Herbie Setup - Sump questions

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thecoolguy

thecoolguy

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 6, 2007
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Irvine, CA
** ill start with the worst question....does herbie style work on drains that are just holes in the back of the tank with strainers on them? or does it have to be bottom drilled tanks with standpipes? **

ok - so per the advice of some people, and my wife's requirement of a silent 450gal in the living room.....the overflow/sump will be plumbed herbie style via 2 1.5" bulkheads in the back panel of the tank (i.e. this is not a tank with overflows, just holes in the back)

1) do i have this right? main drain has a valve near the sump to fine tune water level and return pump balance - and the emergency drain is set completely above the water line with no valve on it - the valve on the pump output is optional but useful

given im on the right track here....

a) can i just use 90s off the bulkhead and go straight down to the sump? (no t's necessary?)
b) the emergency drain -- given i want a relatively high water line in my tank, would putting a upward facing 90 joint be wrong / dangerous?
c) so it seems like the flow of a "full" siphon @ 1.5" is pretty insane, i assume a 2000-2400gph pump is no problem for a herbie 1.5" drain?

thanks guys

and if you can think of any more pointers, please chime in
 
Herbies are for bottom drilled tanks w stand pipes. Strt researching the beananimal method and hopefully jcardona will chime in soon

You are right about the flow, a full syphin on a 1.5" would handle 2400gph like a walk in the park
 
actually....

i just looked up and found some posts/threads in other forums where it is used with back drilled tanks.....

people simply put a downward facing 90 on the main drain, and an upward facing 90 on the emergency drain

appreciate the insight though
 
You could technically do it that way but I don't believ that's how herbie intended it to be. I think it may be harder to tune the gate valve too
 
i see.....

any one else have any experience?

dont plan on redoing anything - so will wait until im 100% before beginning
 
That's the bad thing about this forum, not much input on different overflow systems like these

I should rephrase what I said about the gate valve, it wouldn't make it any harder to adjust, youll have a smaller room for error because you only have about 2" to work w
 
One thing for sure to make things easier is to run your drains into a 2" "t" w the gate valve after the "t". That will make it easier to adjust the water level in the tank
 
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Congradulations, on your endevour- will be well worth it. I started w the herbie then graduated to the bean animal design once understanding the concept.

Maybe posting the placement of the bulk heads would help. Make sure your sump can handle water volume in case of power outage.

I am using 1.5 in piping and the full siphon pipe moves soooo much water I have the GATE Valve almost completely closed ( running a Reeflo hammer head around 4000 GPH). If you have not drilled I am sure 1in would easily handle 2400 GPH.

Use a GATE valve you will be glad you did. It allows much finer tuning than ball valve and does not require readjustment once set. They can be difficult to find in PVC ( avail online) the brass ones are expensive.

Make sure your piping in the sump is below the water line to achieve silent operation and full siphon.
 
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