125 Gallon Reef w/ Bean Animal Overflow Build

[cilyjr]

Do you mean drill the holes in various heights to control the system? Would this not require a deeper overflow? Think of the diameter of the hole as opposed to the amount of surface the elbow pulls water from. What I mean is the overflow would be slimmer but deeper with no elbows, deeper but more shallow with them.

Personally I did not use a coast to coast I did not want the shade area created by the overflow. I went with a more standard overflow box and built a modified version of the 3pipe overflow. I did it incase I wanted to change it to a more standard system as the bean animal overflow was still a pretty new concept when I did it

 

[choff]

Given the length of run you have you could also go with a very small diameter pipe and have multiple lines. More work, more pipes, but this will greatly minimize the size of your overflow box.

I can tell you that my FT can handle the full volume of my reeflo hammerhead @ 3,000 gph (13' of head taken into account ) with the gate valve 1/3 closed. That's 1" holes with 1.5" pipe. I think bean states the volume it can handle, by I'm guessing you will be less than that.

I would consider using 3/4" holes with either 3/4 or 1" pipe. I forget why he went with oversized pipe and if that is really necessary. I would then double up and run 6 lines maybe even 7 with 1 extra backup since these smaller lines would be easier to plug.

I wouldn't consider 1/2" holes. Too easily plugged and you would need 4 to match the area of a 1" hole.

...stupid auto correct

 

[JohnK]

IIRC the oversized pipe is usually reccomended even when not necessary because anything smaller than 1" and it gets really easy for just about anything to clog it up.

 

[Docstach]

I used SDR21 1" pipe. It is thinner than sch40 and thus larger opening in the same size pipe. Since we are not running any pressure in these pipes, I don't think it is an issue. I wanted an overflow as thin as possible (although I did chicken out some and made it wider than necessary), that is why I went with no elbows. To do this, I did adjust the height of the holes. So like cilyjr said I made a bit taller overflow to allow me to make it thinner. Although it still is not that tall. To make it so I would be able to remove the bulkheads if I needed to, I reversed them so that the nut is on the inside. I was worried about the vortex too so I covered the top of the bulkhead (and notched out the bottom extra threaded area of the bulkhead). Look at my thread, it might show what I am talking about. All this being said, I would not necessarily recommend it. While it is working for me, it is certainly not perfected as well as the "standard" bean animal setup. It would be a lot easier and much more foolproof to just go with the elbows.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?137760-Docstach-s-Aquarium-Rebirth

 

[josho923]

I'm planning on going with 1 inch schedule 40 bulkheads and schedule 40 PVC pipe (maybe 1.5" pipe)... I guess I'll go with the "standard" Bean Animal setup as Docstach references it, with the elbows in place. This will mean I'll make the horizontal center line for all 3 holes at 5" below the top of the tank trim, and I'll leave about 2+ inches between each hole to allow for a little room to work with. Drilling the holes tomorrow AM!

 

[josho923]

cilyjr mentioned the "shade area created by the overflow," which I hadn't given much thought to: any strong recommendations with regard to my initial plan for a coast-to-coast vs. a less wide overflow box - like maybe only 36" wide in the center of the tank?

 

[cilyjr]

It's really your preference. I have a dark cover over my overflow because I don't want stuff growing in there so I'm sure that contributes.

 

[josho923]

Well - I drove over 2 hrs. round trip to a RI fish store that shall remain nameless to have the holes drilled. The good news, is that I now have three holes drilled in my tank. The bad news is that there's a good amount of slight scalloping/chipped glass along the perimeter of each hole (on the inside of the tank only), and despite my request to have all three holes at the exact same height (horizontal center 5 inches from the top of the tank trim), they are clearly just slightly off from being at the exact same height. Sorry about the picture quality, the forum has such a low image file size that I had to really shrink the pictures to be able to post them. I will have to work with this, but being a perfectionist, I'm definitely pretty disappointed. I've seen a lot of other people with similar slight glass chips in their drilled holes that get covered up by the bulkheads, but does this significantly hurt the integrity of the tank, etc.? The guy told me this always happens with the holes (which I know is untrue if it's done correctly; he was using what looked like a dull drill bit and was applying intermittent slight pressure, rather than allowing the weight of the drill press itself to gradually cut the glass and not rush the process) and that I can "apply silicone to the holes before I smush the bulkheads in." Looking closely at the pictures, the imperfections actually look much worse in these pictures in the sun than they do in person, because they are very, very superficial and not wide at all (like paper thin, so the glass integrity should be fine) and hopefully this shouldn't be too major of an issue. What do you guys think? Thanks :chargrined:

 

[josho923]

Here's one more super close-up of the worst hole. The other two aren't nearly as bad. Again, the picture honestly looks way, WAY worse than the holes look in person, because those perimeter scallops are paper thin to the point that you can barely feel/appreciate them in person, but this is still annoying to say the least. What do ya'll think?!?

 

[bdaley]

as long as the bulkhead covers all the chips and a little silicone to have piece of mind you will be fine.

 

[josho923]

Thanks for the encouraging words, bdaley. With this being my first shot at saltwater, it's pretty comical because with every step, I basically feel like I'm in a pitch-black room, groping and stumbling through without a clue where I'm going or how to do anything just yet, ha.
So this siliconing - do I basically apply a bit on the inside of the tank/inside each hole just barely around the perimeter of the holes, then insert the bulkheads while the silicone has not yet dried/cured in order to better ensure a water-tight seal at the bulkheads?

 

[JohnK]

No silicone on the bulkheads at all. Install them dry, always place the gasket on the FLANGE side (not the nut side), and go hand tight plus about 1/8 turn.

You will be using silicone to install your overflow. You cannot get a good, safe, and strong silicone at HD or lowes. Also the stuff that fish stores sell isn't all that great either. RTV100 series from grainger or mcmaster is your best bet that's not too hard to source.

Also about the overflow (I haven't followed this whole thread in detail so forgive me if this has already been covered), your best way to build the overflow is to have glass cut and use all glass because silicone doesn't bond very well with acrylic. It is possible to use acrylic on an internal overflow, but glass is always considered better unless you're working with an acrylic tank.

 

[bdaley]

I agree with John about the no silicone, you should not need it, but I know how much piece of mind is worth also.

 

[josho923]

Yes, I wasn't planning on using silicone until I saw that the holes were imperfect... Now should I use it?

Also, I'm about to order the bulkheads, with 2 questions:
1.) should I be buying thread x thread, slip x slip, or thread x slip? Whatever is most reliable is most important to me. I think people mentioned the threaded ones are reusable and more easily messed with if there is ever an issue?
2.) anybody have any recommendations on the best schedule 40 bulkheads (holes too small for schedule 80, which I know a lot of people prefer since they are more durable) available for purchase online, especially in light of the slight chipping and my need to have the bulkheads sufficiently cover the glass flaws?

 

[Jim Tansey]

Being up high in the tank there is little pressure so you should be fine, I assume the chipping is on the "seal" or "flange" side of the bulkhead hard to tell from the picture otherwise it would be no problem at all. Next time start drilling from the "seal" side if possible. I have four holes across the top of mine for the drains and returns and used four 1 inch uni-seals the tank being against a wall it saves considerable space and makes a neat setup.

jim

PS DON"T use any silicone on the bulkhead the sealing washer will tend to squeeze out.

 

[josho923]

Sorry, I missed John K's post above, reinforcing the recommendation of NO silicone around the bulkhead. I will not be using silicone; thanks guys!
I am definitely planning on building the overflow with glass, rather than acrylic, for the very reason John mentioned above, amongst others. Will likely use a smoky-type glass for at least the front pane of the overflow. Thinking about doing a 36" wide overflow rather than full coast-to-coast at this point, simply to help reduce the total amount of area that the overflow takes up within the tank itself.
Thanks Jim Tansey, and again, sorry for my ignorance on all of this, but on a reef setup, I don't know which side is the "seal"/"flange" side vs. the "nut" side, as John K mentioned above. What I do know is that the chipping is on the interior aspect of the tank, rather than on the outside of the tank.

 

[JohnK]

the flange vs nut will be obvious when you have a bulkhead in your hand, one side has a nut that threads on, the other is a flat flange.

Don't worry about the chipping. The gasket seals between the flat surface on the flange and the flat glass around the hole.

 

[ccc946]

Hi, try doing a google search for ghost overflow from http://reefsavvy.com/.
appears to be a nice setup with all the instructions.

 

[choff]

Make the lowest hole the backup (upturned) drain and a small piece of pipe to the elbow.

You are making the overflow out of glass? Are you having teeth cut into it? Have you priced that yet?

Personally, I would go full CTC. I wish I saved the link, but read a great article that discussed various widths CTC and more is better.


...stupid auto correct

 

[JohnK]

I wouldn't want teeth for this ever. They would be super fragile and totally unnecessary on a coast to coast (or almost C to C).