Bean Animal Question

[Mark092]

Setting up a 120 soon. I will be using a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank as a sump. I like the idea of using a smaller tote with a drain, inside the stock tank to house the skimmer and keep the water level constant, as there are no baffles. Does anyone have a similar set up?

I have seen lots of pictures of people doing this, with all bean animal drains feeding into the smaller skimmer tote. I can definitely do this, but was wondering if running the drains into the main sump area, with a T off the main drain, to feed the smaller skimmer tote, would work? This would give me more room to build a filter sock holder in the main sump area, and would give the skimmer more contact time by only taking ~50% of the drain water, instead of 100%.

Is T'ing off of the main drain in a bean animal possible, or does it mess with the siphon you are trying to create? I looked for a 3 way flow diverter to use on the main drain, but couldn't really find much at 1". I could possibly add a ball valve on either output of the T to control flow.

Should I just run 100% of the drains into the tote instead?

Any experience or opinions with doing this sort of thing? Thanks!

 

[TORX]

Both would work. The advantage of the return T option is that you can control the flow through the skimmer area.

I personally would drain into the small tote then to the larger one. Both set ups work, but what works best for you will be the best option.

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[shamous113]

The return T will be difficult to control and keep quiet,if your going this rout I would use a Y instead of a t Their is less chance of air getting caught in the main siphon. I haven't seen a beananimal set up this way so I dont know how well it will work I have a feeling that it will make startup slower also. are you placing the sump in the basement and the dt on the main floor?

I would go in to the small tote then in to the larger, you could place the socks on 2 draind going from the small tote to the large.