Herbie style questions

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creepyoldguy

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jul 27, 2010
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Sorry for the "newbie" questions. I've been thinking about how to filter my 300g and have tons of ideas. I've been reading up a little on the herbie style. Basically what I'm gathering is, one drain is just a straight pvc in the overflow, a few inches lower than the normal water line. Under the tank, ther is a ball valve to adjust the water level in the overflow to create a full syphon with no air. If I am wrong please correct me. The other (in my case) durso standpipe is more or less for safety.

Heres what I'm thinking- I have 4 holes, with all ID of bulkheads measuring 1.25".

Option 1- 1 herbie style, one durso drain in each overflow with a return in each overflow hooked to my approx 2000gph pump

Option 2- 2 herbies, 1 durso and only one return in one of the overflows.

Last question- What is the approx gph that a herbie style drain with 1.25" ID can handle per hour?

THanks
 
I'm not getting your options only because the Herbie overflow would use all four holes as drains and the return would be over the tank. I'm using my two 1" drains as my mains and the remaining two 3/4" as the emergency drains. My return goes over the rim of my tank via 3/4" pvc.
 
^^ I know the herbie method, in this case, would use two drains and two emergency drains. What I would like to do is use two drains and only one emergency. In this case my flow rate of approx 2000gph should be drained by the drains. ( I'm getting this info based on the fact that sch 40 PVC w durso standpipes are rated at 960-980). and only use one return to the tank via 1" PVC.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this approach? I'm trying to eliminate anything over the back of the tank and utilize all 4 holes.

If im wrong about anything please correct me and explain why
 
Ok I see that now. I was actually thinking about doing just that but being that this is my first sump setup I didn't want to chance it. I see my emergency drains in action every water change when refilling tank. I can't imagine one e-drain handling the extra flow but then again mines is 3/4" and yours is 1". See if you can post this question over on this thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344892

Those guys were quite helpful with my question even though I ended up reading the entire thread to find my answer near the end.
 
Everything I've read says that trying to run and tune multiple Herbie or Beananimal pipes will be difficult, because you're regulating and fine tuning the flow of each line with a valve, which will cause the water level to fluctuate while your trying to tune the other one.

Also, the flow rates of these systems are completely different than the flow rates for conventional drains. That's because these are full siphons, with no air. Therefore, they flow A LOT more. A typical drain has water/air mixed in the line, so it reduces the amount of water you can flow.

I used a 1" Herbie system with a 1000gph pump, and my gate valve was about 80-90% closed off. So, I'm sure it would be capable of handling a lot more flow. My new setup uses a 1.5" Beananimal drains through 1" bulkheads. This is easily flowing 2000gph, even though the gate valve again is about 80-90% closed off. So I have a lot of room to add more flow.

Throw all those flow rate charts out the window, they don't apply to full siphons. I would say try this: Make a 1.5" Herbie sytem, then reduce it to fit your 1" bulkhead. I'm pretty sure that will handle your 2000gph w/o the need for a second standpipe.
 
Jcardona, you da man! I was using 1" ID because that is the size of my bulkhead, but the actual stand Pipe is 1.5". I guess for now, I'll use the herbie method and keep two returns

By chance, is there any recommended distance below the overflow box that the standpipe should be? Just as long as it's lower than the emergency drain correct?
 
6 to 8 inches below should do. I have mines 8" below the overflow and with the valve about 80-90% closed like Jose and that keeps my water level within the overflow about 3.5" above main drains.
 
Thanks forthe help killer. I wanna test fill my sump to check for leaks and then I'll be Plumbing it up in my garage. One last thing to be sure of, since lily tank has. Corner overflows, I should have my herbie and safety drain all in one corner, with the other corner overflow being just for my return correct?
 
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