Herbie Drain questions

A

Aquatic Reef Creations

Member
Hi Gang,
I currently have a 150 set up. It has dual overflows, one in each corner of the tank. Currently running the Durso standpipe drains. Needless to say they are a little noisy.
I have thought about converting one of the overflows to the Herbie style drain and leaving the second one as an emergency overflow and still use the return line from the second overflow.
Does this make sense? Any suggestions? Anyone do this, I would imagine someone has. Just not sure how this works with having 2 overflows.

Thanks,
Kevin

P.S. I will probably be doing this when I relocate the tank after the first of the year. Just doing my research in anticipation of the move.
 
I am thinking 5-6 times turnover. 750-900GPH. Too much or not enough? Not doing SPS. I have softies, zoos, LPS and a few others.
I know there is great debate on the amount of turnover through the sump.

Thanks for any input.
 
I use a herbie on my system. Bet thing i have done. If i remember correctly, you dont want to much flow on the the return pump. I use a mag 7 on my 62.
 
For a herbie system you would need 3 holes in the overflow. Your main drain , return, and an emergency drain in case of clogging. The main drain is completely submerged in water, and the emergency, just kinda surface skimms, with a trickle of water going down. Also the main should be about 1/2-3/4 the size of the other 2, hence why is completely under water.
 
milsaltnewbie07 said:
For a herbie system you would need 3 holes in the overflow. Your main drain , return, and an emergency drain in case of clogging. The main drain is completely submerged in water, and the emergency, just kinda surface skimms, with a trickle of water going down. Also the main should be about 1/2-3/4 the size of the other 2, hence why is completely under water.
Click to expand...

Ideally, the main line is the same size but the tanks are typically drilled for a 3/4" and 1" in each box so the larger is used for the emergency.
 
I converted my Marineland 60g cube -w- standard 'corner-flo' from durso to herbie last fall. Tank had 2x 1" bulkheads, I ran an over-the-back return line, and used both bulkheads for the herbie drain.

I hesitated for some time... didn't really want the over-the-back return, since the tank is free standing 'in the round', so to speak. The noise bothered me enough to go ahead and give it a try.

I painted the return black, ran it up right outside the overflow seam... it's just not that noticeable. And the noise? What noise? Silence is golden. A little hum from the return pump is the loudest noise I have.
 
milsaltnewbie07 said:
For a herbie system you would need 3 holes in the overflow. Your main drain , return, and an emergency drain in case of clogging. The main drain is completely submerged in water, and the emergency, just kinda surface skimms, with a trickle of water going down. Also the main should be about 1/2-3/4 the size of the other 2, hence why is completely under water.
Click to expand...


You don't need three holes in the overflow if you have two overflows, one will be the emergency and the other Herbie
 
Hey rovster. I had not thought of the stagnant water issue. I was thinking of using one overflow for the siphon and emergency and the second overflow for a backup emergency drain and a return line from the sump. What if I threw a small powerhead in the overflow box to cycle the water out of the overflow box? This would eliminate the stagnant water and give me some added surface agitation from the water going over the weir. Thoughts?
 
The best way is to use two drains and two emergencies and run the returns over the top. I live near you and you can check-out my set-up anytime. Mine is a 155 Bow Front. The slight hum from the fans on my LED lights are the only noise you hear.
 
rovster said:
Then you get stagnant water in the emergency overflow box:eek2:

2 emergencies 2 siphons. Only way to do it.:beer:
Click to expand...



Rovster is right. This is the only way. Below is how I normally plumb up drains


I used the two 1" as main drains and the two 3/4" as emergency drains. Cut the emergency about 1/4" below overflow grate. Then main drains I run about 12" from the bottom bulkhead and then install a strainer in them. This helps with snails. Both main drains will have a gate valve. Emergency will have no restrictions. I normally plumb straight down into sump no elbows and leave it about a 1" away from water level in sump. This way you will hear it and know something wrong. 600-700 is fine. Many have success with low flow sumps and high flow sumps. It's all on your preference. My old 180 I ran a super dart and was very happy with it. Some like the low flow and I am sure they can chime in with their successful reef tanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm gonna go against the "drain" here.

I have a 120g, dual overflows. Left side has a 3/4" siphon and a 1" emergency. The emergency is adjustable up and down with a repair fitting that I bought at HD.

2nd overflow is a 3/4" return, with a 1" adjustable emergency.

As mentioned above, the water can become stagnant in that chamber with no flow.

What I did was buy a small rio 400, dropped it in there to almost the bottom, and ran a hose/return nozzle into the tank. Water flow into that chamber is level with the DT. Since the Rio is at the bottom, was has no choice but to flow into the chamber and make its way to the pump, where it is then pushed out into the DT.

No stagnant water, the emergency is never wet.

Ive been doing it this way for years without issue, and I've never had a flood.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
I posted this type of setup years ago, and not that I'm claiming to be some guru, but I'm not sure why it never caught on. This is the first dual overflow tank I've had in some time, and I went right back to this setup. I needed silence with the ability to go to high gph if needed.

Coming from 3 previous tanks with the Beananimal setup, silence and flexibility was a must.

Right now I'm running a Rio 2100 return, the 3/4" gate valve is maybe 20% open.

I was running a mag 12, but went to the Rio because it's so quite, and I really didn't need that much return gph in a 120.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
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