Bean with Dual Overflows

[MMA]

Please help.

I have a 240 gallon cube with dual corner overflows. Each overflow has a 1 1/2" bulkhead and a 1" bulkhead. The holes are on the bottom of the tank. Return pump is an ATB Flowstar 1500. I wanted to quiet it down and the stockman's aren't quite doing it for me.

Would a Bean setup even work with dual overflows? I was going to have the full siphon on one of the 1 1/2" bulkhead. The emergency next to it on the 1" bulkhead. The open channel on the opposite side 1" overflow. The return on the other 1 1/2".

Would this work or should I change it up? Or is Bean just out of the question with this setup?

Thanks.

[chrisfowler99]

My gut says that if you put the full siphon and the open channel in the same overflow and the emergency and return in the other it might work.

But someone will probably come along and shoot that down. :D

[SWINGRRRR]

I souled say siphon in one, open in other. Then the emergency and return in whatever you choose for ease of plumbing. That way you don't get stagnant water in either.

[MMA]

Thanks, positive vibes to both of you. I couldn't find an example where anyone has done it with duals. Would love to hear from someone who's tried it with two and what obstacles they've had, if any. Anyone else?

[luv951]

You might try posting in Bean's thread. I know that he and Uncleof6 are pretty active in it and you should get an answer pretty quickly.

[BeanAnimal]

You have no way of regulating the flow into each box, so the open channel and siphon standpipes can not be separated. That leaves the emergency in the other box which means stagnat water.

That said, if you use the second box as a DSB (filled to the top with sand) and allow the emergency pipe to stick up slightly above the normal operating level, and use the second pipe in it as a return.... then you would be able to run the system and gain the beneft of a small "remote" sand bed, similar to Anthony Calfo's RDSB idea. The water movement at the surface would be sufficient to keep the small very deep sandbed functioning.

[scbrooks87]

Can't you have the emergency simply be a dry overflow? Make it slightly taller than the overflow going to the siphon/open channel, that way when the water level rises, it hits the dry overflow and funnels down to the sump?

Waste of space in my opinion, but it wouldnt have stagnant water lol.

-Scott

[NanoReefWanabe]

Can't you have the emergency simply be a dry overflow? Make it slightly taller than the overflow going to the siphon/open channel, that way when the water level rises, it hits the dry overflow and funnels down to the sump?

Waste of space in my opinion, but it wouldnt have stagnant water lol.

-Scott
that would be a somewhat irreversible mod to the current overflow box...

i like the idea of a DSB in the emergency box...heck for that matter why not fill them both up with sand, and have two mini DSB's...

[BeanAnimal]

Can't you have the emergency simply be a dry overflow? Make it slightly taller than the overflow going to the siphon/open channel, that way when the water level rises, it hits the dry overflow and funnels down to the sump?

Waste of space in my opinion, but it wouldnt have stagnant water lol.

-Scott

Certainly, but that would mean modification of the stock overflow to ensure it stays dry. You would also need to remove the standpipe so that the box fully drained between "emergency" use. That would leave the tank vulnerable to fully draining if the overflow box ever leaked.

Also remember, that the emergency standpipe can kick in during system startup (depending on return pump size) before the siphon fully kicks in. So the problem of a full height standpipe and stagnant water is a real world problem. Even just a bulkhead in the bottom of the overflow box will leave a half inch or so of stagnat water after each cycle.

[BeanAnimal]

that would be a somewhat irreversible mod to the current overflow box...

i like the idea of a DSB in the emergency box...heck for that matter why not fill them both up with sand, and have two mini DSB's...

Lilkely too much water velocity in the main box to keep the sand in place.

[jkienzpac]

I've got a 215 oceanic with dual overflows with 2 bulkheads in each. I'm running mine with a full siphon in each overflow with gate valves and one durso a bit higher per overflow. return runs up the back of the tank. most flow is via the siphons with a small amount of flow through each durso. It's very quiet and seems to work well.

Bean...not to steal the thread but wanted to hear your input on this configuration...It seems safe to me because there are 2 dursos which can act as emergency drains...eg. when I close both gate valves on the full siphons the two durso drains seem to be able to handle the full flow without flooding.

One overflow tends to get more flow but overall still able to regulate pretty well between the two.


thanks,

Jeff

[MMA]

Thanks. I think I'm going to try what Bean suggested. But Jeff your setup sounds interesting. What pump are you using?

[jkienzpac]

I'm using a dart at 4' head. Can run wide open but DT water level gets on the high side. The rate limiter on this setup seems to be the overflows themselves as far as max flow rate. I do throttle mine back some and also divert some water to my fuge.