Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[mattruggiero]

I have a pic in this thread that shows recommended minimum clearances.

The top of your weir determines the water level in your tank, so most people put it even with the bottom of the frame. IIRC, 1" bulkheads need about 1 ⅝" holes, so the edge of the hole should be at least that far down from the top

Hey Doc, One last question for you if you don't mind. Since my tank is 72" long and will be put against a wall. My working space will be limited. I'm thinking of putting the external overflow on one side... instead of in the full length of the tank. Do you think this will cause flow issues? Thanks!

 

[sleepydoc]

Hey Doc, One last question for you if you don't mind. Since my tank is 72" long and will be put against a wall. My working space will be limited. I'm thinking of putting the external overflow on one side... instead of in the full length of the tank. Do you think this will cause flow issues? Thanks!

You mean having the overflow on the end, like you would with a peninsula tank? Sure - you just end up limiting the surface skimming and need to arrange your powerheads and return flow to get adequate circulation in the tank.

 

[mattruggiero]

You mean having the overflow on the end, like you would with a peninsula tank? Sure - you just end up limiting the surface skimming and need to arrange your powerheads and return flow to get adequate circulation in the tank.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. So the internal overflow spans the entire 72" width of the tank. The external overflow would be the back of the tank but instead of it being centered... it would be off to the right side. My thinking is that having the overflow towards the side and the plumbing it will be easier to clean/maintain.

Here is a pic that I put together. Forgive my MS Paint skills :lmao:

 

[SpikeDangles]

How are the drains supposed to enter the sump? Under water or above? Is it necessary to drill any holes at the end of the drain pipes where the enter the sump?

Also is it necessary to use T fittings? If it isn't- could I use 2 90° elbows on just the open channel (to attach airline), and leave the emergency and siphon without fittings

 

[sleepydoc]

How are the drains supposed to enter the sump? Under water or above? Is it necessary to drill any holes at the end of the drain pipes where the enter the sump?

Also is it necessary to use T fittings? If it isn't- could I use 2 90° elbows on just the open channel (to attach airline), and leave the emergency and siphon without fittings

The pipes should be under steady-state water surface in the sump, but within about 1" of the surface. If you have them above, the water will splash, create a ton of salt creep from all the spray, and completely defeat the purpose of the silent overflow system. If the siphon channel is too far under the surface, it will not be able to purge the air bubbles effectively.

Not sure why you would drill holes in the pipe in the sump, but no, it's not necessary.

If you read his original description, bean used sanitary tees with threaded fittings at the top to facilitate cleaning of the pipes. Many people have built bean systems without the tees since cleaning is rarely necessary and can be done without the tees if you're willing to put the extra work in.

From your question, I take it you're doing an external overflow?

 

[WickedBear]

Is there somewhere I can find a standard placement of the dimensions for all cuts/holes for a 40BR? I don't trust myself to make these measurements appropriately.

I went through hundreds of these pages already lol

 

[Aquamechanic]

Anyone have any input on previous posted question re: BA style drain with remote location ....

I have a scenario that I would appreciate reefers chime in on.

I am building a 130 gallon reef setup that will incorporate beananimal style overflow. It has a Sicce hf 16 return from a basement located sump. The sump is 25 feet lateral to the aquarium and a 12' rise from sump bottom to top of aquarium. Expected flow is about 1000 gph. It has a 1" siphon and drain setup with the gate very close to the end of the siphon line (again: 25 feet away and 12' drop)

What problems do you foresee if any?

Thx

 

[SpikeDangles]

Yes I'm doing external overflow. Just wondering if the dual 90's will work for the open channel.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Yes I'm doing external overflow. Just wondering if the dual 90's will work for the open channel.

Yes it will. If your drains are within an internal box or external box and exits thru the bottom, you don't need the tee fittings BA used.

You also don't need an air hose on the OC, just a hole. As the water level rises (siphon blocked), the hole will become submerged and the OC will become a siphon. This usually makes lots of noise calling your attention to the problem.

You'll want to put two elbows or street ells on the siphon. If it is fitting-less it could make more noise. With the 'U' of two ells it will always suck from underwater. :dance:

Don't glue the plumbing inside the OF to the bulkheads. You'll need to be able to remove them to clean.

 

[ReefPharmer]

Not sure if this has been answered but I won't have easy access to the back of the tank to tune in the gate valve. Can I install the valve on the bottom of the siphon pipe, near the sump ? Let's say it's 6 inches from the water line

 

[Johnseye]

Anyone have any input on previous posted question re: BA style drain with remote location ....



Thx

I question whether that pump can give you the necessary flow. How many 90s, 45s, splits, etc? 25 ft of horizontal and 12ft vertical is a long distance. Have you calculated your head loss?

 

[jason2459]

Not sure if this has been answered but I won't have easy access to the back of the tank to tune in the gate valve. Can I install the valve on the bottom of the siphon pipe, near the sump ? Let's say it's 6 inches from the water line

Yes

 

[rovster]

Not sure if this has been answered but I won't have easy access to the back of the tank to tune in the gate valve. Can I install the valve on the bottom of the siphon pipe, near the sump ? Let's say it's 6 inches from the water line

Mine is like that. Below the gate valve that section of pipe is removable and I remove it to slide a filter sock holder underneath it routinely. Never had issues with mine.

 

[sea of cortez]

I have a new external bean animal setup and the problem I am having is the full siphon wont start or restart unless I pull the 90 out of the bulkhead to get the flow started and push the air out of the drain line
The open channel flows fine there doesn't seem to be any flow on the full siphon at all unless I pull the 90's out of the bulkhead
It seems as if the two 90's that make the U has a air lock that wont push through

 

[sea of cortez]

Solved the problem
The outlet on the full siphon was about 2 inches below the water level in the sump, I shortened it to about 3/4 of a inch and now it works fine with out having to pull the 90's to get the flow started

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Has anyone tried doing a Bean Animal with 2" plumbing?

 

[sleepydoc]

I'm pretty sure I've seen it done, but I have to ask why you are interested? a 2" siphon will run on the order of 8000 gallons per hour - there aren't many systems that need that kind of flow. If you oversize the bulkheads and run lower flows you may run into startup problems.

 

[rickztahone]

I was going to pm Uncle directly but see he hasn't been on since last year. My question is kind of simple, I am adding an external overflow box for a BA setup on the side of my tank which just happens to be 12" (11.5" considering the glass thickness). I can possibly fit 1" pvc in this section by squeezing them in all together, but my concern is drilling the glass to accommodate those 3 bulkheads since they will be in close proximity to one another. If it was acrylic, I would feel a lot better about it, but seeing as it is glass, not sure I am willing to risk it.

So, my question is, if I run 3/4" pvc in the outer overflow box, would this work the same as 1" just scaled down? Will I get a lot of noise from a setup with 3/4" plumbing in the overflow box? I can always expand it below the bulkhead going to the sump.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S., no I cannot put the overflow box in the back, the side is already drilled in this tank.

 

[Settings]

Looking for some direction:
My current build can be found here The Nautilus 140 Build

I am building a 140g peninsula aquarium. The outter overflow box measures 19" wide, 9 inches tall and 4 inches deep.

The inner overflow bos measures 19" wide, 8" tall and 1" deep.

The holes connecting the two boxes are 1 1/2".

The bulkheads are 1" and there are 4 of them. The forth I was going to use as my return.

My questions are:

• Should I use 1 1/2" pipes down stream of the bulkheads? I am ok will less than 1000gph flow
• Should I use 1" or 1 1/2" pipes up stream of the bulkheads?
• For the return, I am using a 1" pipe all the way to the external box where I was planning on using a Y connector (located inside the external box) to reduce to 1/2" which will exit the sides of the external box to two holes drilled in the back of the tank on either side of the external box. I wanted to put two hole in the Y connector to act as a siphon break for the return line once the external box emptied out. Does this sound workable?

one last Q! The tank currently has euro bracing, it's built using 1/2 or 12mm glass. Should I remove this bracing?

Thanks all

 

[shiftline]

I apologize if this has been asked in the previous 350 posts... but on the secondary slightly higher drain there is the john geist with RO drilled in.. from my understanding the hose sits above the water line... when water rises it blocks the RO tube and creates a full siphon..

Why not just drill a hole in the top.? whats the purposes of the extra long/bulky fitting/hose on it?


Also is there any real benefit to using the T pipe rather than just using 2x90's (assuming your bulk head is on the bottom)?