bean animal Plumbing Question

[theMeat]

Hi Meat,

I'd love to buy one of those but I'm having no luck getting a reply from Fiji Cube, and they're the only company that seems to make one that will fit my tank, where I want to put it. So it looks like it's going to be the DIY route for me. I've found all the plumbing supplies (bulkheads, pipe, valves) at a local supply house and I have the hole saws to cut through the acrylic tank so it looks like a weekend project. I've got the original Bean Animal article on construction so I'm just going to follow that and run all the lines outside the tank and get some acrylic to make a weir for the inside. I like the idea of magnets to hold it in place.

The last thing I'm looking at are lights. Another confusing issue based on all the articles and claims in the manufacturer's literature. I've been looking at LED units. I'm guessing I want something that has timers so that the various colors can be controlled individually. I've found several for sale on line but just one is a wifi unit. I'm going to look at it later today.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the pointers and help.
Joe

Hey Joe
Would sooner get the eshops. Not the most refined overflow but think the bulkhead issue you pointed out is user fault. Brs sells an overflow box for the diy route.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cpr-retrofit-overflow-box.htmlFor lights, guess your talking about ‘black box’? They can be a cost effective way to go. Have tried a few WiFi versions and they were all problematic and eventually the WiFi just stopped working no matter what I did. If you want lights on an external timer you should have blue and white channels on separate power cords. If the one you’re looking at only has one cord an external timer will off/on all lights. Some versions of black box lights that have two power cords/channels also could have a weird configuration of each channel that doesn’t work well with timers, gotta look at the specs.
ime think “Mars” are the best Chinese knock off/black box option.
Don’t know your budget but aqauaillumination, kessil and some others make some really nice stuff. Could keep an eye out on your local reef club for sale section to scoop up a good used deal.

 

[OCJoeR]

Hi Meat,

I ordered a couple Lightimetunnel lights from Amazon. They weren't all that expensive and I've read some comments on here about them and they sound like they'll work for my size tank for now. They supposedly work via wifi using some app called Aquarium Light. I've found an app with that name but I'm not sure it's the one they're talking about. There's a video setup manual but it's not all that helpful. I guess I'll just have to wait until they show up and see what is there. I tried to take a photo of the app but it didn't come out so good.

I'm going to head over to Home Depot today to pick up the plumbing parts I need for the Bean Animal. His original post has some detailed drawings and his writeup is very detailed. The post calls for 1 1/2" plumbing which I think is a little over kill for my tank but I figure since I have the room I'll just go with that size. I'm not sure they'll have the acrylic I need for the weir but I'm sure I can find it somewhere. I was thinking about mounting the return line on the opposite side of the tank and making a sort of long tube with slots, either a single long horizontal slot or several vertical slots, in it to have the flow spread over the full 12" rather than just a single return port. Any thoughts on that idea? Please excuse the remedial drawing but I'm pretty sure I didn't do so well in Art class in high school.

Joe

 

[theMeat]

Like the return on opposite side idea. Not sure the bar thing is ideal. Once you get circulation pumps going you might find a dif path for return water more helpful.
No need to glue inside tank parts of return. This way you can change it up if you want. Have changed mine up many times

 

[OCJoeR]

I was going to just press fit the horizontal tubes so they could be rotated up and down to direct the flow.

 

[zalick]

1.5" is WAY overkill. I have 2 - 1.5" (main & backup) and my emergency is 1" on my 300g. I run approximately 800gph through it.

That said, if you have room, it definitely won't hurt. :)

Fun project!

 

[OCJoeR]

While I'm at it I have some questions about rock, the kind for the tank, not the music kind. I have a bunch of rock that was in my freshwater tank and I was wondering if I could use it as the bottom level of rock for the saltwater tank. I've been reading about live rock and "dry" rock and was wondering if what I have would be considered dry rock? I've attached some photos.

 

[OCJoeR]

1.5" is WAY overkill. I have 2 - 1.5" (main & backup) and my emergency is 1" on my 300g. I run approximately 800gph through it.

That said, if you have room, it definitely won't hurt. :)

Fun project!

That's kind of what I was thinking. My pump is a variable speed unit so I can slow it down if needed and with a valve on the main drain line I can control the flow pretty well. The original Bean Animal post shows valves on all 3 drain lines. I'm not sure why the other 2 would be needed since they only come into play when the level of water goes above the main drain.

Joe

 

[theMeat]

Yup, don’t put valves on other 2 drains. Only main/full siphon,
Rock looks good by eye but if it’s been in tank, freshwater or not, you might have some die off when cycling. Some rock that is fine for freshwater might leach bad things in saltwater. ‘Rock” when talking about saltwater is not so much rock, but coral skeleton. Much more porous, more nooks and crannies for helpful bacteria to grow

 

[theMeat]

First you don’t know, now ya know, Joe

 

[OCJoeR]

The rock I have has been lying around for probably 5 years so I doubt there's anything alive in it. But I'll start looking for the dry rock. I've found a Craigslist ad for a local guy who has "Caribsea Liferock". Looks like he gets $4/lb, but I guess he picks out the pieces and you go pick it up. Not sure I like that method.

Little by little I'm getting to know :-)

 

[OCJoeR]

I'm having a problem attaching my overflow box to the acrylic tank. I did it with silicone but when I started the pump up the flow pulled it right off the walls. Anyone know of a way to attach plastic to acrylic? Without the overflow box I can't get the Bean Animal system running quietly. To get the Open Channel to run quietly I have to open the Full Siphon almost all the way and that drops the display tank level below the siphon level. If I close the valve on the Full Siphon I get lots of air bubbles through the Open Channel.

 

[OCJoeR]

Well as it turns out "Alien Tape" works like a charm. I just cut a strip for each side of the box and stuck it to the walls of the tank. Ta Da