Help with sump set-up

[jaws7777]

For the main siphon and open channel would you do 1.5" pvc and then 2" for the E drain. For the pumps 1" returns I assume?

If your staying at 2800 gph total 2 inch e drains should be more than fine. Having never build a bean animal i dont k ow how the open channel will effect this. Probably not at all but we need to hear from someone who knows a little more about this method. Remember the siphons need enough flow to purge air and maintain siphon.

JK47 what do you think ?

 

[JK47]

If your staying at 2800 gph total 2 inch e drains should be more than fine. Having never build a bean animal i dont k ow how the open channel will effect this. Probably not at all but we need to hear from someone who knows a little more about this method. Remember the siphons need enough flow to purge air and maintain siphon.

JK47 what do you think ?

I would run two, 2" lines and call it a day. No need to mess around with gate valves and siphons if not necessary. 2" open channel will handle that flow no problem. I just did the same a few weeks ago.

 

[GoldFinger]

I would run two, 2" lines and call it a day. No need to mess around with gate valves and siphons if not necessary. 2" open channel will handle that flow no problem. I just did the same a few weeks ago.

Sorry I'm not following bc I'm such a noob. Can you elaborate or maybe show me some pictures? Are you saying drop the BEANanimal altogether and just run two 2" drains into my sump? I'm lost haha sorry

 

[JK47]

Sorry I'm not following bc I'm such a noob. Can you elaborate or maybe show me some pictures? Are you saying drop the BEANanimal altogether and just run two 2" drains into my sump? I'm lost haha sorry

Admittedly I haven't read through all of the suggestions or feedback, I'll lead with that.

Jaws asked about 2800 GPH and imo that is not a significant flow to warrant anything complicated unless you want to go that route. Bean animal can work as well as herbie etc... if you dig through my thread in setup you will see what I did in 2" that is simple. Buckets of pics in that thread

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Admittedly I haven't read through all of the suggestions or feedback, I'll lead with that.

Jaws asked about 2800 GPH and imo that is not a significant flow to warrant anything complicated unless you want to go that route. Bean animal can work as well as herbie etc... if you dig through my thread in setup you will see what I did in 2" that is simple. Buckets of pics in that thread

This came up a little earlier and the reason we were suggesting herbie or bean animal is because the OP needs the tank to be silent. I know from my experience setting up my 220 that regular straight drains are much too noisy. I'm going to research the bean animal setup because I'm not familiar with it, and then I'm going to try to give the OP advice on that setup.

 

[GoldFinger]

This came up a little earlier and the reason we were suggesting herbie or bean animal is because the OP needs the tank to be silent. I know from my experience setting up my 220 that regular straight drains are much too noisy. I'm going to research the bean animal setup because I'm not familiar with it, and then I'm going to try to give the OP advice on that setup.

Thanks man I owe you big time!

 

[GoldFinger]

Admittedly I haven't read through all of the suggestions or feedback, I'll lead with that.

Jaws asked about 2800 GPH and imo that is not a significant flow to warrant anything complicated unless you want to go that route. Bean animal can work as well as herbie etc... if you dig through my thread in setup you will see what I did in 2" that is simple. Buckets of pics in that thread

Just got through the first three pages of your build and dear god man you put some real time in on getting that tank cleaned up and painted. That must be your baby for sure after all that work.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Well, after researching the bean animal setup, I honestly can't see any difference between the bean animal and the herbie except for the addition of an extra emergency overflow.

My opinion, try not to make this too complicated and just go with three 2" drains. Two of them set slightly lower than the third, which is your emergency drain. Put ball valves (or gate valves) on each one and always leave the emergency drain wide open. Then get the pumps going and start to slowly close off the other two drains, trying to keep them even, until they achieve full siphon and the water level gets up near the level of the emergency drain. Once you at least get it close, you will be able to adjust the flow of the pumps a percentage at a time to get the level dialed in so that both main drains are covered enough to maintain full siphon and the emergency drain is still dry, or has a very slight trickle going down it. This is the exact setup I have except mine are 1.5" drains. It is completely silent and quite redundant. If one of the main drains gets completely blocked, the emergency drain will handle the flow. If both of the drains get partially blocked, the emergency drain will handle the flow. If both of the main drains get completely blocked, that will suck for you but there is an extremely low probability that could ever happen...so low that I would consider it zero. However, if you are worried about that then you can just upsize your emergency drain to 2.5".

Let me know if you have any questions about anything I said here.

 

[GoldFinger]

Well, after researching the bean animal setup, I honestly can't see any difference between the bean animal and the herbie except for the addition of an extra emergency overflow.

My opinion, try not to make this too complicated and just go with three 2" drains. Two of them set slightly lower than the third, which is your emergency drain. Put ball valves (or gate valves) on each one and always leave the emergency drain wide open. Then get the pumps going and start to slowly close off the other two drains, trying to keep them even, until they achieve full siphon and the water level gets up near the level of the emergency drain. Once you at least get it close, you will be able to adjust the flow of the pumps a percentage at a time to get the level dialed in so that both main drains are covered enough to maintain full siphon and the emergency drain is still dry, or has a very slight trickle going down it. This is the exact setup I have except mine are 1.5" drains. It is completely silent and quite redundant. If one of the main drains gets completely blocked, the emergency drain will handle the flow. If both of the drains get partially blocked, the emergency drain will handle the flow. If both of the main drains get completely blocked, that will suck for you but there is an extremely low probability that could ever happen...so low that I would consider it zero. However, if you are worried about that then you can just upsize your emergency drain to 2.5".

Let me know if you have any questions about anything I said here.

Any chance you could show me an example or diagram? Why do I need 2" as opposed to 1.5"? Is it better to go bigger? Why have the first two both siphoning as opposed to one siphoning with the second a trickle and the third emergency?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Any chance you could show me an example or diagram? Why do I need 2" as opposed to 1.5"? Is it better to go bigger? Why have the first two both siphoning as opposed to one siphoning with the second a trickle and the third emergency?

According to the chart that Jaws posted on page 11, the 1.5" drains are rated for 1400gph each, with no restrictions. You will have restrictions, such as valves, elbows, etc. Even without them, you will be maxing out the drain rate of 1.5" drains with two at 2800gph. Then, with the 2", you can only flow 2200gph through a single 2" line, which leaves 600gph for the "trickle", which won't be quiet. All of this combined, I think your best option is two 2" siphon drains and one 2-2.5" emergency drain. This should be an extremely reliable setup for a 2800gph flow rate. My tank is a bit smaller than yours and I run a total of three 1.5" drains, so I think a total of three 2" drains will work out well for you.