vanz Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Okay, before I cement my plumbing to bulk head, I want to make sure this is how a proper Herbie should be. This is the stock kit of the 93g marineland with the durso removed. The skinnier return pipe will be used as the back up. I believe the pipes are friction fitted to the bulkhead, so it'll be very difficult to remove the stand pipes to modify afterwards. Are the stand pipes too high? I have a feeling the backup is too high. Should I trim both a few inches? [ATTACH]13646[/ATTACH] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 As long as the backup is low enough that the tank won't overflow, you are good. I would keep it just under the height of the overflow teeth. You want the main drain low enough so it can create a full siphon without sucking air from the surface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Looks good to me. One thing to keep in mind, the greater the height difference between your siphon and your backup, the more room you have for adjustment on the full siphon. Looks like plenty of room to me. That emergency should stay dry I suppose to be a by the book Herbie. Gate valve below right for fine tuning? Looks slick! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 the backup is like a couple of millimeters below the teeth. Yeah to be safe, I'll just trim both lower about 2 inches. No returning it back to stock when I do, but stock sucks anyway right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Looks good to me. One thing to keep in mind, the greater the height difference between your siphon and your backup, the more room you have for adjustment on the full siphon. Looks like plenty of room to me. That emergency should stay dry I suppose to be a by the book Herbie. Gate valve below right for fine tuning? Looks slick! There are a couple of ways I believe for the herbie to work, one is to leave the backup dry and adjust with the ball valve, and the other is to allow a small trickle in the back up. I'm using a ball valve because that's what I have laying around....would definitely get the gate valve if I didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I will tell you from experience, it is worth every penny to buy a gate valve. You will go nuts trying to adjust it with a ball valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Looking good though. You are having too much fun it looks like I know you know this... but just in case. Gluing in the standpipes is optional. If your sump can take the overflow box draining without overflowing. Just a thought... None of mine are cemented in. The old 'power out test' is a good one. Pull the stand pipes, cut the return pump, see if your sump is too close to overflowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I will tell you from experience' date=' it is worth every penny to buy a gate valve. You will go nuts trying to adjust it with a ball valve.[/quote'] 100% plus one, you won't regret it. You can cut the ball valve off and replace down the road if in a rush but it is so darn much better to have the gate valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Looking good though. You are having too much fun it looks like I know you know this... but just in case. Gluing in the standpipes is optional. If your sump can take the overflow box draining without overflowing. Just a thought... None of mine are cemented in. The old 'power out test' is a good one. Pull the stand pipes, cut the return pump, see if your sump is too close to overflowing. Oh, I won't glue the standpipes to the bulkhead. Maybe i didn't write it out clear. The standpipes from marineland are friction fitted really tight onto the bulkhead. I should try and separate it huh? And just lightly push it in. I will however cement the bulkheads to unions to attach to my plumbing. hmmm....maybe I can use that ball valve for another project and get the gate (plotting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegotjs Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I run a ball valve and it works fine in my herbie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have always done the full siphon half way up my over flow that way I have maximum room for adjustment and there is no chance of it forming a vortex and sucking air which makes a lot of noise also fully agree that a gate valve is the best bet yet you can do it with a ball valve it is just harder that way. Also not sure what kind of flow you will be having from your return but the full siphon can move a lot of water so you may want to have the larger pipe be the emergency drain and make the smaller the main drain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperNan79 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I will tell you from experience' date=' it is worth every penny to buy a gate valve. You will go nuts trying to adjust it with a ball valve.[/quote'] Get gate valve!!! I even got easy turn ball valves and even they get sticky after sitting. If I decide I need to adjust after like 20-30+ minutes, it 'jumps' farther than I want it to turn because it sticks. I will probably redo with gate valve eventually (put some true unions on both sides of your ball valves if u don't want to get gate valves now- that way you can swap out pretty easily later without redoing ALL your plumbing:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have always done the full siphon half way up my over flow that way I have maximum room for adjustment and there is no chance of it forming a vortex and sucking air which makes a lot of noise also fully agree that a gate valve is the best bet yet you can do it with a ball valve it is just harder that way. Also not sure what kind of flow you will be having from your return but the full siphon can move a lot of water so you may want to have the larger pipe be the emergency drain and make the smaller the main drain. Never thought about using the return tube as the main. I think I will! They are both using 1" bulkheads anyway. So the only thing to trim would be the return pipe. I will most likely be purchasing a jebao dc 12000 pump, or one model lower. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 So, I have a 75gallon standard. My dad bought a 75 gallon standard from Jeramy (commented previously on this post). Jeramy was nice and provided a gate valve, I was cheap and didn't include on on mine. The instant we set up his tank at my dads house, I realized the value of the gate. Nearly instantly adjusted the overflow to a perfectly silent flow. Mine was: tap.... too much, [language filter]. tap... too little, [language filter]... .tap.. grrrr... .tap... grr... tap... grrr!!!!! SLAM....... SLAM...... SLAM.... AHHHHH!!!! Spend the extra 10-20 bucks... get a gate valve. As far as tuning it. I run the emergency about 1/8" above the bottom of the weir teeth. I run the main about 4-6" below the normal water level. When the overflow is working perfectly, the water is about 1.5-2" above the lower/main drain pipe. I've even gone as far as to put PVC fittings or screens over the main output to limit the flow slightly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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