Replacing the plumbing question

[somechinesereefer]

Okay, so after a mad dash to get a complete setup moved from the seller's house and getting everything back up and running as fast as possible, i've realized there are a couple things i want to do differently than what the previous owner did, namely, the plumbing, and possibly replacing the double durso overflow with a herbie setup.

This stems from my need to replace one of the overflows since the ball valve is not turning anymore (i turned it before installing it back in), and needing to replace it with a gate valve.

Here's the current plumbing

So here's my plan.

I'm cutting out everything, replacing the bulkheads, adding unions a few inches below the bulkheads, install a herbie overflow instead of the double durso, the two overflows are 1" and the return is 3/4"

I would love to do bean animal, but I do not have the option of running the return line behind the tank, and I only have 3 holes drilled.

Should I continue with what the previous owner did and include a tee off from the return pump line to allow for a reactor?

Should I include any more unions? possibly after the gate valve on overflow 1?

From what I've read herbie is the best method outside of bean animal, i dont think ive read much on anyone using double dursos, so I should continue with the plan to replace them with herbie?

Also, since the herbie method has a main overflow(overflow1) and an emergency overflow(overflow2) could i just pipe the overflow 2 into the fuge instead of all the way to the left to save on space and clutter? The edrain should only get a trickle, if even that, 99% of the time unless there's a clog in overflow 1 right?

Thanks in advance!

 

[redfishbluefish]

Can't really comment on your needs....not hands-on familiar with Herbie, but the one thing I see that bothers me are those horizontal runs. You need to support horizontal runs...with vinyl strapping or something. Otherwise the torque puts too much pressure on the bulkhead/glass interface.

 

[somechinesereefer]

the red pipe is the 2nd option where i have the pipe dump into the fuge area since it's an edrain, and shouldnt really be used, ever.

 

[somechinesereefer]

Can't really comment on your needs....not hands-on familiar with Herbie, but the one thing I see that bothers me are those horizontal runs. You need to support horizontal runs...with vinyl strapping or something. Otherwise the torque puts too much pressure on the bulkhead/glass interface.

The pipe is zip tied to the stand, but I'll factor that into the new build as well, thanks for the observation!

 

[ca1ore]

Let’s see ....

You really don’t lose much with a herbie frankly. Put the gate valve on the siphon, upsize the emergency stand pipe if you can and put screens on the two drains.

I prefer to have unions at both ends of all valves.

Support all plumbing as noted.

I prefer a separate pump for my various reactors as flow will vary as they clog which messes with the siphon drain if you T off the main return.

 

[somechinesereefer]

Let’s see ....

You really don’t lose much with a herbie frankly. Put the gate valve on the siphon, upsize the emergency stand pipe if you can and put screens on the two drains.

I prefer to have unions at both ends of all valves.

Support all plumbing as noted.

I prefer a separate pump for my various reactors as flow will vary as they clog which messes with the siphon drain if you T off the main return.

What do you mean I dont lose much with a herbie? Also what do you mean by upsize the emergency stand pipe?

 

[ca1ore]

Sorry, herbie versus bean. Latter is better, but not by much. Upsize means go up to 1 1/2” PVC for the emergency stand pipe. Use an adapter out of the bulkhead to go up a diameter (or even to 2” if you can).

 

[somechinesereefer]

Sorry, herbie versus bean. Latter is better, but not by much. Upsize means go up to 1 1/2” PVC for the emergency stand pipe. Use an adapter out of the bulkhead to go up a diameter (or even to 2” if you can).

Ah gotcha, i thought you meant maybe widening the drilled hole. Are you a slip pvc kinda plumber or a threaded pvc kinda plumber for the ball valves/unions/bulkheads?

 

[ca1ore]

I prefer slip. Socket welds never leak, unlike messing around with tape, paste or cracked fittings. If you buy true union valves from BRS, they also sell replacement flanges if you ever need to re plumb the valve. Gate valves aren’t available with integrated unions, so add your own. I prefer to weld the ‘nut’ end of the unions to the valve because you can easily replace the flange in the collar ends as needed.