greenstarfish00
New member
Hello,
I have an exsisting Durso overflow in 120 cube that has a 1.5 inch drain, and a 1.5 inch pvc return. I'm usinga reeflo Baracudda at about 14 feet headloss since the sump is in my basement. I 'm switching to a SCA rimless 100g tank that is drilled with 3 holes for a Herbie overflow. I have read about the basic priciples of the Herbie oveflow, but I have some concerns about switching from one to the other and since my exsising pipes are throught he wall I want to make the transition as easy as possible. It keeps looking more complicated by the minute though and I want to ensure this works so any pointers or feedback would be helpfull.
Plan:
Return: I'm planning to keep my 1.5 inch return and just cut the spa flex off beneath my tank and reduce it to the 1 inch bulk head on the new tank. I don't have any major issues w/ this part.
Drain: I would like two drains one main drain and a dry emergency drain but I have concerns about the flow and the amount I can drain through a single 1 inch drain. I would love to not have to pull the 1.5 inch drain pipe out of the wall but I think I have to for the Herbie to work right so I plan to pull the 1.5 inch PVC out and replace it with 2-1 inch PVC pipes for the drains. One main and one emergency. I will add a ball valve beneath the main siphon bulk head and then use braided vinal hose beneath the tank to reduce the angles to the PVC in wall. The sump where the drain needs to enter is about 4 feet to the left of straight below the tank so I have to bend the drains that direction. I plan to use a couple of 45 degree PVC connectors to move the drain over w/o using any 90's. It would be way easier to use 90's but I read to many 90's would keep the siphon from working.
Questions:
1. Will the 1 inch drain pipes be enough? I know the Herbie siphon will drain allot more then the Durso I'm just worried it won't be enough to keep up w/ my Barracuda. With my headloss I'm not pushing a ton of GPH.
2. Is it true that I should not use any 90 degree converts with a Herbie? Its hard for me to get from the tank into the wall and to the basement and to the sump w/o 90's but I think I can do it /w some 45's if I have too.
3. I'm contemplaiting using 1.25 inch drains to reduce draining capacity a little but with the 1 inch bulk head I don't lknow if its worth messing with it since I don't think I can get both 1.25 inch pipes through my wall hole w/o cutting a bigget hole. Would this be usefull?
Any other tips or thoughts would be much appreciated. I'm very nervous about shutting the flow down to my old tank moving the inhabitants to a coller and cutting into the plumbing and not being able to get it working again while my fish and coral are in a cooler.
In the pics below the two pipes on the right side are my overflow and the one on the far left is my sump pump so not part of the fish tank setup.
I have an exsisting Durso overflow in 120 cube that has a 1.5 inch drain, and a 1.5 inch pvc return. I'm usinga reeflo Baracudda at about 14 feet headloss since the sump is in my basement. I 'm switching to a SCA rimless 100g tank that is drilled with 3 holes for a Herbie overflow. I have read about the basic priciples of the Herbie oveflow, but I have some concerns about switching from one to the other and since my exsising pipes are throught he wall I want to make the transition as easy as possible. It keeps looking more complicated by the minute though and I want to ensure this works so any pointers or feedback would be helpfull.
Plan:
Return: I'm planning to keep my 1.5 inch return and just cut the spa flex off beneath my tank and reduce it to the 1 inch bulk head on the new tank. I don't have any major issues w/ this part.
Drain: I would like two drains one main drain and a dry emergency drain but I have concerns about the flow and the amount I can drain through a single 1 inch drain. I would love to not have to pull the 1.5 inch drain pipe out of the wall but I think I have to for the Herbie to work right so I plan to pull the 1.5 inch PVC out and replace it with 2-1 inch PVC pipes for the drains. One main and one emergency. I will add a ball valve beneath the main siphon bulk head and then use braided vinal hose beneath the tank to reduce the angles to the PVC in wall. The sump where the drain needs to enter is about 4 feet to the left of straight below the tank so I have to bend the drains that direction. I plan to use a couple of 45 degree PVC connectors to move the drain over w/o using any 90's. It would be way easier to use 90's but I read to many 90's would keep the siphon from working.
Questions:
1. Will the 1 inch drain pipes be enough? I know the Herbie siphon will drain allot more then the Durso I'm just worried it won't be enough to keep up w/ my Barracuda. With my headloss I'm not pushing a ton of GPH.
2. Is it true that I should not use any 90 degree converts with a Herbie? Its hard for me to get from the tank into the wall and to the basement and to the sump w/o 90's but I think I can do it /w some 45's if I have too.
3. I'm contemplaiting using 1.25 inch drains to reduce draining capacity a little but with the 1 inch bulk head I don't lknow if its worth messing with it since I don't think I can get both 1.25 inch pipes through my wall hole w/o cutting a bigget hole. Would this be usefull?
Any other tips or thoughts would be much appreciated. I'm very nervous about shutting the flow down to my old tank moving the inhabitants to a coller and cutting into the plumbing and not being able to get it working again while my fish and coral are in a cooler.
In the pics below the two pipes on the right side are my overflow and the one on the far left is my sump pump so not part of the fish tank setup.
