plumbing advice needed

[habs247]

Hey everyone,

Also posted this on RC. Any help is welcome.

Looking for some advice on how to plumb my new tank. I plan on using Herbie's method on my 110 gallon. The tank is a custom rimless build and I've asked for three holes to be drilled in the right corner overflow: the main drain (1"), the original return converted to an emergency drain (3/4") and an extra hole (3/4") I requested that I hope will accommodate my return pipe but still be hidden in the overflow box.

Does this make sense? I didn't want the return pipe to be behind the tank (not enough clearance) or beside it (a bit of an eyesore), rather, to be hidden in the overflow. I hope this will work? I then figured I could use an elbow or two to get the pipe to clear the overflow box to allow flow back into the tank...or is there a preferred method to return flow into the tank?

Also, do the sizes of the holes drilled appear correct?

Thanks in advance.

[fishytime]

should work just fine.....depending on what you use for a return pump... personally I would have done both holes for the herbie 1"...heres a couple shots of my 25g that is plumbed in to my big tank.....I went through the front of the overflow but up and over will work too


http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3509.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3572.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3573.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3585.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3584.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3588.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/IMGP3589.jpg

[habs247]

That's an incredible tank. Wow.

And thanks for the info, very helpful. Out through the front of the overflow makes more sense, just a little afraid to drill it myself - I'd probably goof it and ruin the whole overflow.

I imagine your method is quite a bit quieter than what I had planned? No splashing that way...

Thanks for your response.

[Davidbugera]

Having it threw the front of the over flow is not a good idea in my opinion just cause if u use lock line the links don't seal together proply and If u have a power failure water will drain to the level of the bulk head I found this out by dumping 7ish gallons of water on my upstairs floor lol. I guess if u use a really good check valve it would bee ok but the ones for lock line suck

[parkinsn]

Having it threw the front of the over flow is not a good idea in my opinion just cause if u use lock line the links don't seal together proply and If u have a power failure water will drain to the level of the bulk head I found this out by dumping 7ish gallons of water on my upstairs floor lol. I guess if u use a really good check valve it would bee ok but the ones for lock line suck

There is nothing wrong with doing as mentioned and pictured above. I doubt the lock line seal will fail any time soon for one. Also there is an easy solution if you are worried about that. Drill a couple small holes in the PVC return line in the overflow that will stop the syphon. I have pretty well the same over flow as Doug has pictured above, I drilled the under side of the 90 and have no problems, and no need to worry about the lock line failing.

[Davidbugera]

Each to there own he asked for any advice and I was just letting him no of my failure with my this style of plumbing

[reefgirl189]

Here's how I plumbed my herbie on the 180 gallon:

Dual 1.5" drain with ball valve
Dual 1.5" emergency drain
Dual 1" return with check valve

Here's how I wished I plumbed my herbie on the 180 gallon:

Dual 1.5" drain line with gate valve
Dual 1.5" emergency drain line on IT'S OWN LINE, not connected below the ball valve of the main drain line like it is now.
Dual 1" return line with check valve

I'll post pics when I get home. I love herbie though and would never go back to durso after having my tank this silent. The loudest thing on my tank is the ecotech radion LED light's fan blowing. Not kidding. It's awesome!

[Bblinks]

I am sure that should be enough flow using the sizes you provided. I believe you are looking at 700gph per a 3/4" bulkhead. I am using herbie also 1.5 dual with gate valve, 1 inch emergency with no restriction. reeflo dart on a 2.5 split into 2 2in return with oneway valve. extremely quite, and lots of flow. One thing about herbie is if you use a filter sock you will have to adjust it when the filter sock slowly plugs up.

BTW I don't hear my Aqua illumination sols at all. :mrgreen:

[habs247]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate it.

Reefgirl - Any pics of your setups would be very helpful. Actually, everyone (but reefgirl offered).

I should note - I'm limited to the three holes that are drilled since the tank is coming tonight. Hope I didn't make a mistake - certainly no double 1" or 1.5" holes here!

Hoping my plumbing is quiet as it's in the family room. Any suggestions on how to pipe return into the main tank quietly are appreciated!

[fishytime]

Having it threw the front of the over flow is not a good idea in my opinion just cause if u use lock line the links don't seal together proply and If u have a power failure water will drain to the level of the bulk head I found this out by dumping 7ish gallons of water on my upstairs floor lol. I guess if u use a really good check valve it would bee ok but the ones for lock line suck

yup.....got a double siphon break.....loc-line is curved up almost at the surface of the water and I have a couple holes drilled in the elbow inside the overflow.....that and my sump is designed to handle the drainage

[reefgirl189]

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/christinadouma149/IMG_4110.jpg

As you can kind of see, the emergency is tee'd into the main drain line. I wish this would have been on its own drain line because tuning this herbie in for silence is very difficult when the sump is in the basement. Sometimes gravity pulls air through the emergency line when draining through the normal drain line, creating a loud air suction noise. It was very finicky to tune and as soon as the sump level changes by mere millimeters it starts all over again (thanks for ATO I don't normally have to mess with it)

Please note that there are ABS fittings on the drain line. It's not ideal. You want to choose either PVC or ABs and not interchange them but because this is only a drain line it's not that big of a deal (it's not under pressure).

Here's the sump before we fired everything up:

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/christinadouma149/IMG_3973.jpg

Since this pic we've added a check valve on the return line. This prevents water from back syphoning through the return lines in the main display in case of power loss.


Here's how we covered up the drain lines:
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/christinadouma149/IMG_4107.jpg

[habs247]

Ok thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.

Tank is being delivered tomorrow (supposedly). So a friend is coming over tomorrow evening and we're going to try our hand at plumbing it. No previous experience (with either plumbing or keeping a reef tank!).

If anyone can point to a good start to finish herbie tutorial, I would appreciate it. Something like the BRS video but with a bit more detail.

I'm also a little lost of how to plumb into the sump. And as my question that started this thread proved, also a little lost on the return line plumbing!

Thanks guys!