Frequency of Adjusting Bean Animal Overflow

[Fish_Fry]

I’m curious if anyone else has to adjust their bean animal gate valve or DC return pump flow after doing a water change or using feed mode. I’m having issues maintaining the water level in my overflow after using the feed mode to pause my return so I could change my filter sock.

I have an Innovative Marine 75 Int with a Bean Animal overflow. Normally the primary drain is full siphon and water level in the overflow come right up to the edge of the secondary drain. The emergency drain about an inch higher.

Last night I used feed mode on my Jebao DCQ-1000 to turn off the pump so I could change the filter sock on my Trigger Sapphire 26 sump. Before doing this, I verified the level in my overflow. Initially everything worked as expected, the sump level rose until the siphon broke, after swapping the sock I turned the pump back on.

Once the pump was running, the level in the overflow was much lower than usual. I still have a full siphon but the level is about an inch below the secondary drain. The pump was on the same power setting and the excess water was in my sump. I unplugged my ATO and waited until morning, but it didn’t self-correct. I increased the pump flow, but it didn’t make a big difference because I was already near the max.

The same thing happened after doing my last water change. I didn’t change the pump speed but the water level in the overflow was lower than normal and sucking air. Finally, after a couple of days I adjusted the gate valve, which silenced the overflow by raising the water.

It doesn’t make sense that I would have to adjust the gate valve every time I use feed mode or do a water change. The workaround seems to be manually scooping water from the sump into the tank.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

Tom

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I've had similar experiences. Do you have a strainer on your main drain? I think one issue for me is the amount of stuff caught in the strainer can change, especially if the pump is off and some "floats" off the strainer. When the pump comes back on, the loose algae (or whatever), is usually caught in the strainer again but maybe blocks off more - or less - water flow.
It could also be a matter of your return pump not operating as it should... When is the last time you cleaned it?

 

[Kraig]

I have the basic same issue. I have a line marked on the return chamber of the sump and after water changes I usually have to open up the main drain a bit to get it back to that level, then I can turn it back down to the same place it was and it will then function normally. I don't know why I have to do that after each water change but I do.

I clean my return pump somewhat frequently, including just last week and still have to open up the drain a bit until water level in the return chamber is back to normal, then turn the drain back down.

It hasn't been a big deal so that has become part of my routine but I would love to know if there is a basic reason for this or not.

 

[Fish_Fry]

I don't have a strainer on the overflow.

I haven't cleaned the pump, but I don't believe that is it. The tank has been setup for about 4 months and I've been taking my time with everything. It is very lightly stocked with only a couple of small fish and frags. Lights have only been on for two months and I just started increasing their intensity over the past month. I'm not dosing anything so there is no kalk precipitation.

I wouldn't mind if this occurred only after water changes. But it's annoying that I can't use the feed mode. If I'm not careful it will lead to salinity issues.

FWIW here is a picture / diagram of my overflow. This was from when I first setup the tank. The water is intentionally low for the picture. Normally the water level is right at the top of the middle drain.

 

[doubleshot00]

Yes ol your not the only one and i have a very similar set up as you. This last time i checked everything before turning everything back on.

My situation may be a little a different. After a WC the water level is usually correct but after about 5-6 days the level in the overflow keeps going down. WC was Thursday and I had to mess with pump and gate valve Saturday.

This last week i had to turn my pump up a click to have it keep up. I checked the pipes and everything. Imo its just stuff getting caught in the pumps slowing them down.

 

[Fish_Fry]

Yes ol your not the only one and i have a very similar set up as you. This last time i checked everything before turning everything back on.

My situation may be a little a different. After a WC the water level is usually correct but after about 5-6 days the level in the overflow keeps going down. WC was Thursday and I had to mess with pump and gate valve Saturday.

This last week i had to turn my pump up a click to have it keep up. I checked the pipes and everything. Imo its just stuff getting caught in the pumps slowing them down.

If water in your overflow keeps going down over the course of a couple of days how do you avoid salinity from creeping up.

Less water in overflow means more water in sump, which would prevent the ato from trigger. At least this is what happened to me.

 

[doubleshot00]

If water in your overflow keeps going down over the course of a couple of days how do you avoid salinity from creeping up.

Less water in overflow means more water in sump, which would prevent the ato from trigger. At least this is what happened to me.

My salinity is unchanged. I keep it at 1.025. I think the issue is i dont have everything tuned properly and i need to get a better feel for the system after a WC and changing filter socks.

 

[doubleshot00]

If water in your overflow keeps going down over the course of a couple of days how do you avoid salinity from creeping up.

Less water in overflow means more water in sump, which would prevent the ato from trigger. At least this is what happened to me.

But man im right there with ya. My tank is P-ing me off with this whole sump. And of course everyone else’s works just fine. It’s annoying.

Im messing with mine right now as i type this cause my ato keeps going off. Im messing with the ball valve and the dc controller on the return pump. Irritating

 

[yanetterer]

I’ve run into issues with my Jebao DC pump not maintaining consistent water levels as well, more so during continuous operation rather than turning it off and on, but it does seem to take a really long time to fill the overflow up when turning on. My Fusion app is showing that the wattage on the pump fluctuates by a few watts and when it is on the low end the overflow runs low and is noisy, when the wattage is on the high end the return chamber runs low and sets off the ATO. My only solution has been to go back to an AC return pump.

 

[bblumberg]

I believe that this is the result of your filter sock changing the water level in the sump as it clogs over time. When I used filter socks in my tanks, the water level in the sump would rise as the ATO added water to compensate for the pump putting water into the tank faster than it came back through the return/filter sock. When you change the sock, that will change the water level in the sump. Since I took the socks out, my Bean Animal overflow level doesn't change detectably.

 

[areefer01]

I believe that this is the result of your filter sock changing the water level in the sump as it clogs over time. When I used filter socks in my tanks, the water level in the sump would rise as the ATO added water to compensate for the pump putting water into the tank faster than it came back through the return/filter sock. When you change the sock, that will change the water level in the sump. Since I took the socks out, my Bean Animal overflow level doesn't change detectably.

One possibility for sure and was going to be my reply as well. Socks, filter media, reactors, and pumps all effect the sump level.

 

[Fish_Fry]

Interesting, that makes sense. I'll try the feed mode without changing the sock to confirm.

I've been wondering how other people use feed mode without having this problem.

Of course this still means I'll have to adjust the gang valve every time I change a sock. I have low nutrients so I started deliberately going an extra couple of days longer between swapping them out. Perhaps this is one more reason to switch to a roller mat.

Thank you very much.

Since I took the socks out, my Bean Animal overflow level doesn't change detectably.

Are you using a roller mat, or rather what is your mechanical filtration?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Something about this isn't sounding right.

Ideally, you should Rarely have to adjust your valves or pump. I have had to Maybe twice in the last year.

 

[areefer01]

Something about this isn't sounding right.

Ideally, you should Rarely have to adjust your valves or pump. I have had to Maybe twice in the last year.

Right - but trace the drop of water through the system.

 

[FSP]

How far do the pipes terminate below the water level? If the socks are dirty and raise the water level higher than when they are clean, the siphon could be having difficulty purging the air.

It sounds like the siphon/air thing is the problem regardless; how large is the pipe vs. gph? Oversizing the siphon is usually the biggest issue people have with BA and sometimes makes modifications like lowering the siphon well below the open channel or drilling vent holes just above the waterline in the sump necessary.

 

[edd59]

Something about this isn't sounding right.

Ideally, you should Rarely have to adjust your valves or pump. I have had to Maybe twice in the last year.

same here, i dont see a problem if the water level goes a little below or above secondary, as long as its quiet dont worry about it.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

But trace the drop of water through the system.

I honestly have no idea what that means.

 

[BaliReefBox]

I also had the same issue and it was causing my return chamber to drop enough for the ato to kick in. I feel when in feed mode it takes about a minute of so for the drain to rebalance itself due to internal pipe fricton, friction through the sock and travel through the sump. It was suggest that I leave the return pump on and have been doing so and now no problems.

 

[areefer01]

I honestly have no idea what that means.

Easy - follow the path the water takes and what could cause it to inhibit. Sump to display. Display to sump. Pumps, socks, water level, filter media, etc. If nothing has changed hardware wise then one has to do a bit of sleuthing.

 

[Sdot]

Not sure if someone has touched on this in prior comments, do not terminate the drain directly into a filter sock...if you can avoid it (I know sump design has lots to do with this), the drain pipe level should be consistent. If it changes, it can change the drain characteristics which can cause issues. Imo the best design sumps have a section that water drains into, then overflowing into a filter sock section....

See below examples

Bad: As the filter socks gets dirty...the water level rises in the filters creating back pressure. As you replace the filter socks your back pressure level changes, therefore it influences how easy water flows through it.

Good: No matter how clean or dirty the filter sock compartment is, the back pressure rarely changes.