Please Critique My Bean Animal Return Plumbing.

[iammrhappy]

My Setup: 125 Gal Long. Internal Bean Animal Overflow. Jebao DC12000. 50 Gallon sump/3 chambers. Jebao RW 15 Wavemakers.


Here are some pictures of my setup.


Please be as critical as possible. I have thick skin and I believe the only way to do anything is doing it the right way the first time.

Of course I'm human, so I'll be making rookie mistakes. I want to be vulnerable as much as possible to your criticism, because the end result would be me being more educated with this hobby.


Thanks!

[slipknottin]

What do you have on the inside of your overflow?

[iammrhappy]

What do you have on the inside of your overflow?

Just regular 1 inch 90 degree elbows. I want to switch them out for street elbows with larger diameter

whats up?

Also I think I want to put a powerhead inside the overflow on one end to push more flow towards the drains. What do you think?

[CafeReef]

Just regular 1 inch 90 degree elbows. I want to switch them out for street elbows with larger diameter

whats up?

Also I think I want to put a powerhead inside the overflow on one end to push more flow towards the drains. What do you think?

I was going to ask why you did a coast to coast but only have your drain on the far side, you will need something in your overflow to push build up to the drain.

[iammrhappy]

I was going to ask why you did a coast to coast but only have your drain on the far side, you will need something in your overflow to push build up to the drain.


Yea I got it from a previous owner. I'm a newb at this hobby so I didn't think about that before I bought it.


Do you think the power head at the far end would work great for this unfortunate tank design?

Thanks

[Rybren]

Your drain lines appear to be too long. They should end at a maximum of 1" below the normal operating water level of the sump. If they are any deeper, they might not be able to purge the air within the pipe.

I suspect that the corrugated pipe will interfere with the water flow, trap air, and induce noise. The open channel pipe will, I think, be particularly susceptible as the flow through it should cling to the sides of a smooth pipe.

[RocketEngineer]

First, this is a DRAIN setup, not a return. You return using a pump, you drain using gravity.

Second, you only need one return line. The way you have it now, the pump is pushing water through an extra 6 feet of pipe. Also, it looks like the entire return is 3/4" pipe which is really restrictive for the flow rate a BeanAnimal drain can handle. The pump has a 1.5" outlet, you should plumb straight up to the tank using all 1.5" pipe.

My advice for the drains? Start over. Beginning right at the bulkhead, the siphon line should have an elbow, not a tee. I know what BeanAnimal shows on the website but what is shown there is so the plumbing can be cleaned and most folks find an elbow provides better flow in the siphon. Along the same lines, there really only needs to be one valve, not three and that one valve should be a gate valve located close to the sump on the siphon. The other two don't need valves and should just be plumbed into the sump with minimal bends and no restrictions. You want the flow path to be as straight and smooth as possible.

Oh, and you're missing the tube off the top of the Durso going back into the overflow box. Trust me, this is actually important as it makes the entire system fail-safe.

Like, Rybren said your drains should end no more than 1" below the water level of the sump.

Sorry for the bad news but the way you have it now is likely to cause you nothing but problems.

Good luck,

[soulpatch]

The valves on all three lines are great if you want to change out plumbing or something in the sump. You can shut down the tank off from the sump totally. Though I would say that they should be fully open at all times save for that purpose. I agree with the ball valve on the main drain for tuning.

I agree with changing to an elbow as opposed to the T. You have the unions below so disconnecting for cleaning is already easy. A t for the second drain is nice though since you can plumb a fitting into it easier for push lock air line to transition to siphon as needed.

Where is your third emergency draining to? I see 2 spa flex lines in the sump but not the third. most will have this be above the water line so that it makes an audible drain sound should you start using your emergency line. This alerts you something is up and you need to look into it now. Having it drain like the other two lines would keep it silent and thus not serve as a sort of alarm.

I do like what you did with the return having the small extension that I assume is a drain line for water changes. Though if you are going to use it as such put a valve on that end.

I like symetry in my tanks so I get the 2 returns but you will need to adjust plumbing size and pump accordingly to hang with the bean drain. This is also why it is imperetive to have a gate valve so you can do fine tune adjustments. Even on the return a gate valve allows tuning as needed beyond what the return pump controller allows...