Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[O3reefer]

I am trying to finish my tank to start the hobby and I am in need of some help if anyone can chime. Here is the link to the thread I started. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1947264 Thanks

AJ

 

[mginn]

Since my tank is 36 long I will probably go with the herbie. Has anyone ever added a float solonoid to shut of pump as a back up to the overflow ?

 

[golf nut]

Since my tank is 36 long I will probably go with the herbie. Has anyone ever added a float solonoid to shut of pump as a back up to the overflow ?

Likely a lot of people, until they discovered Bean's system

 

[Hungriee]

I'm setting up plumbing for my tank and selected the bean animal style overflow. I have an external overflow box out of my 135g cube. I run 3x 1.5" drains, one emergency siphon, one siphon and one open chanel siphon. These are vertical standpipes coming down from the external overflow box which are connected to a 90 elbow and another 90 elbow draining to the sump.

I run an Eheim 1262 return pump at full speed, no restrictions with 1" return piping and it seems to fill my overflow up to the drain pipes but am experiencing a very loud toilet gurgling noise coming from the siphon and open chanel siphon.

Any idea what I did wrong?

* i didn't know how to rotate some pics

 

[TheFishMan65]

Maybe I missed it but I don't see a valve anywhere. Without it you can't force the air out of the main drain.

 

[afgun]

If you can't restrict the flow in the full siphon pipe (with the valve mentioned above) then it likely is pulling air and water together. When mine starts up, the water level rises in the weir and it makes an awful noise as the siphon pipe pulls both air and water... and then as the siphon catches it settles down into steady state and flows very quietly. But I had to adjust down the flow in the siphon to match my pump output. Watch yours as it starts up and see if it exhibits similar behavior. Might be the reason, might not...

 

[BeanAnimal]

The open channel is likely going to oscillate between free flow and siphon due to the horizontal run of pipe allowing water to backup.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I thought I was a valve on the horizontal siphon run....

Have you read the basic system operation description and how it works?

 

[JRunyon21]

BeanAnimal

Thanks for the quick response. That's great that I will be able to terminate the full siphon standpipe above the water in my SUMP. The way you described how the system works got me thinkin(not good).

You said "Valving the end (or necking it down) will allow it to run full bore and prevent air from traveling back up."

Would this mean that as long as the 'bottleneck' of the middle standpipe is at the end of the standpipe I should be fine? I wanted to run the plumbing exactly as you described in your example.
1" bulk heads to 1.25" Sanitary T to 1.25" valve to 1.25" tubing.

Right at the end tho I wanted the pipe to go to a 1.25" 'T' which then will go to 2 - 3/4" outputs. 2 - 3/4" pvc pipes should not be able to handle the flow from a 1.25" pvc pipe. This would mean I would have the bottleneck at the bottom of the standpipe. I would have full siphon and also be able to properly drain the water over my biomedia. Or am I way off? lol

 

[TheFishMan65]

Teeing the ouput only seems to cause problems IMHO, people have done it, but it takes some adjustments.

 

[SkyReef]

The Elbow-Bulkhead-PVC-pipe Assembly

The Elbow-Bulkhead-PVC-pipe Assembly

Hello:

Great work on the threads, all. Regarding BeanAnimal's design, I have a basic question about the plumbing components at the bulkhead of the tank.

How is the elbow-bulkhead-pvc-pipe assembly connected? For example, the slip-by-slip bulkhead allows the elbow simply to be pushed into the flange or head of the bulkhead for a somewhat snug fit. Conversely, on the nut side, the pvc pipe also can simply be pushed into the nut side of the flange for a similar snug fit. When pushing these two components into the bulkhead, one hears a sort of "click," further suggesting that the assembly is snug. However, is that correct? Is that all that is required, or does one need to consider using adhesive? I have read that one should avoid adhesive on the waterside of the bulkhead.

In my layout, I am using a 1" bulkhead design, and I am not certain whether I want to size up to the 1.5" pipe design at the location outside the bulkhead. Please recall that BeanAnimal's design uses a 1.5" slip bushing (which bushing covers the 1" pvc pipe that is connected to the flange) to lead into a 1.5" sanitary "tee."

Therefore, if I opt to go with using just an ordinary "tee," not a sanitary "tee," can simply extend the 1" pvc pipe that clicked into the slip side of the bulkhead (at the nut side) all the way into that ordinary "tee" without using adhesive at the bulkhead? If so, how? (I will be using a slip-by-slip bulkhead.) Should I use adhesive to connect that 1" pvc piping to the outside nut of the flange? As well, I presume I will need to use adhesive on the other end--at the "tee." Am I incorrect about using adhesive at the "tee"?)

It seems a bit strange that simply snapping the 1" pvc pipe into the slip side of the bulkhead on the outside of the tank would be sufficient to prevent water leakage. This seems more true given that I would not be using the slip pvc bushing to envelope the pvc piping that is connected to the bulkhead, as BeanAnimal did. On this note, I presume he used adhesive to adhere the 1" pvc piping to the slip pvc bushing?

I don't have a clear picture of how I must assemble the elbow-bulkhead-pvc pipe components. So, please, any help figuring this out would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jasoncw]

Just as a general comment, all slip joints outside of water MUST be glued. Otherwise, they will leak. Slip joints inside water do not need to be glued, but can if you like. They will leak, but since the water has nowhere to go (since it is submerged), you do not see a leak outside of the tank. I believe those who say not to glue slip joints that are submerged say this because it makes it easy to disassemble or reconfigure if the need arises.

Hello:

Great work on the threads, all. Regarding BeanAnimal's design, I have a basic question about the plumbing components at the bulkhead of the tank.

How is the elbow-bulkhead-pvc-pipe assembly connected? For example, the slip-by-slip bulkhead allows the elbow simply to be pushed into the flange or head of the bulkhead for a somewhat snug fit. Conversely, on the nut side, the pvc pipe also can simply be pushed into the nut side of the flange for a similar snug fit. When pushing these two components into the bulkhead, one hears a sort of "click," further suggesting that the assembly is snug. However, is that correct? Is that all that is required, or does one need to consider using adhesive? I have read that one should avoid adhesive on the waterside of the bulkhead.

In my layout, I am using a 1" bulkhead design, and I am not certain whether I want to size up to the 1.5" pipe design at the location outside the bulkhead. Please recall that BeanAnimal's design uses a 1.5" slip bushing (which bushing covers the 1" pvc pipe that is connected to the flange) to lead into a 1.5" sanitary "tee."

Therefore, if I opt to go with using just an ordinary "tee," not a sanitary "tee," can simply extend the 1" pvc pipe that clicked into the slip side of the bulkhead (at the nut side) all the way into that ordinary "tee" without using adhesive at the bulkhead? If so, how? (I will be using a slip-by-slip bulkhead.) Should I use adhesive to connect that 1" pvc piping to the outside nut of the flange? As well, I presume I will need to use adhesive on the other end--at the "tee." Am I incorrect about using adhesive at the "tee"?)

It seems a bit strange that simply snapping the 1" pvc pipe into the slip side of the bulkhead on the outside of the tank would be sufficient to prevent water leakage. This seems more true given that I would not be using the slip pvc bushing to envelope the pvc piping that is connected to the bulkhead, as BeanAnimal did. On this note, I presume he used adhesive to adhere the 1" pvc piping to the slip pvc bushing?

I don't have a clear picture of how I must assemble the elbow-bulkhead-pvc pipe components. So, please, any help figuring this out would be greatly appreciated!

 

[SkyReef]

Just as a general comment, all slip joints outside of water MUST be glued. Otherwise, they will leak. Slip joints inside water do not need to be glued, but can if you like. They will leak, but since the water has nowhere to go (since it is submerged), you do not see a leak outside of the tank. I believe those who say not to glue slip joints that are submerged say this because it makes it easy to disassemble or reconfigure if the need arises.

Thanks for the good response, Jason.

 

[SkyReef]

BeanAnimal's 1" slip x 1.25" slip PVC Street Elbow

BeanAnimal's 1" slip x 1.25" slip PVC Street Elbow

Hey, all:

I just realized that BeanAnimal's intake elbows, inside the skimmer box, are assymetrical in that the intake end is 1.25", while the through-bulkhead end is 1.00". Bean writes in his early posts that he wanted the oversized intake end to be larger than the outlet to avoid a vortex problem. That all makes perfect sense. Here's the question, though: if I am running 1" plumbing on my tiny 28-gallon nanocube, using Bean's design (complete with a coast-to-coast skimmer and the three standpipes), am I better off up-sizing the inlet on the street elbows to 1.25", or, on such a small system, will I be okay with simply keeping it all 1.00"? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Barfly]

You will be more than ok with 1".

I use 1" on my 125 and the valve is more than half closed.

 

[SkyReef]

BeanAnimal's Design Painted Black?

BeanAnimal's Design Painted Black?

Hey, all:

Has anyone done BeanAnimal's design painted black at the street elbows in the CoasttoCoast overflow box? The back of my tank is painted black (on the outside of the glass), and it seems like the PVC Elbows affixed to bulkheads would look better blending in with the black background, by being black, rather than sticking out as their natural PVC-white. Has anyone ever done that? If so, how? I suspect that Krylon Fusion paint would bond to the PVC (it reads "bonds to plastic" on the label). But would that be safe for the inhabitants and life on the coral reef inside the aquarium? Would it work? Or does it not really show up or matter that the elbows are white--that they are not an eyesore--because of some other reason? Perhaps the glass overflow box sufficiently obscures the elbows? Perhaps black elbows would not improve the sightliness at all? Your thoughts most appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[SkyReef]

You will be more than ok with 1".

I use 1" on my 125 and the valve is more than half closed.

Thanks Barfly. Your response is very helpful.

 

[gweston]

Hey, all:

Has anyone done BeanAnimal's design painted black at the street elbows in the CoasttoCoast overflow box? The back of my tank is painted black (on the outside of the glass), and it seems like the PVC Elbows affixed to bulkheads would look better blending in with the black background, by being black, rather than sticking out as their natural PVC-white. Has anyone ever done that? If so, how? I suspect that Krylon Fusion paint would bond to the PVC (it reads "bonds to plastic" on the label). But would that be safe for the inhabitants and life on the coral reef inside the aquarium? Would it work? Or does it not really show up or matter that the elbows are white--that they are not an eyesore--because of some other reason? Perhaps the glass overflow box sufficiently obscures the elbows? Perhaps black elbows would not improve the sightliness at all? Your thoughts most appreciated.

Thanks.

Krylon Fusion is certainly fine to use and safe for the tank. Just make sure that the paint fully cures before it touches water and you are good to go.

I am building an overflow myself. My internal overflow box is being built with 'smoke' colored glass. While not black, it is darker than a clear glass so will help obscure things behind it. If you let coralline grow on the glass, it will obscure everything eventually anyway. But if you are more into the clean black background look, then Krylon will certainly help.

 

[Pprice01]

Internal Overflow Questions

Internal Overflow Questions

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading for days now, and am really looking forward to my next build. I've already chosen to go with a 150g glass tank and want to incorporate this overflow method when they build the tank. Due to the additional cost (2x) to have the box on the outside of the tank I plan on opting for the original design with the box created coast-to-coast inside the tank.

I have a few questions and hope that you all can help me out:

1. How far below the level of the top of the tank should the weir be? I was thinking of 1" below the plastic trim on the inside of the top of the tank.

2. In order to minimize the internal dimensions of the overflow as much as possible without changing the design, I was wondering if the 90's in the overflow box could be trimmed on the bulkhead side to shorten thier footprint into the tank. If they could be shortened, how much space for gluing or slipping-on/in is required.

3. Using the normal 1.5" drain setup, what return pump do you recommend? I understand that this is more of an opinion, but I've never used one before and am curious what you all think regarding in-sump, external, heat, noise, flow pressure/size, etc.

4. Has anyone solved the "shadow problem" created by the internal overflow box? This is the main reason for my wanting to narrow the box as much as possible. I was considering maybe a row of LEDs that are rotated 45* toward the back of the tank or something. Maybe build the reef out a little toward the front, I don't know - opinions welcome.

http://vegasreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?864-125-looking-better&highlight=bigronbo

Thanks everyone.

 

[RocketSurgeon]

in order not to see a water line, the top of the weir should be hidden behind the plastic trim. not below it.

with 1.5" pipe, not sure it matters about the pump size. I'm using a mag 9.5 on my 75 gallon.

as far as the shadow, I allow my fish to run freely under the shelf behind my rock wall.