BeanAnimal overflow help
 

Hey all

So I just filled my new tank up with my old live rock and new sand. So it's pretty cloudy as you will see in my pictures.

Now my issue is the plumbing on the beananimal itself.

My pump seems to drain from my sump to fast so it running out of water. If I tighten my return ball valve I almost get no water flow back into the tank.

The pump is a 1262 Ehiem. I am running 3/4 back into the tank with 2 1" drains with the main one on a gatevalve.

I just can't seem to dial it in so there is enough water for the pump and running the tank. Any thoughts?


http://i.imgur.com/gVVmAc8.jpg
As you can see I am not getting that much water in the return part of the sump


Also I am getting a nice waterfall right here that makes a lot of noise.
http://i.imgur.com/Af6wV4L.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xVuMgfS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wP567l0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TFVCo0w.jpg

Here is an older pic to show you more of the set up
http://i.imgur.com/oS0Pv05.jpg

It looks to me like you just need to put more water in your overflow chamber. When the return pump is on remember that there's water taken up in the pipes which you have to account for. You determine the operating level of your sump's return chamber by turning on the return and then filling the return chamber with with water until it is at the level that you want it at. That pump and that overflow should keep up.

Alright, thanks :) I thought I might have needed more water but that makes sense! :mrgreen:

sorry, i miss typed. When I said more water in your overflow chamber I meant in your return chamber.. but you might have already figured that out :)

Also, your return chamber water level is what will drop as your tank evaporates water. This is where you typically place your Auto Top Off float valve/switch/sensor if you decide to install one (or maybe you already have). If you had one installed, it would have filled that return chamber for you up to the level that you set it.

No worries, I got what you meant haha. Yes I will be installing an auto top off. I have a 5 gallon fresh water reserve built into the sump :) that is the next thing. Also my skimmer is going nuts ( new Omega 15) so I need to break that in and maybe bring it up 2-3". Over flows like mad right now.

Could you take some more pictures of your overflow. BeanAnimal has three pipes...one fully submerged, one emergency and one holy "s*&t" outlet. I might be missing your submerged pipe.

I have all three. I think I may have got it, I just needed more water for the pipes. :) thanks though! ill still take more pictures if u would like to see tho

Herbie and BA have a lot more water running in the pipes, just make sure when you add water you test your power off level in the sump

This is a very good point! As a result of adding more water to your sump to compensate for the needed water in the pipes, your system will drain this extra water into the sump when there is a power failure. There may also be some water siphoned from your display tank via the return outlet. Definitely make sure to test a power failure now while your in front of the tank to either make sure your sump can handle the extra water (due to power failure) or that your check valves are working (if you installed any).

I ran a test last night and the sump held! The size of the sump is 26x26 cube with the height at 16" If it did start to over flow I have a 5 gallon side that fresh water will be held for my ATO. I will keep this about half full just for the reason of over flow but all seems good. I will do a test run again tonight just to make sure.

My returns are not pointed down but near the top so the back fill shouldnt be a ton..