I need an animal bean plumber expert

[arroyo9831]

For my new 40 gls tank I decided to use animal bean as an overflow. I need help in "rules" or details when mounting the down and up plumbing. I will use 1 "down and 1/2" climb, I am planning to use 45 ° elbows in falls and 90 ° in climb, the 2 main tubes I think let them 1 "submerged, suggestions and opinions will be welcome.

 

[Danj]

two 45's will basically equal a 90, so I would save the money and just go with the fewest number of fittings to get to where you need to go. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...ich-reduces-more-flow-45-or-90-degree-elbows/

For your 40g, I'm sure you'd be fine keeping them all 3/4-1" diameter. 1/2" seems a little small for the return, but probably isn't' a huge deal. For reference, my red sea reefer 500 (100g DT) is basically 2/3rds of a beananimal- with the siphon and the emergency lines, no durso. Red Sea's stock plumbing size for all the lines is 25 mm (~3/4") and I'm getting tons of flow through it. I don't have a flow meter installed, but it's more than enough to tick off my anemones 4ft away from the return

I'm sure some others have some rules of thumb for how deep to submerge the drain lines. All I'll say is to definitely make sure they're always submerged in the intake section of the sump, no matter what. You want to ensure the air can evacuate once the return pumps are turned on, and you will want to minimize how many bubbles/splashing you get in the event that you fall out of tune and too much water comes down the durso or even the emergency drain. Don't worry, you'll hear it coming down that emergency no matter what - it's a stark contrast to the dead-silent operation you'll normally be experiencing.

 

[Smo]

I agree with Danj. Here is what I did for a 40 G breeder. Drains are 1”, return is 3/4” and also runs a small carbon reactor. I fabricated a custom acrylic drain and filter sock housing that fits in a 20 G long used as a sump. You wouldn’t necessarily need anything this complicated. The full syphon and open channel (Durso) drains need to be submerged about 1” in the sump for near silent operation.

 

[saltyhog]

Good advice above. Be sure to put a gate valve on the full siphon so you can tune the system to your return output. Keeping the drain lines as straight(vertical) as possible. I would do the two 45's if it keeps you from having a section of the drain line being horizontal.

 

[ca1ore]

Primary siphon should be as low as possible in the external box. Use a screen/strainer and gate valve. Emergency should remain dry in all but emergencies, but you also want it to be able to handle all flow in the unlikely event the other two drains fail. I typically upsize the internal piping and have the top about 1 1/2" below the rim of the external box. Upsizing is probably only necessary on bigger systems. The secondary is the critical one. I use a U bend, plus strainer, with a small vent hole in the top. You want to have it low enough such that it engages before the emergency, and can convert to siphon as necessary, but not so low that water trickling sounds get loud or the primary sucks air.