Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

kory1006 said:
I have an Aqueon 120 4x2x2 that I plan on doing an internal coast to coast with an external box. I am looking to achieve a minimum 10x turnover rate with the return pump.

As for the internal weir, would a 2" depth (front to back) be sufficient? Height will be determined once I drill the holes to go from the internal to the external which brings me to my next question.

Drilling holes in the back of the tank; would drilling 2x 1 3/4" holes be sufficient to go from the internal to the external box? Or would I be better off drilling 3 holes?

As far as placing the external box, is there any advantage to the placement of it? Far left, center, right, etc... I would like to keep it on an end, this way I can keep plumbing to a straight drop.

The depth of the external overflow box; I see general rule of thumb is to keep the bulkheads at least 1 hole length from the edge of the glass. I see some external boxes that are only 5" deep (front to back). How deep should an external overflow be to accommodate a 1" bulkhead?


-Kory
Click to expand...

Anyone?
 
Da Maui life said:
Need some help understanding how to calculate how far the water will be above the weir and if the overflow box can handle the return flow from pump with out any cavitation or issues.

The box is 16" L x 4" D x 5" T flat top (no teeth) 24" liner inch, pump is a Iwaki WMD 30LXT 19GPM max. after I calculate head loss puts it at around 914 GPH.

B.A. overflow sys top of weir will be 1" below Euro brace (acrylic tank) holes drilled 3"down, center of the hole, with 1" bulkheads.
Click to expand...

Bump.
 
I've decided to make a beananimal overflow system on my 29G/10G tank i'm doing to get back in the hobby.
I've read a ton of the posts, but I still have a couple questions.
Isn't 1.5" overkill for a 29G tank?
Any problem with doing it all in 1"?
and, just where the heck can I get the John Guest fitting?
I've looked on the net, and I must admit, I have no idea what is is and it's function.
 
kory1006 said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...

For the box with the standpipes the depth of the box needs to be enough to fit the elbows into the bulkheads and/or get your hands in to do work. A mock-up and some trial and error will guide you.

The 2" for the internal weir should be fine as long as you can get your hand in to fish things out that find their way over the weir.

The number of holes will depend on return pump flow, but 3 would likely be better.

As for the length of the external box, that depends on where you place your holes in the tank. The bigger the box the better, the smaller the box, the higher the velocity of the water and the greater the chance of noise and bubbles.

1.5 diameters from the edge and 1 diameter between holes (minimum).

You can make the external box as deep as you wish. The standpipes can be adjusted to get the water level where you want it. Again somewhat deeper is better than too shallow.
 
Mark9 said:
I've decided to make a beananimal overflow system on my 29G/10G tank i'm doing to get back in the hobby.
I've read a ton of the posts, but I still have a couple questions.
Isn't 1.5" overkill for a 29G tank?
Any problem with doing it all in 1"?
and, just where the heck can I get the John Guest fitting?
I've looked on the net, and I must admit, I have no idea what is is and it's function.
Click to expand...

A small tank means a small return pump. You can likely achieve near silence with one or two durso standpipes. My standpipe system will work, but may be more trouble than it is worth for such a small tank.
 
BeanAnimal said:
1000 GPH over a 24" weir... maybe 1/4" of water or a little thicker. I don't have my calculator handy, but you should be fine.
Click to expand...

Mahalo Bean,

If it’s a little thicker say ½” should I lower top weir down ¼” more 1.5" instead of the standard 1” from top of tank. Only having ½” clearances? (waterline to top of tank.)
 
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Any input on which I should use for full siphon greatly appreciated: 400g tank one overflow inside tank drilled through the bottom. Three lines lead to my basement sump room, two 2" lines and one 1.5" line. Intended flow into tank is around 1800gph.

Use the 1.5" as full siphon or a 2" line?
 
BeanAnimal said:
A small tank means a small return pump. You can likely achieve near silence with one or two durso standpipes. My standpipe system will work, but may be more trouble than it is worth for such a small tank.
Click to expand...

This tank is the "learning tank" so I can get some experience before I build the main tank for the living room.
I have loads of free time, so I'm in no rush.
The one thing I fear is a flood, that's why I like this design.
I'll check out the durso design.
Got my drill bit yesterday, I'm ready to drll.
Thanks for responding.
 
okay, so I'm getting ready to give the final orders to the tank builder for my holes and I am still a little confused on hole placement and weir placement and how not to screw up the tank with the hole placement..lol

So what I will do is give you my thoughts and you can correct me if I'm wrong.
Okay, so the tank is gonna be 72"x30"x12" and the overflow will be internal C2C on the 30" side of the tank. Does the main siphon HAVE to be the one closest to the edge? or can it be in the middle? All holes will be drilled for 1" bulkheads.

Based on it being the edge line, I was planning on putting center of that hole 3" from the side of the tank for stability. This hole center will be 3" from the top of the tank as well

The open channel I was going to put center of hole 3" away from the siphon. I also plan on putting the open channel bulkhead about 1/4" higher than the siphon to help the siphon start faster than if they were both level.

the dry emergency I plan on putting center of hole 3" away from the open channel pipe.
should I put the dry emergency at the same height as the siphon? I know it will be upturned but I just don't want it to be at the same height as the open channel..I suppose I could just toss some pvc in the elbow if it's not tall enough right?


now for the weir and box. I plan on the top of the weir being 1" from the edge of the tank, and I want the box to be 3" wide and 4" deep. It should be big enough right? I plan on having 1" elbows in the box so the box can be smaller, and I plan on having 1.5" drains as per Bean's original design.
 
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First and foremost let me say thank you to all the great people that share their trials and tribulations on forums like this. I have taken a full week to read the entire thread and also read BeanAnimals site. I enjoy seeing the passion that a lot of you have here and I am so much smarter about this project than I was a week ago because of all of you.

I know I know it always comes with a catch with us new people to the site we have questions so here is mine. I was getting ready to mark things up for drilling 1" bulkheads on a trimmed tank. I did add the 1/2" to the 2.75" in from the top of the trim to make the center of the whole at 3.25". While checking things over I grabbed the bulkhead just to double check how things looked and the nut all but touches the trim. My question is this ok or should I move the center of the whole down another 1/4" or 1/2"? Thanks again for all the time and effort all of you have put into this.
 
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Ok I went back scanning the vast amount of pages here and I think I found my own answer. On page 203 uncleof6 advised to add an additional 1" to bring me out to 4.25 to the center of the hole. Took me a bit to find but the good thing about this thread is most of the questions have been answered or debated many times over. So if you are willing and have the time you can find them if there isn't anyone on to help. Thanks uncleof6 for spelling it out nice and simple I got it I just missed the part about the additional inch.
 
Loving my new bean overflow but just wanted to add a comment. The recommendation to place the top of the weir at the bottom of your tank trim is probably good for most people. In my case I have quite a bit of flow due to my wavemakers. Any waves causes small troughs just below the trim that can be a little distracting. My tank has a 2" trim and I could have easily placed the weir 1/2" higher. Great design though!
 
I am trying to work out the best way to implement this system in a standrd dual oveflow tank - or if it can even be done if each oveflow only has two holes. My initial thought was to run the primary and backups in one corner and the dry emergency (plus return) in the other, but then the second one will not be active and will stagnate.
 
big cats said:
Hey Bean, mind looking over my plans and telling me what you think?
Post 6216 on this page. Thanks!
Click to expand...

First, your landmarks of reference are somewhat ambiguous. Top of the tank, and edge of the tank are non-descriptive.

The landmarks of interest are the top edge of the glass, the edge of the back panel glass, and the bottom of the trim on the outside of the tank.

I have, on several occasions in this thread and others, iterated placement for holes for 1" bulkheads on the back of the tank. But...it is a math problem... ;)

The top edge of the weir is placed even with the bottom of the trim (veiwed outside the tank.) That is 1" below the top edge of the glass.

The edge of the hole must be at least 1 hole diameter down from the top edge of the glass. In this case, 1.75" from the top edge of the glass, to the edge of the hole. The hole center is, of course, .875" down from the edge of the hole. So explicitly, the hole center needs to be 2.75" (for simplicity) down from the top edge of the glass, minimum. Functionally, it is a bit different: you have to clear the trim for the bulkhead nut, so the hole implicitly needs to be a 1/2" lower give or take. This is from the top edge of the glass, so if you measure from the "top of the tank," you will be replacing the back glass because it will all be too high, and since you want to raise the open channel above the siphon, (no good reason to do so as starting issues this is supposed to address, are invariably caused by faulty implementation,) well... you get the idea.

The hole edges need to be 1.75" from all glass edges, and from each other. More is fine, if you have the room. Placement of the individual lines in relation to each other is irrelevant to function.

Don't plan your box, until after the holes are drilled and your plumbing is installed. Inevitably, planning for "minimum" dimensions for (insert reasons here,) will get you in trouble. You will need room to get your hand and the elbows in, and clearence (3/4" or so) below the downturned elbows. 4" is not going to get it done.
 
Uncle, i guess i should mention that its a rimless tank..
Good to know the distances on the holes from the side and from eachother..

Knowing that the tank is rimless, does that make my dims work as planned?
So i will keep the holes all at the same level, (KISS) right?

I have to have everything planned out at the same time, as the tank is being custom built..

So if i have all the holes drilled at 3" from top of the tank, how deep should my overflow be with the top of the weir at 1" from top if tank?
5"?
6" maybe?
 
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