Newbie tank build Herbie overflow plumbing

[EvanCroft]

240 gallon tank and 60 gallon sump. Just got done plumbing overflow, this is a used tank and sump and did what I thought would work without any modifications to the sump or tank. Return pump is an off brand DC rated at 2400 gph. I will have 2 1 inch return pipes from pump. Primary drain is 1 1/2" with a wye going to 2 1". Any thoughts on how well it will work? It's looking pretty jank now that I did it and have seen others looking better.

 

[EvanCroft]

Additional picture

 

[JC1977]

Th herbie method has two separate drain lines. Splitting one pipe into two separate pipes is going to make it impossible to fine tune the drain and make it silent. You essentially just have a complicated durso drain with that setup. I see two bulkheads I’m assuming the second pipe is your return? If so you would be better served repurposing that as your emergency and running one pipe with the gate valve off the other. You can always run your return over the top of the tank. Lots of people have done it.

 

[VintageReefer]

Can we see a full sump picture ?

I realize now the pic with the gate valve is one side and the lid with the y adapter is the return chamber and i Assume the last pipe in the middle is emergency ?

Hard to understand with a few pics zoomed in like this

 

[Mikeltee]

Talk about jumping in the deep end. Congrats on starting out with a monster tank. Its awesome. It appears that you research before acting which is the only way to become successful in this hobby. I run a durso setup and it is silent. I'd do the same with this setup. This is an odd one...

 

[EvanCroft]

I apologize for the lack of pictures. I highlighted where I plan to run the return to the tank over the back. What I tried to do was do a herbie overflow with a gate valve and one and a half inch pipe but I didn't want to lose any flow into the 1-in fittings on the sump. So I used the wye and had two 1-in fittings after the valve. I am not sure how well this will work or if I should have drilled a hole in the sump to accommodate a one and a half inch bulkhead.

 

[EvanCroft]

The tank only had two holes when I bought it, one for one and a half inch pipe and another for a 1-in pipe. The way the stand was it had two returns over the back. I'm not sure what return they had but I figured Herbie would work. I think the sump is for a bean animal.

 

[EvanCroft]

The emergency is the second pipe in the overflow box

 

[JC1977]

That picture helps explain things much better lol. If it was me I would redo your drains. Run the 1” pipe as your full siphon with the gate valve and the 1-1/2” as your emergency. Just run the emergency drain into that open compartment. It will only have a trickle of water going down it so I don’t think you really need a bulkhead for it and would eliminate trying to drill your sump.

 

[Mikeltee]

You need 2 pipes constantly draining to use that method. If you only use one it's going to be noisy. I'm not sure if one durso would be enough. Lots of turnover is overrated. You are fine with 3x. That's what I use. Don't worry about 10x numbers... thats silly. Your WaveMakers is where you make it up. You would be fine with 750gph but I'd measure it. I'd personally try a durso as it only requires one drain. If that's not enough, you can do herbie with both drains but you won't have an emergency. I doubt many people ever have water go down an emergency. I've never read of someone using one. It's better to have it and not need it though. For herbie, both drains need to be similar height. Your gate valve drain is way too low.

https://www.dursostandpipes.com/

 

[javajaws]

I think what you have is fine. What wouldn't work is having 2 valves on 2 different drain lines trying to have 2 controlled siphons.

But 1 valve before the Y like you have should be fine.

 

[javajaws]

You need 2 pipes constantly draining to use that method. If you only use one it's going to be noisy. I'm not sure if one durso would be enough. Lots of turnover is overrated. You are fine with 3x. That's what I use. Don't worry about 10x numbers... thats silly. Your WaveMakers is where you make it up. You would be fine with 750gph but I'd measure it. I'd personally try a durso as it only requires one drain. If that's not enough, you can do herbie with both drains but you won't have an emergency. I doubt many people ever have water go down an emergency. I've never read of someone using one. It's better to have it and not need it though. For herbie, both drains need to be similar height. Your gate valve drain is way too low.

https://www.dursostandpipes.com/

Why do you say both drains need to be a similar height for a Herbie? In a Herbie the siphon drain should be lower than the secondary drain.

It can by much lower in fact but depending on what the water level is in the overflow when your siphon is tuned you may or may not need additional sump capacity for it to drain when power is off.

 

[twentyleagues]

Like others have said it will work. Everything after the gate valve doesnt matter. My issue is the 1" emergency drain isnt going to handle that much flow in an emergency. I agree with @JC1977 you would be better served using the 1" as your siphon and the 1.5" as emergency. You also dont need or want that much flow through the sump. If you ever have a blockage issue your tank will overflow. For safety I would cut it to max 600gph to the tank. Use wavemakers and powerheads to make up for the loss.

 

[twentyleagues]

You need 2 pipes constantly draining to use that method. If you only use one it's going to be noisy. I'm not sure if one durso would be enough. Lots of turnover is overrated. You are fine with 3x. That's what I use. Don't worry about 10x numbers... thats silly. Your WaveMakers is where you make it up. You would be fine with 750gph but I'd measure it. I'd personally try a durso as it only requires one drain. If that's not enough, you can do herbie with both drains but you won't have an emergency. I doubt many people ever have water go down an emergency. I've never read of someone using one. It's better to have it and not need it though. For herbie, both drains need to be similar height. Your gate valve drain is way too low.

https://www.dursostandpipes.com/

I think you are thinking of a bean animal system, 3 pipes 1 siphon 1 durso style secondary and 1 emergency. Herbie is only two pipes 1 siphon the other emergency. Both systems run a dry emergency drain.

 

[javajaws]

A 1" siphon can pull somewhere around 900gph? If you stay below that it doesn't matter which one is the siphon. Definitely safer to have the larger to be the emergency though.

Also agree on 3x turnover which puts you below the limit of 1" and is all you really need.

 

[EvanCroft]

I ran it as it was and no issues. Once I plugged the 1.5 inch to test the emergency the 1" can't keep up but it just fills the tank enough to where the pump section of the sump runs out of water not overflowing the tank. It is 2400 gph. Should I leave it like this?

 

[EvanCroft]

Current plumbing.

 

[EvanCroft]

I will need to install 2 siphon breaks because it will overflow the sump if the nozzles are in the water. Also is there a paint for PVC, I have some 1 inch slip to 3/4 thread bushings to fit the nozzles that are white.

 

[twentyleagues]

I will need to install 2 siphon breaks because it will overflow the sump if the nozzles are in the water. Also is there a paint for PVC, I have some 1 inch slip to 3/4 thread bushings to fit the nozzles that are white.

krylon fusion. give it 7 days to fully cure.