Need some advice for my BEANANIMAL setup

[iheartJMS]

Almost done setting up my new 40 breeder and have decided to go with the beananimal overflow. I do have a few questions though, hopefully you guys can help me out! My first question is how far down should I drill the holes for the bulkheads? How far below the trim should they be? I read in another member's thread that he drilled his holes 1/4" below the bottom of the trim. Does this sound right or should I go further down? Also, how big of an internal overflow box should I make? What should the dimensions be? Should it be just big enough to remove the elbows and bulkheads? And where should it he mounted in the tank? Below the trim or right at its bottom edge?

 

I do plan on using the standard 1" bulkheads with 1.5" pipe/fittings if that helps. Thanks for the advice everyone

[disaster999]

ill drill 2-3 inch from the top edge of the glass down to avoid stress cracks. if you are using locline returns you can snake them higher so the wont siphon out too much water for your sump.

 

as for the overflow box. i would make it as small as it possibly can. the interal overflow box tanks up valuable space inside the tank. if you are going for the bean animal setup i would suggest you ditch the 3rd pipe and run 2 pipes instead. one main drain for the majority of the flow and the second pipe to pick up the rest the main didnt. leave that pipe open (without a valve) so if the main is clogged, there still be a unrestricted pipe for emergency.

 

in all of my builds, i find 1" drains and 3/4 returns be more than enough for any application. any bigger your just wasting money buying oversized piping than you need.

[iheartJMS]

Thank you for the advice disaster! Are you running this type of setup on your tank? And you're saying that two pipes is sufficient and 1" PVC will work? Would I use 1" bulkheads and keep all the piping at 1"

[disaster999]

im not running that setup right now. i only have one 1" drain and a 3/4" return for my 100gal tank. ive designed my tank and sump and water level so that incase of a blockage on the drain, my tank will be able to hold all the water in my sump without overflowing. my pump can detect when its running dry and will turn itself off.

 

a 1" return is pretty big, if you are thinking running locline nozzles for return then you would need to reduce it to 3/4" which would look pretty ugly in the tank. if your pump's outlet diameter is 3/4" i would stick with 3/4 bulkheads. my pump has a 1" outlet, which i kept it 1" till the very last min to reduce it to 3/4" and used locline nozzles. this helps reduce the restrictiveness of the flow to a minimum.

 

2 pipes is enough for a drain layout IMO. you have 1 pipe that drains the majority of the water and a second pipe to take up whatever the main didnt drain. there no need for a 3rd pipe as an emergency. there must be something seriously wrong if you feel the need to have essentially 2 backup drains in a system.

 

the whole point of the bean animal drain is ease of adjustments. typical home depot valves is a ##### to fine tune hence this method was created. adjust the valve on the main drain so most of the water is drained through it without sucking in air. the remaining water that the main drain cant drain will flow through the secondary pipe. the flow should be very little thus reducing salt splashes inside the cabinet and keeping the noise down, making the system virtually silent