Herbie or BeanAnimal in tight overflow box?

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jandb

jandb

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 18, 2009
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174
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Lewis Center, OH
Hello, I'm new to sumps so I apologize if my terminology is not correct. I am currently cycling a 340 gallon acrylic I got off Craigslist. It has 2 overflows and Durso standpipes. The overflows have one drilled hole and each have a 1" bulkhead. On the interior side there are wiers about 5" up the overflow box. The interior of each overflow has a partition that runs up to the top about an inch in from the outside wall so if the power fails the water wouldn't drain as low as the lowest baffle, I assume. This interior wall limits the space to add an emergency drain for a Herbie setup. How small a bulkhead could I use to make this work? I thought about drilling into the back wall of the tank for another drain but I am also severely limited on space there too. The stand is about an inch from the wall and I didn't think of it until I had everything set up. The tank has been running a month and my wife still isn't used to the water/gurgling from the standpipes. I have messed around with the Dursos but one continues to be very loud. Is there a trick to silence them? Can I somehow do a Herbie? Thanks in advance. I'm at work now but will try to post pics later.
 
Pics will help.

The emergency drain for the Herbie can be anywhere. You can place the bulkhead on the side, bottom, or back. How about a bulkhead on the bottom of the tank, right outside the overflow box? That way you don't take up any room behind the tank with plumbing.

An easier option, since you have two overflows, would be to use one overflow box as your main drain and the second overflow box as your emergency drain. That's probably what I would do. It's easier than having two separate Herbie lines to have to fine-tune. You really don't need the surface skimming from dual overflow boxes anyway. One will be more than enough. The surface is being constantly skimmed. So anything floating around will eventually make its way down the single overflow.
 
X2 ^

I run dual Herbies on my 300 but it's mostly built for the future. I tune both with a single gate and it works well, but it's mostly overkill. What size pump/s are you planning on running?
 
I currently have a Mag 18 but am somewhere around 10' in head height with 90*s. I have the sump in the basement, elevated on a shelf. I would like to add another Mag 12 or 18 but don't want to worry about too much return. How would I set up one overflow as the main drain and one as an emergency? I think that would solve my problem. By the way Jc and jcardona, I followed your builds and am very impressed.
 
Thanks, but I really stole most of my ideas from Jose(jcardona1) anyways, so he deserves most of the credit lol.

I think you'd be ok with the 1" bulkhead with 1 mag 18, but running a pair would be pushing the limits of what a 1" bulkhead could handle, even at full siphon. Hopefully Jose will chime in since he runs 1", but you might want to size up your bulkheads to give yourself some wiggle room.
 
^ lol thanks :)

You have a few options to run the second overflow box as the emergency drain.

- You can simply use a tall vertical pipe in the overflow box. Make it level with the lip of the over flow box. The pipe in the main overflow box would be a few inches below the rim of the box. The only issue with doing it this way is that emergency overflow box would be full of water at all times with no water movement in there. Some folks wouldn't like it this way, I don't think I'd mind.

- If you want to keep that 2nd overflow box empty during normal operation, you'll need to seal off the overflow teeth. I've done this before. Take a few thin pieces of acrylic sheet and silicone them to the inside of teeth. That will keep the box empty without stagnant water in it. In the event your main drain clogs, the water level would rise until it passes the 2nd overflow box and would then proceed to fill up with water. Once the box fills up with water, it will then run down the emergency pipe. Problems with this setup, is that depending on the size of your sump, you may run the system dry as the overflow box fills with water. Once it goes back to normal operation, you have that extra water in the box that you'd need to siphon out.

Me, I'd probably go the first route and not worry about the standing water in the 2nd box.
 
Something else to consider from Bean himself. Alot of reefers with two boxes, run one for the main drain and the second for the emergency drain, but they fill the second box with sand creating a deep sand bed. It keeps the water from stagnating, but it also serves as a nitrate filter.

I'll see if I can find the thread where he talks about it. Interesting concept for sure and it serves an additional function. Not sure how much fun it would be to get it back out, but a cool idea nontheless.
 
Yeah that's pretty cool. I wonder if it would work better in SW vs FW? If that doesn't create a home for anaerobic bacteria, I don't know what will!
 
On my 210 I have one overflow with a restricted syphon on one side and a standpipe on the other. I have it so the standpipe just barely flows and most of the water goes down the Herbie side. It isn't as dead-silent as it would be if I had the standpipe tall enough to act as a true emergency-only drain, but it is very quiet - only audible when the room is dead-silent.
 
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