Height of Herbie Overflow

[jwever]

I am getting ready to drill my 40b and need some advice on hole placement for a Herbie style overflow. I will be drilling the back of my tank and will be using the 1200GPH Internal overflow box from BRS and 1" bulkheads. Was thinking of using slip 90s for the drains, with the main drain opening downward and the emergency turned upward. For drilling the holes, what height from the rim and how far apart should I space them?

Same question for the return, I will be using a 3/4" bulkhead with loc-line to position the return flow... what spacing from the rim should I use when drilling?

Thanks!

 

[SaltyReefDog]

I have a 20g frag tank I am building with the same setup right now.

I am not doing a box, just a diagonal piece of glass in the corner of the tank. It is the same for a box though. There is about 1" of space from the edge of the hole to the rim on both drain and return bulkheads. IThe two drains are 1" apart. I put the return up high as possible with still being able to get the bulkhead nut to clear the rim.

If you have not already bought one get a gate valve for adjustment. I though a ball valve would be fine on my bean animal setup but it made making the fine adjustment a pain. Spend the couple extra bucks now it is money well spent.

 

[jwever]

Awesome, thanks... The pics were helpful. Mine will be the same except since I'm using the box, my overfow drains will be in the center of my tank. That said is there any pros/cons to running 2 return lines (one on either side of the overflow)?

Totally agree on the gate valves. After reading through other posts I came to the same conclusion. My local HD didn't have them, but I was actually able to find them cheaper on Amazon... about $8 for both the 1" and 3/4".

 

[SaltyReefDog]

The more you split the pumps return the more flow rate you are going to loose. That being said on the 20g frag tank I'm just running one 3/4" return to loc-line. On my 75 I sacrificed some flow and have the return split. I have one coming out of each side of the coast to coast box so it looks uniform.

IMO on the 40b I would just use a one 3/4" loc-line & bulkhead as the return.

Post some pictures of it when you get it all done. I love seeing nice plumbing on tanks.:spin1:

Happy Reefing!:fish2:

 

[Realposition]

I have the exact set up you are doing on my 40b. I just taped the overflow box on the inside of the tank where I wanted it then measured so I centered the holes in the box and made sure I had enough space between the 2, then I just set the height so the bulkhead would clear the rim, marked it and drilled

 

[Dudeman8092]

Hey, I'm building my own herbie overflow and I'm wondering where did you get the black end pieces that attach to the bulkhead? I can't find them anywhere I look but I may be looking them up under the wrong name. Thanks!

 

[eacosta]

I am working on a 40 breeder also and drilled it last week. I have a 1200 GPH overflow box similar to yours, but not from BRS. I am also using 2 1" overflows + 1 3/4" return. I wanted to make sure I drilled in the right location so I created a cardboard template first and used it as a reference to draw on the tank (ignore the measurement in the picture). What I wanted to do was to get the top of the emergency (upward) elbow to be flush with the bottom of the box's baffles. I tossed my exact measurements :headwally: but they are approximately listed below.

return - about 2.5" from top of tank
overflows - about 3" from top of tank, about 2.75" apart center-to-center

You might use these measurements as a reference, but double check with your setup. Using these measurements, my bulkheads are almost about as high up as you can go.

 

[Pearson]

I've drilled larger tanks so my measurements may be a little off but I took the 90's turned them sideways so that the top was even with the bottom part of the rim. Made a mark in the middle of the turned 90. This is the center of the hole I was going to drill. As far as spacing, after i drilled one hole I placed the drill bit next to the hole, made a mark, and placed the bit on the mark. Essentially, I placed two drill bits in between my holes.

I can't find any pictures but it's pretty easy to do. If you don't mind me asking, why go with a herbie instead of a bean animal system?

ps - I like having two returns so if you're planning on putting the drains in the center, 2 return lines on opposing sides works great. It's more of an atheistic thing to me but it puts flow on both sides instead of one. Flow obviously won't be as much as it would be with one but I can't imagine you'd lose a great amount.

 

[Crumpy]

I have a 20g frag tank I am building with the same setup right now.

I am not doing a box, just a diagonal piece of glass in the corner of the tank. It is the same for a box though. There is about 1" of space from the edge of the hole to the rim on both drain and return bulkheads. IThe two drains are 1" apart. I put the return up high as possible with still being able to get the bulkhead nut to clear the rim.

If you have not already bought one get a gate valve for adjustment. I though a ball valve would be fine on my bean animal setup but it made making the fine adjustment a pain. Spend the couple extra bucks now it is money well spent.

Do you have more pictures of this set up you can post?