there a way around this?

Please help all opinions welcomed. As this DIY forum is where I got my ideas for my update rebuild.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2444887

 

[RockyProndoa]

Can you connect longer lengths of pipe with a coupler?

A few pics may help?

 

[foxrazr]

Can you connect longer lengths of pipe with a coupler?

A few pics may help?

It is not that I can't connect more pipe. It's that the sump was designed to have the drains above the water line. Can you please check the thread. There are a couple of pictures of the sump.

 

[RockyProndoa]

From the looks of the pics, it appears the drain pipes enter from the side of the sump, is that correct?

 

[foxrazr]

yes, and in that chamber I have the 7" filter socks.

 

[RockyProndoa]

Any reason you can't drill the top and have the drains enter that way?

 

[foxrazr]

No space to drill and socks would interfere with pipe.

 

[CuzzA]

You're going to need to either add a length of pipe to the 2 elbows. You may have to look at using a different, more flexible filter sock. Or cut out or remove the top plate over the socks and run the pipes down, perhaps using flexible tubing rather than hard pipe so you can lift the pipes up to remove the socks. If you do the ladder you'll obviously need to plug the bulkheads.

Also, in the other linked thread you mentioned you were going to use a glass-holes overflow box. Those boxes are not designed to run a beananimal drain. A) They don't have 3 holes and B) You can't fit an elbow in the box.

You'll need a box like this.

http://store.txholeyrocks.com/index.php/500gph-overflow-box-kit-831.html

Or contact a company like Reef Savvy and order one from them. Or hire an acrylic builder to make the box.

 

[woodnaquanut]

This doesn't look difficult. Just add a length of pipe from the elbow to just below the water line.

The below water line requirement is for silence and to prevent splashing. That might not be a big issue since the drain section is covered. You might not need the drain line to go deeper.

As long as the bulkhead fitting is slip, you can just pull the ell and it's length of PVC out of the BH then take out a sock. When it's running I'd guess the water level in the sock is slightly higher than the level in the sump. The level will depend on how clean the sock is.

After a while you might find it's easer to run without the socks. I know many of us are sockless!

I only use them to polish the water if the club is coming over or when I do a big rock blow out and make a real mess.

 

[supra400hptt]

All you need to do is add a piece of pipe to elbows on the outer drains over the socks to exit below the water line, as long as they are slip and not threaded bulkheads. If they are threaded on the sock side, change them to slip. When you want to change out the socks, just pull out the elbow/pipe. Don't jam the elbow in the bulkhead or you will have to fight it the next time. That's how I have mine. They don't have to be perfectly sealed, no big deal if they drip a little since it's in the sump. Literally takes about 5 extra seconds to pull off the elbow/pipe and lift sock out. I spend more time holding the sock up waiting for it to stop dripping. Leave the center drain as the dry emergency. Run one of the others as a siphon, the other a trickle. Will need three bulkheads on the overflow to match.

Here is a pic of mine. I drop both drains into one sock. The dry emergency is on the other side of the sump. Quiet as can be exiting below the water line with a gate valve on the siphon drain set to just give a trickle on the other.

 

[asudavew]

This doesn't look difficult. Just add a length of pipe from the elbow to just below the water line.

The below water line requirement is for silence and to prevent splashing. That might not be a big issue since the drain section is covered. You might not need the drain line to go deeper.

As long as the bulkhead fitting is slip, you can just pull the ell and it's length of PVC out of the BH then take out a sock. When it's running I'd guess the water level in the sock is slightly higher than the level in the sump. The level will depend on how clean the sock is.

After a while you might find it's easer to run without the socks. I know many of us are sockless!

I only use them to polish the water if the club is coming over or when I do a big rock blow out and make a real mess.

What he said. :thumbsup:

Great advice!

 

[BeanAnimal]

There is now law that says the drains have to be submerged for my standpipes to function. The only real issues is that if they are not slightly submerged you will end up with splashing (and the associated noise and/or salt creep).

 

[foxrazr]

You're going to need to either add a length of pipe to the 2 elbows. You may have to look at using a different, more flexible filter sock. Or cut out or remove the top plate over the socks and run the pipes down, perhaps using flexible tubing rather than hard pipe so you can lift the pipes up to remove the socks. If you do the ladder you'll obviously need to plug the bulkheads.

Also, in the other linked thread you mentioned you were going to use a glass-holes overflow box. Those boxes are not designed to run a beananimal drain. A) They don't have 3 holes and B) You can't fit an elbow in the box.

You'll need a box like this.

http://store.txholeyrocks.com/index.php/500gph-overflow-box-kit-831.html

Or contact a company like Reef Savvy and order one from them. Or hire an acrylic builder to make the box.

No the Glass holes would of been if I couldn't run the bean animal. Thank you for your suggestions!

This doesn't look difficult. Just add a length of pipe from the elbow to just below the water line.

The below water line requirement is for silence and to prevent splashing. That might not be a big issue since the drain section is covered. You might not need the drain line to go deeper.

As long as the bulkhead fitting is slip, you can just pull the ell and it's length of PVC out of the BH then take out a sock. When it's running I'd guess the water level in the sock is slightly higher than the level in the sump. The level will depend on how clean the sock is.

After a while you might find it's easer to run without the socks. I know many of us are sockless!

I only use them to polish the water if the club is coming over or when I do a big rock blow out and make a real mess.

Thank you I guess I over read things but when I reread I assumed the drains had to be submerged for the bean animal to work. You are right I wanted my sock area covered to limit the noise from the drains. Thank you for your advice.

All you need to do is add a piece of pipe to elbows on the outer drains over the socks to exit below the water line, as long as they are slip and not threaded bulkheads. If they are threaded on the sock side, change them to slip. When you want to change out the socks, just pull out the elbow/pipe. Don't jam the elbow in the bulkhead or you will have to fight it the next time. That's how I have mine. They don't have to be perfectly sealed, no big deal if they drip a little since it's in the sump. Literally takes about 5 extra seconds to pull off the elbow/pipe and lift sock out. I spend more time holding the sock up waiting for it to stop dripping. Leave the center drain as the dry emergency. Run one of the others as a siphon, the other a trickle. Will need three bulkheads on the overflow to match.

Here is a pic of mine. I drop both drains into one sock. The dry emergency is on the other side of the sump. Quiet as can be exiting below the water line with a gate valve on the siphon drain set to just give a trickle on the other.

I was already thinking of doing this but when I reread the bean animal overflow I just assumed that the drains had to be submerged in order for it to work. Thank you for the visual.

What he said. :thumbsup:

Great advice!

Thanks!!

There is now law that says the drains have to be submerged for my standpipes to function. The only real issues is that if they are not slightly submerged you will end up with splashing (and the associated noise and/or salt creep).

This is what I wanted to hear. Now I can continue with the plans. Thanks everyone that took time to answer.

 

[madean]

If you have the space figure out a way to add a chamber ahead of the filter sock section. Whether that's next to the sump or above the sump. The reason why I say this is because you can utilize your sump the way it was designed. If you have a chamber that the bean animal drain flows into as it was designed gland then the water overflows with gravity into your filter socks and utilizing both filter socks. If you can't do this then do what was suggested above. If you run your drain line into one filter sock then you will not be utilizing both filter socks. From the pictures it look a like the water flows into the filter socks and flows under the first wall and into the skimmer section. The teeth are there in case the filter socks get clogged. With the bean animal and your set up you will be constantly taking the pipes apart everytime you need to change the socks and really just the sock that the drain line is entering. It's my understanding that you will trickle a small amount of water in the secondary drain line which should be directed to the opposite filter sock that the main drain line is in. You could wait until the main filter sock clogs and overflows into the second and hardly used filter sock before you change the filter socks. But either way you will need take apart what ever fix you come up with in order to get the filter socks off. Over time it will get old taking the plumbing apart. Heck try and run the water through all three pipes and see if the noise is an issue with you. Maybe you will be happy with not using the bean system and just using all 3 drains.
The best scenario IMO is to add a chamber ahead of the filter sock section and run the bean system to that and then gravity feed water into the filter sock section utilizing both filter socks and giving you clear access to the filter sock section for maintenance without taking plumbing apart.

 

[foxrazr]

If you have the space figure out a way to add a chamber ahead of the filter sock section. Whether that's next to the sump or above the sump. The reason why I say this is because you can utilize your sump the way it was designed. If you have a chamber that the bean animal drain flows into as it was designed gland then the water overflows with gravity into your filter socks and utilizing both filter socks. If you can't do this then do what was suggested above. If you run your drain line into one filter sock then you will not be utilizing both filter socks. From the pictures it look a like the water flows into the filter socks and flows under the first wall and into the skimmer section. The teeth are there in case the filter socks get clogged. With the bean animal and your set up you will be constantly taking the pipes apart everytime you need to change the socks and really just the sock that the drain line is entering. It's my understanding that you will trickle a small amount of water in the secondary drain line which should be directed to the opposite filter sock that the main drain line is in. You could wait until the main filter sock clogs and overflows into the second and hardly used filter sock before you change the filter socks. But either way you will need take apart what ever fix you come up with in order to get the filter socks off. Over time it will get old taking the plumbing apart. Heck try and run the water through all three pipes and see if the noise is an issue with you. Maybe you will be happy with not using the bean system and just using all 3 drains.
The best scenario IMO is to add a chamber ahead of the filter sock section and run the bean system to that and then gravity feed water into the filter sock section utilizing both filter socks and giving you clear access to the filter sock section for maintenance without taking plumbing apart.

It was my MISUNDERSTANDING that the drains had to be submerged for the bean animal overflow to work. I had designed my sump with the sock chamber closed to help with the noise and that is the reason the sock chamber has a lid. My current sump has a antechamber before it hits the socks and is very hard to impossible to clean. I wanted my custom sump easier to clean in order to give it a more tidy look. Thank you for your time!!