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- Jan 24, 2017
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Hello All!
First post here, but have been reading for a while.
I'm struggling with the beananimal overflow plumbing.
I had a spare 30gal and 10 gal tank in the basement and decided I wanted to set up a quarantine tank and practice (read:learn about) the beananimal system and fluid dynamics as I have a new 120 gal tank coming from Reef Savvy in a few weeks and plan to use the same drain system.
I bought an eshoppes Eclipse L box, drilled, installed and leak tested the tank, set it up on its stand, plumbed (not neatly I may add) to the 10gal sump, placed and sealed acrylic panels in the sump, and run the tubing for the return.
The past two days I've been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out why I cant get the infamous "silent drain" form this setup. When I start the pump, the overflow fills, submerges the full siphon drain, and 2/3 submerges the open drain. Never makes it to the emergency drain. And that's how it runs.
Now, if I start turning the gate valve to adjust, the change in flow of the water causes the full siphon drain to (not surprisingly) pull a full siphon. Then I can dial in the gate valve to get the open drain quiet and all is well.
Until I shut off the pump, that is. When the pump is off, the water drains to practically nothing in the sump, and is lower than all the drain heads. When I start the pump, same thing happens as described above. No full siphon n the full siphon line, and the open channel is happily (and noisily) draining the overflow.
Am I doing something incorrectly that is prohibiting the full siphon drain from purging the air? I've let it sit as long as overnight to see if it just took a while to purge, but alas, no luck. When I look up into the underside of the overflow and the full siphon drain pipe, I can actually see the air pocket that is causing the problem.
I'm wondering if my return pump may be undersized.
Pictures are below.
A few notes:
1. I messed up and drilled both u pipes. I plugged the one with caulk which is what you see hanging out on the top of that pipe (left most).
2. Both full siphon and open drains are submerged in the sump abut 1" (a little more when the pump is off)
3. I have no valve on the open channel or emergency drain, only a gate valve on the full siphon line.
4. I'm using a Sicce Syncrasilent 1.5 as the return (357 gph) http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sicce-syncra-silent-1-5-pump-357-gph.html
5. All the drains are pitched down at every point (no place for an air pocket to get caught)
6. 1" PVC is used for all drains.
7. All piping inside the overflow is friction fit except the U pipe which is a 1" elbow and 1"x3/4" reducer elbow glued and caulked for airtightness.
Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated.
First post here, but have been reading for a while.
I'm struggling with the beananimal overflow plumbing.
I had a spare 30gal and 10 gal tank in the basement and decided I wanted to set up a quarantine tank and practice (read:learn about) the beananimal system and fluid dynamics as I have a new 120 gal tank coming from Reef Savvy in a few weeks and plan to use the same drain system.
I bought an eshoppes Eclipse L box, drilled, installed and leak tested the tank, set it up on its stand, plumbed (not neatly I may add) to the 10gal sump, placed and sealed acrylic panels in the sump, and run the tubing for the return.
The past two days I've been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out why I cant get the infamous "silent drain" form this setup. When I start the pump, the overflow fills, submerges the full siphon drain, and 2/3 submerges the open drain. Never makes it to the emergency drain. And that's how it runs.
Now, if I start turning the gate valve to adjust, the change in flow of the water causes the full siphon drain to (not surprisingly) pull a full siphon. Then I can dial in the gate valve to get the open drain quiet and all is well.
Until I shut off the pump, that is. When the pump is off, the water drains to practically nothing in the sump, and is lower than all the drain heads. When I start the pump, same thing happens as described above. No full siphon n the full siphon line, and the open channel is happily (and noisily) draining the overflow.
Am I doing something incorrectly that is prohibiting the full siphon drain from purging the air? I've let it sit as long as overnight to see if it just took a while to purge, but alas, no luck. When I look up into the underside of the overflow and the full siphon drain pipe, I can actually see the air pocket that is causing the problem.
I'm wondering if my return pump may be undersized.
Pictures are below.
A few notes:
1. I messed up and drilled both u pipes. I plugged the one with caulk which is what you see hanging out on the top of that pipe (left most).
2. Both full siphon and open drains are submerged in the sump abut 1" (a little more when the pump is off)
3. I have no valve on the open channel or emergency drain, only a gate valve on the full siphon line.
4. I'm using a Sicce Syncrasilent 1.5 as the return (357 gph) http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sicce-syncra-silent-1-5-pump-357-gph.html
5. All the drains are pitched down at every point (no place for an air pocket to get caught)
6. 1" PVC is used for all drains.
7. All piping inside the overflow is friction fit except the U pipe which is a 1" elbow and 1"x3/4" reducer elbow glued and caulked for airtightness.
Any thoughts/help would be greatly appreciated.