180 gallon filtration setup

[jvc66]

Loose rule of thumb for a sump is about 30% of your tank size. Personally, if I was to do a sump I would aim for a 55g or 75g. The two biggest factors for determining sump size are:
1) How much media (bio, chem, mech) you want
2) How much overflow space you need in case of a power outage.

My biggest concern with a 40g is capacity for overflow, but you can calculate that.

I do not have a sump, been planning one for ages, and recently decided I would convert my 180g to a hmf filter instead. Probably not appropriate for you seeing you do not want the filter in the tank.

Yea your right I was debating on moving up on size for the safety factor. Only Issue I have is that how I designed the tank stand that the widest tank I could slip in from the side would be 18" but that would be hitting the posts.

Any suggestions on how to fit a bigger one under there and alter my stand?

 

[jaws7777]

The Herbie does make a lot of sense. I understand that a lot better then the bean animal at the moment. It will be a fall back for me and I will have to suck it with having overflows in the tank. Guess with a tank this size I should have two overflows and two pumps if doing a herbie? will keep doing my research

You could always up the size of the drains/overflow if you wanted only one but i would rather have dual herbies essentially with duals you would need two siphon drains and one of the Edrains to clog for the tank to flood.

You mentioned you were goning to try the pond boxes. I plugged the intake of the box and drilled larger holes to match my pumps intake. Not sure if there will be some unforseen issue so we'll see.

 

[jvc66]

You could always up the size of the drains/overflow if you wanted only one but i would rather have dual herbies essentially with duals you would need two siphon drains and one of the Edrains to clog for the tank to flood.

You mentioned you were goning to try the pond boxes. I plugged the intake of the box and drilled larger holes to match my pumps intake. Not sure if there will be some unforseen issue so we'll see.

View attachment 1229218

I am wondering if I can have them put an external box on and do dual herbies? I think I like that system a lot better and a little easier for me to understand. They had this picture on their photo gallery but I would have two exterior boxes just not sure what size and thickness?

Also just from my research on the tetra pond boxes i thought it said that it had adapters for Tubing fitting (3/4" MPT x 1" barb, 1" MPT x 1" barb, and 1-1/4" MPT x 1" barb). What size pipe are you using to pair with your pumps?

If I had dual herbies that are 1.5". Would I need 1.5" for return pumps?

 

[jaws7777]

I am wondering if I can have them put an external box on and do dual herbies? I think I like that system a lot better and a little easier for me to understand. They had this picture on their photo gallery but I would have two exterior boxes just not sure what size and thickness? View attachment 1229225

Also just from my research on the tetra pond boxes i thought it said that it had adapters for Tubing fitting (3/4" MPT x 1" barb, 1" MPT x 1" barb, and 1-1/4" MPT x 1" barb). What size pipe are you using to pair with your pumps?

If I had dual herbies that are 1.5". Would I need 1.5" for return pumps?

I dont know if setting up dual herbies with external overflows is possible. Thinking of it im sure it is but better of let ragin_cajun and DN328 weight in.

Yes it does come with the adapters but still 3/4 intake. I rather have the 1.5 inch size match the intakr on the pump. Who knows maybe it doesnt make a big difference but figured it would have to restrict flow to some degree.

As far as the size of the overflow box your plumbing will dictate that and the tank builder knows exactly what size box to install.

Return plumbing doesnt have to be the same size as the drain plumbing. I did 1 inch return amd 1.5 inch drains.

 

[nzafi]

Yea your right I was debating on moving up on size for the safety factor. Only Issue I have is that how I designed the tank stand that the widest tank I could slip in from the side would be 18" but that would be hitting the posts.

Any suggestions on how to fit a bigger one under there and alter my stand?View attachment 1229207

Standard 40b is 18in wide so that would also be a problem. You can do a 55g which I think is like 16in wide or so. I believe 60g is also less than 18in wide. Depending on how you feel about drilling, you can always due two 55g next to each other and just connect them with some drilling essentially. I would stay away from that. A 55g which be plenty unless you really want a ton of media which will be driven by your stock.

 

[monkeybike]

The problem is finding drillable 55 gallon tanks, most are tempered.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Here, check out this thread on my 220, which is the same as a 180 but 6" taller. The thread is about how to make my setup quieter but I have a lot of pictures in it and with a dual 1.5" herbie, it is completely silent, except the pump hum (which I'm working on).

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...ome-help-with-noise-reduction-options.680720/

Also, if you're setting up a herbie style overflow, you'll want as large of a sump as you can get because they will typically drain a lot more water into the sump compared to a standard drain setup. I think you might like the H2Overflows for your setup as they stay tucked up to the top of the tank. Or, you could get some of the low profile drains like I posted towards the end of that thread I linked. With a herbie setup, you can probably get by with one 1.5" drain that is full siphon and one 1.5" e-drain that stays dry, or has a slight trickle. My returns are 3/4" with 1" tubing going up to them and they are working great.

For the sump size, I think you should definitely step up to a 55 (12" wide) but a 75 or 90 would be better (both are 18" wide). I have a 55 and it works great, but I do wish I would have waited for a 75 or 90 to come up on Craigslist so I could have used those.

 

[jvc66]

I dont know if setting up dual herbies with external overflows is possible. Thinking of it im sure it is but better of let ragin_cajun and DN328 weight in.

Yes it does come with the adapters but still 3/4 intake. I rather have the 1.5 inch size match the intakr on the pump. Who knows maybe it doesnt make a big difference but figured it would have to restrict flow to some degree.

As far as the size of the overflow box your plumbing will dictate that and the tank builder knows exactly what size box to install.

Return plumbing doesnt have to be the same size as the drain plumbing. I did 1 inch return amd 1.5 inch drains.

Thats true. and who knows, I think jc used the 1" into his pump then into 1.5" swing checks?

But hopefully one of them can help. I was looking through ragin_cajun build as well and found it very helpful. Im hoping I can somehow have the overflows attached to the back at midwest and herbie down from there. Now I guess I will have to do a 55 sump which would probably be better for my sized tank and have the two pond boxes and pumps. Should I have both pumps be rated for around the 1400gph mark since my edrain is 1.5 or have both of them combined equal around 1400?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

If you want to run a herbie style overflow, I would recommend getting two of the Jebao DCP 6000 pumps. I have two of the 8000's on my setup but I was wanting about 1600gph without working the pumps too hard. You will definitely be able to get 1400gph out of two 6000's and not be working them hard at all.

Also, the reason I recommend these for the herbie style overflow is because the pump has 70 flow settings compared to the 10 available on the DCT and DCS. You can adjust it from 30% to 100% in single digit increments. It allows you to make really fine adjustments with the pump controller in order to achieve the proper siphon flow to keep the overflow completely silent. In addition, my DCP 8000 is running on setting 60 out of 100 and I can't hear it even if I try. They are very power efficient as my 8000 is currently only running about 35W (the controller displays the current watt usage right on it).

 

[jvc66]

Here, check out this thread on my 220, which is the same as a 180 but 6" taller. The thread is about how to make my setup quieter but I have a lot of pictures in it and with a dual 1.5" herbie, it is completely silent, except the pump hum (which I'm working on).

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...ome-help-with-noise-reduction-options.680720/

Also, if you're setting up a herbie style overflow, you'll want as large of a sump as you can get because they will typically drain a lot more water into the sump compared to a standard drain setup. I think you might like the H2Overflows for your setup as they stay tucked up to the top of the tank. Or, you could get some of the low profile drains like I posted towards the end of that thread I linked. With a herbie setup, you can probably get by with one 1.5" drain that is full siphon and one 1.5" e-drain that stays dry, or has a slight trickle. My returns are 3/4" with 1" tubing going up to them and they are working great.

For the sump size, I think you should definitely step up to a 55 (12" wide) but a 75 or 90 would be better (both are 18" wide). I have a 55 and it works great, but I do wish I would have waited for a 75 or 90 to come up on Craigslist so I could have used those.

Thanks for the link! will take a look when I get out of work. But I am thinking about trying to bump up the size of the sump now for sure to make sure I protect myself with the amount of water cycling though. I think I need to reconfigure my stand idea to fit a 18" wide tank. Any suggestions based off of my tank design that you think I could alter to get a wider sump in?

and ill Look at the H2Overflow!