Bean Animal Help

FireEMT · Nov 11, 2015

I am setting up my bean animal drains and I need to know were to set my heights on the drains. They will be in an internal overflow. I have two drains set up with 90s and street 90s. How much lower should I set the full siphon in regards to the secondary emergency siphon. Should the emergency drain be set higher than the point the secondary siphon turns into a full siphon. Please help, any information would be great and pictures would be helpful to. I've seen them setup so many different ways.

The picture I have attached is how I picture it being set up, with the full siphon lower than the secondary siphon and the emergency drain the last drain set the highest.

Dtackett · Nov 11, 2015

most bean animal setups that ive seen don't have 90's at the top. youre going to have an issue will water level in your overflow like that. most run open top on all. I would do half the height on main syphon vs secondary syphon, and 2-3 inches higher for emergency. you want the emergency to be as loud as possible so you know something is wrong. but to start I would take off those 90s and just run them open and remember, you just want a slight trickle going into the second drain.

FireEMT · Nov 11, 2015

The 90s are how reef savvy and synergy reef set up there ghost overflows and I've also seen them on many others. The secondary siphon will have a hole drilled in the top which will create the full siphon when its covered with water. The 90's will not be glued so that they can easily be cleaned. They will be assembled dry with teflon tape to create a tight seal.

FireEMT · Nov 11, 2015

Something like this, just looking for experience from everyone to see what works the best. Thanks

Dtackett · Nov 11, 2015

im just going off of my own experience. and in my experience those 90s are going to create more of an issue. the reason theyre used in external or internal/external overflows as shown in the image is because of the limited height. they are used to prevent the siphon from pulling air. useful when needed but makes it harder to tune and adjust. if yours is a fully internal setup you don't need them. remember, each 90 creates resistance and yes that works the same on a drain as it does on a return which means it will also slow your drain instead of allowing for a full flow siphon. also something to think about is the bubbles formed from the turbulence as the water flows around each of those 90s. each 90 creates a vortex. the more air in the drain the slower the drain. it doesn't have to get air from the surface for air to be in the pipes.

im not saying your 90s wont work, but theyre not needed either.

Adamwheel · Nov 11, 2015

I have the 2 down turned 90s at the same exact height and the emergency is an upturned 90 making it higher. Mine is on a 178 gal with 1.5" PVC and the siphon kicks in beautifully in seconds upon startup.

My display Refugium is set up the exact same way with 1" PVC and starts flawlessly as well.

Your drawing looks good to me but the other forum would be a good place to post to be certain.

Good luck

FireEMT · Nov 11, 2015

Great, thanks for the info.

Breadman03 · Nov 11, 2015

Adamwheel said:
I have the 2 down turned 90s at the same exact height and the emergency is an upturned 90 making it higher. Mine is on a 178 gal with 1.5" PVC and the siphon kicks in beautifully in seconds upon startup.

My display Refugium is set up the exact same way with 1" PVC and starts flawlessly as well.

Your drawing looks good to me but the other forum would be a good place to post to be certain.

Good luck

Same here, well except my display is a 150. Don't mind the BRS reactor hanging in there. I had just transferred everything from a Rubbermaid to the display and was using it with a 5 micron water filter to help clear the junk out ASAP. It's true that the elbows aren't necessary, but they are certainly good at allowing us to use a relatively shallow overflow without a vortex.

The center three pipes are (from the left) open channel, emergency, full siphon. All are drilled at the same height. The only pipe that has a valve is the full siphon. Missing is the air tube from the open channel tee that would allow it to convert to a full siphon if the water level rises too much. I have the parts, but need to find a thread tap large enough for my fitting.

Terry4505 · Nov 11, 2015

Not to be rude, but I have no idea what Dtackett is talking about...

Every Bean Animal drain I have seen, including the one Bean Animal designed himself, uses 90s. I am in the process of setting up a 180 peninsula with a Synergy Reef overflow and am using drains just like those you showed here

Eckolancer · Nov 11, 2015

Terry4505 said:
Not to be rude, but I have no idea what Dtackett is talking about...

Every Bean Animal drain I have seen, including the one Bean Animal designed himself, uses 90s. I am in the process of setting up a 180 peninsula with a Synergy Reef overflow and am using drains just like those you showed here

I have to agree with dtackett the will cause issues depending on how many you have. My current tank has them at the beginning of the drain no issues with starting the siphon. Now in the past I had them there as well as 90s that allows the drain line into the sump area and it would sometimes not get the full siphon. I replaced that area with 45s and that resolved the issues. Now another issue with 90s is if a snail climbs in and gets stuck at the 90 you have to rip it apart remove the snail where curved or 90s allow them to flow down to the sump easier.