How to setup a bean animal overflow system on a 55 gallon tank?

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aaronb

Candiru
MFK Member
Mar 20, 2011
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Cawker City, KS
I'd like to get some advice on how to set up a bean animal on a 55. I'm not sure what size of pipe or pump to use. I've never used a sump before, so I don't know a lot about them. I think I'll use a 20 gallon aquarium as a sump. I know turn over of 10 times an hour is generally recommended, so I guess I'd run a pump that would do around 5 to 6 hundred gph. If that's not enough flow you'll have to let me know. I know I'll have flow loss for head, so I'll have to get a slightly larger pump. I'm not sure what I'm going to stock the tank with yet. If you need more info just ask. Thanks.
 
I hope I get a reply. I forgot to ask when I make the overflow box I'm not sure how close to the top of the aquarium to have the top edge of the overflow box. Does it just depend on where you want the water level in the aquarium to be? I always keep my tanks as full as I can so the water level is above the black rim. Also I'm not sure how often I'd have to add water to the tank to keep enough in it to make it to the overflow all week. Would I have to top it off every couple days or could I put a couple extra inches of water in the sump so even with evaporation it'd still work ok and be quiet. Thanks.
 
It's surprising know one knows anything about this. I guess I'll try 1 inch pvc and a quiet one 3000 pump and see how that works. I'll have the top edge of the overflow about half an inch below the top.
 
I've use a small wet-dry for my 55g tank a long time back it had a adjustment on the overflow box to adjust the level of the water where I wanted , I use a mag 3 300gph pump for my return.
Make sure you drill a small hole on the Return Line just on or below the water line in case of power outage , It will break the siphon an you will not get a flood in your sump.
You can do a test by unplugging your pump when it's running an see how high the water will fill your sump
before the siphon is broken .
 
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