Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[Patrick Cox]

Hi, I have a question on the siphon line. Should I have any concerns about starting the a siphon with vinyl tubing? My sump is setup for vinyl tubing to attach to the sump. So will vinyl tubing start a siphon as easily as PVC? Thanks.

 

[shiftline]

Is there any reason or difference in using 2x 90s vs a T fitting attached to a 90 for the overflow intakes?

 

[cooleeo]

Confused

Confused

Ok, so I have read a fair amount of this thread, but the more I read the more confused I get and frustrated. I have tried looking at other flow calculators and can't understand them either. Basically I want to know if my pump (Jecod dcs 9000) will create a full siphon using 1 1/4" (32mm) pipework and bulkheads at a head height of approx 5ft. It should flow about 6200L/h (1630gph) at this height.
Any help regarding this would be very much appreciated.

 

[Spar]

any issues with having a fully opened ball valve at the start (near the top) of the full siphon drain? I am about to move my gate valve down lower, but would like to have a ball valve up there for the infrequent maintenance I may or may not do on it (i.e. just for the hell of it).

 

[ClownsRCoo]

Can someone show me a picture of a bean animal system that enters from the bottom of an external overflow instead of the back like the original setup on this thread? I'm trying to get a parts list of what I'll need to make this for my new tank.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Scroll back in this thread a few pages and you're bound to find one. There are literally hundreds of pictures of that type of setup in this thread. I'm assuming that you are talking about one like the ghost or synergy reef or exotic marine systems

 

[Patrick Cox]

any issues with having a fully opened ball valve at the start (near the top) of the full siphon drain? I am about to move my gate valve down lower, but would like to have a ball valve up there for the infrequent maintenance I may or may not do on it (i.e. just for the hell of it).

I don't know why that would be a problem.

 

[sleepydoc]

Ok, so I have read a fair amount of this thread, but the more I read the more confused I get and frustrated. I have tried looking at other flow calculators and can't understand them either. Basically I want to know if my pump (Jecod dcs 9000) will create a full siphon using 1 1/4" (32mm) pipework and bulkheads at a head height of approx 5ft. It should flow about 6200L/h (1630gph) at this height.
Any help regarding this would be very much appreciated.

Not exactly sure what your question is. There are two potential problems in creating a siphon. If the pump is not big enough, it will never pump enough to create a siphon. This is negated by the gate valve in Bean's design (except in circumstances where flow is too low to purge the air.) The other problem would be if the pump is too large for the drain, exceeding the capacity even when the gate valve is fully open.

The theoretical flow for a full siphon through 1.25" PVC pipe is approximately 5000 gph, well in excess of the DCS 9000's capacity, so you should be fine.

 

[sleepydoc]

Is there any reason or difference in using 2x 90s vs a T fitting attached to a 90 for the overflow intakes?

No. Bean used the (sanitary) Tee's with threaded caps to allow for cleaning. The tee also makes it easier to add the air line to the open channel pipe. Many people have used straight 90º elbows.

 

[sleepydoc]

Hi, I have a question on the siphon line. Should I have any concerns about starting the a siphon with vinyl tubing? My sump is setup for vinyl tubing to attach to the sump. So will vinyl tubing start a siphon as easily as PVC? Thanks.

The only problem I can think of is that vinyl tubing is compressible, so for a large drop, the negative pressure may cause it to collapse, but with the gate valve that shouldn't be an issue.

Another potential drawback of vinyl tubing is that it allows algae to grow. I'm still not clear why you need the vinyl tubing over PVC. I would probably run PVC down to the sump and connect with a short piece of vinyl if It was required.

 

[ClownsRCoo]

I am going with the (2) 90* elbow route and wanted to know is there a minimum height these should be so that the downturned elbow will be a minimum distance from the bottom of my external overflow bottom?

Also are each of the drains different heights?

 

[JaySchulz]

Looking for a second opinion here.

Tank is gonna 375 gallons. Im looking for 6-7x flow through the sump which is 2,250-2,625gph. I was planning on (3) 1.5" bulkheads to handle that flow. Now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I should go with a bigger diameter bulkhead (1.75" maybe). What do you think?

Note: Im planning on using a Ecotech Vectra L1 (3100gph max) with 1.5" returns.

 

[sleepydoc]

Looking for a second opinion here.

Tank is gonna 375 gallons. Im looking for 6-7x flow through the sump which is 2,250-2,625gph. I was planning on (3) 1.5" bulkheads to handle that flow. Now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I should go with a bigger diameter bulkhead (1.75" maybe). What do you think?

Note: Im planning on using a Ecotech Vectra L1 (3100gph max) with 1.5" returns.

1.5" should be more than adequate for your purposes. The theoretical flow of a 1.5" pipe with a 36" drop is over 4000 gph. In his original description, bean used 1" bulkheads with 1.5" pipe and achieved 2000 gph (he didn't mention how high it could go, it likely could handle a fair amount more)

 

[sleepydoc]

I am going with the (2) 90* elbow route and wanted to know is there a minimum height these should be so that the downturned elbow will be a minimum distance from the bottom of my external overflow bottom?

Also are each of the drains different heights?

I'm assuming you're talking about clearance of the opening above the bottom of the overflow box. That depends somewhat on the flow you're looking for, but in general, ¾" should be adequate.

 

[ClownsRCoo]

I'm assuming you're talking about clearance of the opening above the bottom of the overflow box. That depends somewhat on the flow you're looking for, but in general, ¾" should be adequate.

Yes, that's what I am asking about. I have 1.5" drains and will run a Vectra L1 and would like to not limit myself flow wise. I have a cover for my overflow though and would still like to use it so I need my plumbing to not stick up that high.

One more question: how much higher does the open channel need to be from the full siphon drain?

 

[HumanTT]

YAY I'm on page 57, only 300 more to go lol.

I'm setting up my first ever aquarium, and I thought to myself go big or go home, so I picked up a AGA 125 gallon, and a used 55 gallon that I'm going to use as a sump. I'm all in at this point lol. My plan is to run a freshwater setup for a few years and then make a switch to saltwater.

My question is how big of a bulkhead/pvp pipe do I need to run? I don't have a pump yet, but from what I have read with saltwater you need a good turn over rate. With that being said, what size of bulkheads do I need to drill for? 1" or 1 1/2" or 2" I only want to have to do this once and be done with.

I know Bean used 1" bulkheads, but will that still work for what I'm trying to do or should I go bigger?


Thanks for everyone help.

 

[sleepydoc]

Yes, that's what I am asking about. I have 1.5" drains and will run a Vectra L1 and would like to not limit myself flow wise. I have a cover for my overflow though and would still like to use it so I need my plumbing to not stick up that high.

One more question: how much higher does the open channel need to be from the full siphon drain?

If both the siphon and open channel drains have 2 elbows then they can be at the same height. The open channel pipe will end up determining the water level in the overflow box at steady state.

For that much flow, I'd leave 1~1.5" below the pipe inlet. No calculations to back that up; just a gut feeling.

 

[sleepydoc]

YAY I'm on page 57, only 300 more to go lol.

I'm setting up my first ever aquarium, and I thought to myself go big or go home, so I picked up a AGA 125 gallon, and a used 55 gallon that I'm going to use as a sump. I'm all in at this point lol. My plan is to run a freshwater setup for a few years and then make a switch to saltwater.

My question is how big of a bulkhead/pvp pipe do I need to run? I don't have a pump yet, but from what I have read with saltwater you need a good turn over rate. With that being said, what size of bulkheads do I need to drill for? 1" or 1 1/2" or 2" I only want to have to do this once and be done with.

I know Bean used 1" bulkheads, but will that still work for what I'm trying to do or should I go bigger?


Thanks for everyone help.

If you read Bean's original description, he was able to flow in excess of 2000 GPH using 1" bulkheads; that should be more than enough for your purposes.

 

[HumanTT]

If you read Bean's original description, he was able to flow in excess of 2000 GPH using 1" bulkheads; that should be more than enough for your purposes.

You are correct he does use 1" bulkheads adapted to 1 1/2" PVC fittings. Would the setup still work 100% correctly and be silent, if I used 1 1/2" bulkheads and PVC fitting/pipe on everything, any reason not to go bigger?




Thanks for your help.

 

[sleepydoc]

There are two drawbacks of using larger bulkheads that I can think of. First, the larger holes they require, which in turn weaken the tank more and require larger clearances from the tank edge and each other. Second, I've read some reports of larger bulkheads not purging air properly on the siphon channel if the flow rate is not high enough. I don't know specifically what flow rate is required to purge a 1.5" bulkhead, but it is a potential issue.