Not saying BA is or isn't better than herbie, never used a BA drain. But my Herbie drain is pretty damn maintenance free...
Need some ideas how to plumb 500gal
- Thread starter Lucas&kim
- Start date
How do you have yours set up? Is it done properly so there is no water going down the second emergency pipe? If so I'm jealous, my herbie's have always required a ton of adjusting
It has a very slight trickle down the emergency drain once in a while. I've adjusted the valve once (maybe twice?) in the last six months.
See that is the thing, with a herbie the emergency pipe is supposed to stay dry unless your siphon clogs. In that case the emergency takes over. Since you have a trickle going down yours it is regulating the water level in the overflow. If it gets too high the emergency takes it instead of adjusting the valve so the level drops a little
E-Drain dry or a trickle--that's a long running debate on Reef Central. It doesn't matter. I don't care if water goes down the E-Drain, until I start to hear it.
BUT, if I were to start all over again tomorrow building this tank, I'd do a BeanAnimal. But, I wanted my tank very close to the wall, and it's in a small room, so BA with external pipes and overflow chamber probably wouldn't have worked. But if you have enough space in the room, go with a Bean.
As for closed loop--that's how it's done. guys at ReefCentral laugh at us for running 10X tank volume through our sumps. They all do close loop systems so they don't have to fill their tanks up with power heads that are expensive and break. They just do a closed loop, with 3-4 holes in the floor of the tank, and they can direct flow to corals from all angles, no dead spots anywhere in the tank.
It seems corals need flow at all times, and varying types need varying amounts. Very complicated--they all used closed loop. So why shouldn't you--your tank's already set up for it.
BUT, if I were to start all over again tomorrow building this tank, I'd do a BeanAnimal. But, I wanted my tank very close to the wall, and it's in a small room, so BA with external pipes and overflow chamber probably wouldn't have worked. But if you have enough space in the room, go with a Bean.
As for closed loop--that's how it's done. guys at ReefCentral laugh at us for running 10X tank volume through our sumps. They all do close loop systems so they don't have to fill their tanks up with power heads that are expensive and break. They just do a closed loop, with 3-4 holes in the floor of the tank, and they can direct flow to corals from all angles, no dead spots anywhere in the tank.
It seems corals need flow at all times, and varying types need varying amounts. Very complicated--they all used closed loop. So why shouldn't you--your tank's already set up for it.
The emergency drain is just that, an emergency drain. It should be able to handle the entire flow on the main line which is why it should be just as large or larger than than the main line. If you have a trickle going down the emergency line what happens if the main line 100% clogs up? You will have an overflow. Is this likely? No, it is much more likely in a planted tank or a reef tank but the risk is there.
Fishguy, for the correction, Herbie standby is intended to have a trickle, at least as it was originally designed. I think you mentioned it should be dry. I use Herbie, but as mentioned I do have a third dry standby.
Like I said above, I'm a fan of closed loop. So why not use it. Also, you can also plumb it so that you can use you closed loop pump to pump water out for water changes too.
OP, if you use Herbie, you can use both remaining 3/4" for returns. You wont have a dry stand-by, but that maybe fine for you. For BA, you need 3 ideally same size bulkheads. BTW, there's no maintenance really for either.
Like I said above, I'm a fan of closed loop. So why not use it. Also, you can also plumb it so that you can use you closed loop pump to pump water out for water changes too.
OP, if you use Herbie, you can use both remaining 3/4" for returns. You wont have a dry stand-by, but that maybe fine for you. For BA, you need 3 ideally same size bulkheads. BTW, there's no maintenance really for either.
That is not correct, Herbie should have a bone dry second pipe, bean should have a trickle in two and dry third pipe. The Herbie was designed to be dry, here is the original post on RC by Herbie himself-
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344892&highlight=herbie
If you have three pipes, one as a siphon, one as a trickle and one dry you have a bean, not a herbie.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344892&highlight=herbie
If you have three pipes, one as a siphon, one as a trickle and one dry you have a bean, not a herbie.
