Durso to herbie with new trigger 26 emerald sump

[Crabs McJones]

I did something similar with my 75. I used the two holes in the overflow as a primary and emergency drain. And then ran the return over the rim on the other side of the tank.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Last question before I start the conversion. What’s going to stop the full siphon in case of a power outage?

 

[Silent]

The water will only drop to the level of the top of the pipe. The return pipe connected to your return pump should have a check valve on it. You could instead drill a small hole in the return pipe that is at the water surface in the display tank and when water lowers air will break the siphon.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Ok. So I should make the drain pipe height match the amount of water I want to remain in the overflow in case of a power outage.

 

[Silent]

Basically yes but you want it to be at least 6 inches below the emergency drain. The greater that distance the quicker it will regain full siphon and go back to normal quiet operation. If that distance is less than 6 inches it will take longer to quiet down and pull full siphon and less room for fluctuations.
Example- do you remove water from dt when doing water changes? Do you want to hear slurping and gurgling the whole time and 30 min after the water change?
At 6 inches or greater things like that wont be an issue.

 

[Silent]

The amount of water left in your overflow during power outage is also determined my the amount your sump can hold without overflowing. If your sump is large it wont matter.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Yeah I was worried about how much water the overflow actually holds, but after draining it it’s only a couple of gallons.

This is a huge PITA to do while the tank is set up.I knew I should have done this when I first got it but I was too lazy at the time.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Is it necessary to have both drain pipes in the sump 1 inch or less below the water surface? The drain bulkhead installed on the trigger sump is going to be submerged more than 1 inch. Do I cut the bottom of it?

 

[Silent]

No

 

[Thereefdoc]

I’m finally gluing everything together now. Thanks for all the help and guidance

 

[Silent]

Looking good.

 

[Thereefdoc]

So after gluing everything I found two leaks. One from the pvc pipe going into the bulkhead and one from the union on the main return. I redid the whole line, reinstalled the bulkheads and placed some silicone around the dry side of the bulks heads as a safety measure. Right now I have the tank and sump cut off. So the water only stays in the tank. My wife is already livid and if she sees me assemble and disassemble the plumbing/sump again she’ll probably want me to get rid of it. How would I go about testing the plumbing before installing it? Should I just just add the water back and run it again or is there an easier way?

 

[Silent]

Easiest way I think is to just fill it with water and let it run. You might want to first add water into the overflow and make sure the bulkhead is not leaking. If good then let er rip and hope for the best.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Easiest way I think is to just fill it with water and let it run. You might want to first add water into the overflow and make sure the bulkhead is not leaking. If good then let er rip and hope for the best.

I already filled the overflow halfway to make sure the bulkheads weren’t leaking. I just don’t want to assemble all the plumbing, install the sump and have to drain and pull it out again.

for the brief moment it was running the herbie worked fantastic. It was super quiet and everything else was running perfectly.

 

[Silent]

If you develop a leak you can turn off equipment and let the water settle, dry off the pipe and use q-tips to seal the joint with your pvc cleaner and glue. Should work for small leaks.

 

[Silent]

Of course let it dry for a couple hours after.

 

[Thereefdoc]

I’ll give that a shot.

 

[Rusticantlers85]

Did you drill a new hole in the 26 sump because mine only has 1 inlet if so what size hole and does it require a special drill bit

 

[Water Dog]

Did you drill a new hole in the 26 sump because mine only has 1 inlet if so what size hole and does it require a special drill bit

If you click on Silent’s build thread, it shows that he’s using a Trigger 34, which has 2 drain inputs into the sock area.

 

[Thereefdoc]

Did you drill a new hole in the 26 sump because mine only has 1 inlet if so what size hole and does it require a special drill bit

It is actually the 26. I didn’t drill any holes, I just ran the emergency into the first compartment.