How to Install BeanAnimal Drains into Synergy Reef (or Ghost) Overflow

Rumjahn · 12/18/2015, 01:24 PM

With the increase in popularity of these external overflows which require the drilling of only 2 bulkheads into the back of a tank, I thought I'd share my experience with adapting the popular BeanAnimal system to them, so others can benefit. I have achieved complete silence with 1" pipes running at 600 gph.

First, here is BeanAnimal's original description of the system: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...72&postcount=1

Here is a link to the overflow: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-sy...reef-overflow/

This is the piping configuration I used inside the box:

From left to right: open channel, emergency standpipe, siphon.

The open channel has a 1/4" hole drilled right into the top of the elbow. I eliminated the air line, because I wanted to be able to close the lid on the Synergy Reef external box. With the lid closed, there is no sound from water flowing at all, either from the OC or through the bulkheads. The water level bisects the horizontal section of the open channel, so it is below the air hole and the emergency standpipe, but completely submerges the siphon. Here is a view from the top, with the system running so you can see the water level:

You can tell from this view that the siphon is completely submerged, and the open channel is not. This is important, keeping the air hole above water level under normal conditions. Not only that, but the water level also bisects the bulkhead openings, so that it flows directly through without an elevation change. No sounds of splashing, flowing, or trickling from the overflow.
External plumbing from the box:

And finally, where the drains exit into the sump:

In this picture, the system is running at full 600 gph. And you can see there are NO bubbles coming from any drain, making the system completely silent, as designed!

Also note that those drains are deeper than they need to be, and I will shorten them. However, even as it is now, the system works and purges air from the siphon within 30 seconds of startup. I attribute this to the siphon line being lower than the OC, and so it fills more quickly and can start its purge before the OC starts to take some of the load of draining.

All the drains are 1", but a single 1" drain running at full siphon can easily accommodate the 600 gph of flow I'm putting through it.

I've tested the system against all failure modes, and it holds up. When I close off the full siphon, the water level rises until it covers the air hole in the OC. It immediately converts to full siphon and water level drops to the level of the air hole. Air then starts getting sucked in, making noise, and the water level holds steady there.

Closing off the OC completely would cause water level to rise to the emergency standpipe, which would then become the new OC.

The system can be shut off completely, and when restarted air purges out of the siphon within 30 seconds. Everything works as BeanAnimal describes.

terry4505 · 12/19/2015, 08:01 AM

I am having a similar experience with mine on my 180 peninsula:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2538817

It is perfectly silent and works exactly as described above

Jscwerve · 12/19/2015, 10:21 PM

Thank you for posting this.

I picked up a 125 this afternoon with a Synergy overflow and was just looking for info of how to properly plumb the Beananimal to it.

Perfect timing!!

Jscwerve · 12/19/2015, 10:23 PM

Do you feel that you only need valves on the full suction line?

I as as I have three valves and if I do not have to use them I'd rather not.

Gorgok · 12/19/2015, 11:56 PM

You only need the one valve. My plumbing is 1.5" with only one valve on a 75 gallon tank and i have no issues starting a siphon on the first 'flush' every time. I only have 2 45's on each pipe as well, so its a pretty straight drop with as little resistance as i could manage.

Don't have that box, but the idea is the same...

perforator · 12/20/2015, 05:35 AM

What happens if something clogs one of those elbows, how were you planning on cleaning it out?

Rumjahn · 12/20/2015, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jscwerve

Do you feel that you only need valves on the full suction line?

Yes, because flow through the open channel and emergency drains are regulated by the siphon, since they are the excess of what doesn't drain through the siphon.

Bean put valves on all three so he could isolate the display from the sump, should the need arise. I found that simply shutting the system off and letting everything drain accomplishes the same thing. So I felt it was much cleaner and simpler to only use the one valve.

Quote:

Originally Posted by perforator

What happens if something clogs one of those elbows, how were you planning on cleaning it out?

Union valves at the top of each drain where they exit the box (see third picture), and dry fit joints at the sump, where the PVC connects to the black ABS (last picture). Disconnect the union, and the entire pipe comes off as a unit. Easy to clean it out, or simply rebuild it if necessary. I've taken them apart and put them back together several times, because I tested the tank in a different location with freshwater before the final install.

perforator · 12/20/2015, 12:50 PM

The elbows are dry fit in the overflow or glued?

Rumjahn · 12/20/2015, 07:07 PM

Mine are dry-fit into the bulkheads for easy change-out and maintenance. Everything OUTSIDE the overflow needs to be glued, but not inside the box because it wouldn't be catastrophic if stuff came apart in there.

perforator · 12/20/2015, 07:44 PM

That makes sense. If the elbows got clogged somehow it would be difficult to get to without the T's and the caps.

stevemaxwellrn · 12/20/2015, 07:55 PM

Hey Rumjahn,

I'm getting ready to get my 16" set up. Would you mind telling me how tall the straight pieces of PVC were when you cut them?

Rumjahn · 12/21/2015, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevemaxwellrn

Hey Rumjahn,

I'm getting ready to get my 16" set up. Would you mind telling me how tall the straight pieces of PVC were when you cut them?

I don't remember what the exact lengths were, but you can look at the first picture to get a rough idea. My advice would be to cut the elbow parts like I did, with the elbows pretty much touching each other. That's about a 2" piece to connect them. Then the straight pieces, that go into the bulkheads at the bottom of the box I would cut a little longer than you think you might need, dry fit them, then cut them down.

For maximum flow, and quietest, you want the level of the water to bisect the bulkheads coming through the tank. That means you want your open channel to be higher than that, and your siphon lower than that. I'd maybe start with 6" for the open channel and 3" for the siphon, and take it from there.

You may end up with different heights than I did because your pump is probably putting out a different flow than mine.

SputnikNYC · 12/26/2015, 10:05 AM

I did quite a number of configuration tests and i ended up not using any internal plumbing for the siphon channel, seems to be the most silent option... Have you tried that?

Rumjahn · 12/26/2015, 02:02 PM

I haven't tried it, but that's definitely a legitimate option and if you got it working that way, that's great!

How many gph are you running through the overflow? The downside to eliminating the siphon fitting is that if your flow increases (and the 16" is capable of 1500 gph), you'll create a vortex above the siphon drain with subsequent loss of siphon due to air entrainment.

But every system is different, so if you got yours working that way, then keep it.

stevemaxwellrn · 12/29/2015, 10:25 AM

What happened to the images?

Jscwerve · 12/29/2015, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevemaxwellrn

What happened to the images?

Oh good, I thought something was wrong with my browser.

don_chuwish · 12/29/2015, 11:29 PM

Yeah, I'm very interested in this thread, given my immediate 120G plans. Hope the pics come back!

bps619 · 12/30/2015, 01:34 AM

for some reason the photos won't show up for me.

scuzy · 12/30/2015, 11:45 AM

Yeah non of the pictures are showing up.

Jayro · 12/30/2015, 03:51 PM

Can you please post with pics? Thinking about doing this setup on my 125g but I have no idea what I am doing!

Rumjahn · 12/30/2015, 10:57 PM

I moved my pics around, and so the links went bad. Unfortunately, I can't edit the original post anymore, so here's a new post with the pics in place.

First, here is BeanAnimal's original description of the system: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...72&postcount=1

Here is a link to the overflow: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-sy...reef-overflow/

This is the piping configuration I used inside the box:

From left to right: open channel, emergency standpipe, siphon.

The open channel has a 1/4" hole drilled right into the top of the elbow. I eliminated the air line, because I wanted to be able to close the lid on the Synergy Reef external box. With the lid closed, there is no sound from water flowing at all, either from the OC or through the bulkheads. The water level bisects the horizontal section of the open channel, so it is below the air hole and the emergency standpipe, but completely submerges the siphon. Here is a view from the top, with the system running so you can see the water level:

You can tell from this view that the siphon is completely submerged, and the open channel is not. This is important, keeping the air hole above water level under normal conditions. Not only that, but the water level also bisects the bulkhead openings, so that it flows directly through without an elevation change. No sounds of splashing, flowing, or trickling from the overflow.
External plumbing from the box:

And finally, where the drains exit into the sump:

In this picture, the system is running at full 600 gph. And you can see there are NO bubbles coming from any drain, making the system completely silent, as designed!

The two outer drains are the siphon and open channel. They terminate about an inch below the water line. The emergency center drain terminates above the water line, because it stays dry except in an emergency situation, and in that case I want no obstruction to flow.

On startup, the system purges air from the siphon within 10 seconds. I attribute this to the siphon line being lower than the OC, and so it fills more quickly and can start its purge before the OC starts to take some of the load of draining.

All the drains are 1", but a single 1" drain running at full siphon can easily accommodate the 600 gph of flow I'm putting through it.

I've tested the system against all failure modes, and it holds up. When I close off the full siphon, the water level rises until it covers the air hole in the OC. It immediately converts to full siphon and water level drops to the level of the air hole. Air then starts getting sucked in, making noise, and the water level holds steady there.

Closing off the OC completely would cause water level to rise to the emergency standpipe, which would then become the new OC.

The system can be shut off completely, and when restarted air purges out of the siphon within 30 seconds. Everything works as BeanAnimal describes.

bps619 · 12/31/2015, 07:43 AM

Thank you so much for reposting the pictures. This really helped!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumjahn

I moved my pics around, and so the links went bad. Unfortunately, I can't edit the original post anymore, so here's a new post with the pics in place.

First, here is BeanAnimal's original description of the system: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...72&postcount=1

Here is a link to the overflow: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-sy...reef-overflow/

This is the piping configuration I used inside the box:

From left to right: open channel, emergency standpipe, siphon.

The open channel has a 1/4" hole drilled right into the top of the elbow. I eliminated the air line, because I wanted to be able to close the lid on the Synergy Reef external box. With the lid closed, there is no sound from water flowing at all, either from the OC or through the bulkheads. The water level bisects the horizontal section of the open channel, so it is below the air hole and the emergency standpipe, but completely submerges the siphon. Here is a view from the top, with the system running so you can see the water level:

You can tell from this view that the siphon is completely submerged, and the open channel is not. This is important, keeping the air hole above water level under normal conditions. Not only that, but the water level also bisects the bulkhead openings, so that it flows directly through without an elevation change. No sounds of splashing, flowing, or trickling from the overflow.
External plumbing from the box:

And finally, where the drains exit into the sump:

In this picture, the system is running at full 600 gph. And you can see there are NO bubbles coming from any drain, making the system completely silent, as designed!

The two outer drains are the siphon and open channel. They terminate about an inch below the water line. The emergency center drain terminates above the water line, because it stays dry except in an emergency situation, and in that case I want no obstruction to flow.

On startup, the system purges air from the siphon within 10 seconds. I attribute this to the siphon line being lower than the OC, and so it fills more quickly and can start its purge before the OC starts to take some of the load of draining.

All the drains are 1", but a single 1" drain running at full siphon can easily accommodate the 600 gph of flow I'm putting through it.

I've tested the system against all failure modes, and it holds up. When I close off the full siphon, the water level rises until it covers the air hole in the OC. It immediately converts to full siphon and water level drops to the level of the air hole. Air then starts getting sucked in, making noise, and the water level holds steady there.

Closing off the OC completely would cause water level to rise to the emergency standpipe, which would then become the new OC.

The system can be shut off completely, and when restarted air purges out of the siphon within 30 seconds. Everything works as BeanAnimal describes.

woodnaquanut · 12/31/2015, 10:02 AM

Great job Rumjahn on the pics, explanation and build.

You mention not putting an airline in. Since BeanAnimal originally designed this to be external to the tank, that was the only way to submerge the vent for the OC. Since your plumbing is in a water filled container (aka, external OF) you don't need the airline.

I'm not positive you even need the vent hole! I run mine with just one elbow on the OC. When running normally, the water level is about half way up the elbow. When the water level rises it converts to a siphon quickly draining some water, loosing siphon and making a LOUD slurping noise. The noise is a low tech warning alarm.

Rumjahn · 12/31/2015, 10:42 AM

That's a really good point! I actually did experiment with that exact configuration. But I found that I could hear the water trickling into the open channel because that 1" pipe is open to the air. Putting the second elbow and submerging the opening, then venting it with the airhole silenced it.

I think everyone should experiment with their own system to figure out what works best for them. There is no one right answer. And in doing so, you understand how your system works, so you can improve and modify as necessary.

Jayro · 12/31/2015, 11:45 AM

Does this setup provide enough flow for a 125 gallon? I am worried the 1" pipes may be too small. I plan on doing FOWLR. Also, does the siphon for this kind of setup start automatically? For some reason, I have a hard time wrapping my head around that as when i think of a siphon, you need to "suck" for it to start.

For my understanding, the siphon line elbow is pretty much in the center on the bulkhead opening?

Thanks for posting these pictures, I am not a very handy DIY type of guy and need to understand how everything works in order for me to start doing this or else I will fail miserably.

12/18/2015, 01:24 PM	#1
Rumjahn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 114	How to Install BeanAnimal Drains into Synergy Reef (or Ghost) Overflow With the increase in popularity of these external overflows which require the drilling of only 2 bulkheads into the back of a tank, I thought I'd share my experience with adapting the popular BeanAnimal system to them, so others can benefit. I have achieved complete silence with 1" pipes running at 600 gph. First, here is BeanAnimal's original description of the system: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...72&postcount=1 Here is a link to the overflow: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-sy...reef-overflow/ This is the piping configuration I used inside the box: From left to right: open channel, emergency standpipe, siphon. The open channel has a 1/4" hole drilled right into the top of the elbow. I eliminated the air line, because I wanted to be able to close the lid on the Synergy Reef external box. With the lid closed, there is no sound from water flowing at all, either from the OC or through the bulkheads. The water level bisects the horizontal section of the open channel, so it is below the air hole and the emergency standpipe, but completely submerges the siphon. Here is a view from the top, with the system running so you can see the water level: You can tell from this view that the siphon is completely submerged, and the open channel is not. This is important, keeping the air hole above water level under normal conditions. Not only that, but the water level also bisects the bulkhead openings, so that it flows directly through without an elevation change. No sounds of splashing, flowing, or trickling from the overflow. External plumbing from the box: And finally, where the drains exit into the sump: In this picture, the system is running at full 600 gph. And you can see there are NO bubbles coming from any drain, making the system completely silent, as designed! Also note that those drains are deeper than they need to be, and I will shorten them. However, even as it is now, the system works and purges air from the siphon within 30 seconds of startup. I attribute this to the siphon line being lower than the OC, and so it fills more quickly and can start its purge before the OC starts to take some of the load of draining. All the drains are 1", but a single 1" drain running at full siphon can easily accommodate the 600 gph of flow I'm putting through it. I've tested the system against all failure modes, and it holds up. When I close off the full siphon, the water level rises until it covers the air hole in the OC. It immediately converts to full siphon and water level drops to the level of the air hole. Air then starts getting sucked in, making noise, and the water level holds steady there. Closing off the OC completely would cause water level to rise to the emergency standpipe, which would then become the new OC. The system can be shut off completely, and when restarted air purges out of the siphon within 30 seconds. Everything works as BeanAnimal describes.

12/26/2015, 10:05 AM	#13
SputnikNYC Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: New York Posts: 222	I did quite a number of configuration tests and i ended up not using any internal plumbing for the siphon channel, seems to be the most silent option... Have you tried that? __________________ 63g Rimless/30g SumpFuge \| AquaticLife T5 6-Bulb 240w \| AquaC EV-120 - MagDrive 7 \| MagDrive 12 - Oceanic Chiller \| BRS Mini reactor ROX 0.8 carbon \| RKL \| 2x Vortech MP10WQD

12/31/2015, 10:02 AM	#23
woodnaquanut Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 2,727	Great job Rumjahn on the pics, explanation and build. You mention not putting an airline in. Since BeanAnimal originally designed this to be external to the tank, that was the only way to submerge the vent for the OC. Since your plumbing is in a water filled container (aka, external OF) you don't need the airline. I'm not positive you even need the vent hole! I run mine with just one elbow on the OC. When running normally, the water level is about half way up the elbow. When the water level rises it converts to a siphon quickly draining some water, loosing siphon and making a LOUD slurping noise. The noise is a low tech warning alarm. __________________ John DT 120G. mixed reef w/ lots of automation + assorted FW and SW tanks.

12/19/2015, 08:01 AM	#2
terry4505 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Rochester, Ny Posts: 663	I am having a similar experience with mine on my 180 peninsula: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2538817 It is perfectly silent and works exactly as described above

12/19/2015, 10:21 PM	#3
Jscwerve Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 309	Thank you for posting this. I picked up a 125 this afternoon with a Synergy overflow and was just looking for info of how to properly plumb the Beananimal to it. Perfect timing!!

12/19/2015, 10:23 PM	#4
Jscwerve Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 309	Do you feel that you only need valves on the full suction line? I as as I have three valves and if I do not have to use them I'd rather not.

12/19/2015, 11:56 PM	#5
Gorgok Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Cypress, Texas Posts: 1,904	You only need the one valve. My plumbing is 1.5" with only one valve on a 75 gallon tank and i have no issues starting a siphon on the first 'flush' every time. I only have 2 45's on each pipe as well, so its a pretty straight drop with as little resistance as i could manage. Don't have that box, but the idea is the same...

12/20/2015, 05:35 AM	#6
perforator Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 196	What happens if something clogs one of those elbows, how were you planning on cleaning it out?

12/20/2015, 12:50 PM	#8
perforator Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 196	The elbows are dry fit in the overflow or glued?

12/20/2015, 07:07 PM	#9
Rumjahn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 114	Mine are dry-fit into the bulkheads for easy change-out and maintenance. Everything OUTSIDE the overflow needs to be glued, but not inside the box because it wouldn't be catastrophic if stuff came apart in there.

12/20/2015, 07:44 PM	#10
perforator Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 196	That makes sense. If the elbows got clogged somehow it would be difficult to get to without the T's and the caps.

12/20/2015, 07:55 PM	#11
stevemaxwellrn Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Pearland, TX Posts: 35	Hey Rumjahn, I'm getting ready to get my 16" set up. Would you mind telling me how tall the straight pieces of PVC were when you cut them?

12/26/2015, 02:02 PM	#14
Rumjahn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 114	I haven't tried it, but that's definitely a legitimate option and if you got it working that way, that's great! How many gph are you running through the overflow? The downside to eliminating the siphon fitting is that if your flow increases (and the 16" is capable of 1500 gph), you'll create a vortex above the siphon drain with subsequent loss of siphon due to air entrainment. But every system is different, so if you got yours working that way, then keep it.

12/29/2015, 10:25 AM	#15
stevemaxwellrn Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Pearland, TX Posts: 35	What happened to the images?

12/29/2015, 11:29 PM	#17
don_chuwish Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 345	Yeah, I'm very interested in this thread, given my immediate 120G plans. Hope the pics come back!

12/30/2015, 01:34 AM	#18
bps619 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 60	for some reason the photos won't show up for me.

12/30/2015, 11:45 AM	#19
scuzy Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 6,499	Yeah non of the pictures are showing up.

12/30/2015, 03:51 PM	#20
Jayro Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 11	Can you please post with pics? Thinking about doing this setup on my 125g but I have no idea what I am doing!

12/30/2015, 10:57 PM	#21
Rumjahn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 114	I moved my pics around, and so the links went bad. Unfortunately, I can't edit the original post anymore, so here's a new post with the pics in place. First, here is BeanAnimal's original description of the system: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpo...72&postcount=1 Here is a link to the overflow: http://synergyreef.com/product/16-sy...reef-overflow/ This is the piping configuration I used inside the box: From left to right: open channel, emergency standpipe, siphon. The open channel has a 1/4" hole drilled right into the top of the elbow. I eliminated the air line, because I wanted to be able to close the lid on the Synergy Reef external box. With the lid closed, there is no sound from water flowing at all, either from the OC or through the bulkheads. The water level bisects the horizontal section of the open channel, so it is below the air hole and the emergency standpipe, but completely submerges the siphon. Here is a view from the top, with the system running so you can see the water level: You can tell from this view that the siphon is completely submerged, and the open channel is not. This is important, keeping the air hole above water level under normal conditions. Not only that, but the water level also bisects the bulkhead openings, so that it flows directly through without an elevation change. No sounds of splashing, flowing, or trickling from the overflow. External plumbing from the box: And finally, where the drains exit into the sump: In this picture, the system is running at full 600 gph. And you can see there are NO bubbles coming from any drain, making the system completely silent, as designed! The two outer drains are the siphon and open channel. They terminate about an inch below the water line. The emergency center drain terminates above the water line, because it stays dry except in an emergency situation, and in that case I want no obstruction to flow. On startup, the system purges air from the siphon within 10 seconds. I attribute this to the siphon line being lower than the OC, and so it fills more quickly and can start its purge before the OC starts to take some of the load of draining. All the drains are 1", but a single 1" drain running at full siphon can easily accommodate the 600 gph of flow I'm putting through it. I've tested the system against all failure modes, and it holds up. When I close off the full siphon, the water level rises until it covers the air hole in the OC. It immediately converts to full siphon and water level drops to the level of the air hole. Air then starts getting sucked in, making noise, and the water level holds steady there. Closing off the OC completely would cause water level to rise to the emergency standpipe, which would then become the new OC. The system can be shut off completely, and when restarted air purges out of the siphon within 30 seconds. Everything works as BeanAnimal describes.

12/31/2015, 10:42 AM	#24
Rumjahn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 114	That's a really good point! I actually did experiment with that exact configuration. But I found that I could hear the water trickling into the open channel because that 1" pipe is open to the air. Putting the second elbow and submerging the opening, then venting it with the airhole silenced it. I think everyone should experiment with their own system to figure out what works best for them. There is no one right answer. And in doing so, you understand how your system works, so you can improve and modify as necessary.

12/31/2015, 11:45 AM	#25
Jayro Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 11	Does this setup provide enough flow for a 125 gallon? I am worried the 1" pipes may be too small. I plan on doing FOWLR. Also, does the siphon for this kind of setup start automatically? For some reason, I have a hard time wrapping my head around that as when i think of a siphon, you need to "suck" for it to start. For my understanding, the siphon line elbow is pretty much in the center on the bulkhead opening? Thanks for posting these pictures, I am not a very handy DIY type of guy and need to understand how everything works in order for me to start doing this or else I will fail miserably.