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hobbzz
03/26/2013, 09:16 AM
I've read most of the bean animal thread but that's not a thread where people try it out and report their findings back. At least not for this situation. Planning plumbing for a new tank, and I'd like to do a bean animal. But it will most likely have two overflows with two holes each. There are four ways to set it up. Two utilizing the overflows and two either modifying or replacing them.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has used them successfully, not really interested in replacing or modifying them. So anyone use a bean animal in a standard reef ready tank while keeping the dual overflows?

Drae
03/26/2013, 10:45 AM
Simple. Use both overflows. plumb them to a single 1.5" drain with a gate valve. Use three out of the four holes for draining purpose and the fourth as a return. I've plumbed 2 tanks like this. Silent and creates a really thin surface skim. Trust and believe...a1.5" full siphon drain can handle a lot of flow.

hobbzz
03/26/2013, 11:38 AM
Oh I'm not worried about handling the flow. A 3/4 pipe at full siphon can handle 900gph. The people in the BA thread were saying that connecting a siphon from each overflow to a gate valve would produce inconsistent results, but they weren't elaborating. As long as the tank is level and the two siphon pipes were the same height, I can't think of how anything would be inconsistent. Thanks for the quick response! Anyone else try it this or the other way?

wonderz
03/26/2013, 12:16 PM
if you plum all the drain pipe into one big one, you wouldn't get the full siphon affect. in my setup, one pipe is always in full siphon mode, one pipe have a little flow, and one pipe is dry as an emergency overflow. they are all separate.

MondoBongo
03/26/2013, 12:28 PM
i've been wondering about this myself. my new tank i am prepping has two corner overflow boxes with a large drain, and smaller return line hole in each, so 4 holes total. i was planning on using all 4 as drain lines, making 1 a full siphon, and the other 3 fail safes, and then running my return over the top of the tank. i wasn't sure how well this would work though, or if anyone else had done it.

Drae
03/26/2013, 12:48 PM
if you plum all the drain pipe into one big one, you wouldn't get the full siphon affect. in my setup, one pipe is always in full siphon mode, one pipe have a little flow, and one pipe is dry as an emergency overflow. they are all separate.

why not? I've done it and it works perfect. I used two 3/4 drains and connected them to a single 1.5" with a gate valve on it. full siphon. Run just a straight pipe with a strainer on it about half way up the overflows, and a durso for your emergency. I did adjust it to where the durso had a trickle of water going down it. works flawless till this day. It works.

MrClam
03/26/2013, 01:11 PM
If you tie all the drain lines into a single pipe doesnt that defeat the purpose of a herbie or bean animal setup? i.e if all the drain are connected to a single pipe you dont have an emergency drain because if the 1.5'' pipe gets clogged everything backs up.

SGT_York
03/26/2013, 01:25 PM
Only tie two together, the durso pipe and/or emergency isn't tied into the siphon. Technically this is more a herbie than bean. You need to tie the two lines together using a larger pipe diameter in order to balance the two overflows.

Another option is two seperate herbies, or one herbie one closed loop.
and yes Drae your wife is hot!!!

Drae
03/26/2013, 01:36 PM
I don't tie in the durso. Just the two 3/4" pipes. The durso stands alone for emergency purpose.

hobbzz
03/26/2013, 02:30 PM
Personally I wouldn't mind drilling one hole in the back wall for a return, having two siphons, one open and one emergency.

wonderz
03/26/2013, 02:50 PM
if you plum all the drain pipe into one big one, you wouldn't get the full siphon affect. in my setup, one pipe is always in full siphon mode, one pipe have a little flow, and one pipe is dry as an emergency overflow. they are all separate.

why not? I've done it and it works perfect. I used two 3/4 drains and connected them to a single 1.5" with a gate valve on it. full siphon. Run just a straight pipe with a strainer on it about half way up the overflows, and a durso for your emergency. I did adjust it to where the durso had a trickle of water going down it. works flawless till this day. It works.

if you plum ALL drain pipe into one big one and have full siphon, you wouldn't have room for emergency overflow. in your case, you connect 2 and have 1 separate for emergency.

SGT_York
03/26/2013, 02:57 PM
the miscommunication is the word all, no-one is suggesting to do that. two siphons with two emergencies work fine, plumbing the two siphons together balances the overflows and is much easier to operate. if you do use the 3/4's for siphons and 1" as emergencies. Over the back or side hole for the return are both good solutions.