Overflow Design Recommendation

[adova]

Hey all -

Looking to start a new project which will be an in wall with both main sides viewable. I am looking for some advice on the placement of overflows - particularly one sided vs. two. The tank will be a 280g - 72 x 30 x 24 (high). Any other comments are welcome!

Shawn

[adova]

Forgot to mention - if it matters much - I plan on using a BeanAnimal Overflow design.

[adova]

Just read an article that Bean Animal cannot be used in separate bodies of water (source member ca1ore):

Cannot do a bean in separate bodies of water. Best way to configure dual corner flows is as you have it, siphon and open channel in each one.

[MarkW64]

Just a single overflow on one end, with BeanAnimal drain set up will work fine. My tank is similar size — 230 gal 72 x 24 x31 (high). Mine is a peninsula so had to go with single end overflow.

[adova]

Thanks Mark - on my peninsula, I seem to remember that getting water to move from the far end without a gyre or something similar was troublesome, so I thought a double flow would address flow issues better.

Any good reasons not to double it?

[MarkW64]

Originally Posted by adova

Thanks Mark - on my peninsula, I seem to remember that getting water to move from the far end without a gyre or something similar was troublesome, so I thought a double flow would address flow issues better.

Any good reasons not to double it?

I’ve personally never had double overflows, but I’ve read many times from others that it is very difficult if not impossible to run a beananimal set up with them. Yes, there can be issues with flow if you only have an overflow on an end — but they are not insurmountable. Mostly just have to fiddle with return and powerhead placement. That’s harder to do with a peninsula if everything is on one end, but you can work with both ends. If it were me I would probably put your return on the opposite end from the overflow — then it should be pretty easy to set up a flow pattern which pushes the surface water towards the overflow. Hope that helps

[adova]

That sounds about right - for some reason I had a brain fart and was not thinking about the return from the opposite side from the return.

[fireguy097]

I have a corner overflow 90 gallon and wanted to know if there is a rule of thumb on how far below the weir the main drain should be when using the bean animal? The measurement from weir to bulkhead is 26”. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks