Hahhaha im just trying to pay it forward. Guys in this section spent allot of time answering all my questions. I hope im giving you the correct advice lol we'll see hopefully i'll be implementing all of this next week.
180 gallon filtration setup
- Thread starter jvc66
- Start date
Lol ill be doing the same when I finally get the thing together and maybe ill understand it then? Or just say the water goes down the pipe to here, then some magic happens and gets shot back up into the tank haha
Hahaha yeah i like that one !
I'll take as many pics and explanations as i can once i get the tank. We'll figure this crap out together
Lol its the best explanation I could give someone at this point! But I think I finally figured my stand out. I was looking at it all wrong so I feel better that I have that out of the way. Im Just wondering how much room I really need between my sump and the bottom of the framing? Right now I got it drawn up with 10". So stand is about 38" tall
Now on to plumbing the back of the tank itself with external overflows
I dont remember if you said you were building the tank yourself but if you chose a builder you should send him those plans and talknto him about the overflows
Going to Midwest Customs, I liked chris from speaking with him. I just want to get an idea for the size of overflow I should be thinking about before calling him so I know what the hell I am talking about and dont turn into a bumbling idiot.
I guess I should base it off the size of the drain size 1.5"?
like this is the image they have for external overflows I wonder how much deeper do they need to be for herbies
For what it's worth, I have two 1.5" siphon drains on my tank that don't "T" together. Instead, they just drain down to the tank and into the sump completely separate, and each has its own ball valve. I have not had any trouble tuning the herbie style overflow with the two of those. I then have a third 1.5" drain that stays dry for my emergency drain.
James -- Frank --
Option 2, with the "balance pipe" is what I did. I had never done a Herbie before, JC1119 mentioned he'd had trouble trying to get 2 siphon drains to drain at roughly the same rate, so I just did it like he did.
I'd never built a Herbie setup, never had a 540 gallon tank, and I was focused on doing what I knew would work at the time. If I had it to do over, maybe I'd try 2 independent siphon drains since Travis says he's had no trouble with it. Maybe not, I don't know.
I have the "balance pipe" running silent, but it does have some air in it sometimes that won't come out, and that does make some noise--a quiet popping sound kinda. After a few days, it goes away. Careful tuning of the gate valve and it goes away. But it takes some care to get it quiet.
Once it gets quiet, and the gate is set right, it just runs quiet. I USED to mess with the gate valve all the time. Now, I don't need to--I might move a couple times a year just to make sure it still moves.
If you have a good build thread showing a Beanimal, post a link. I'd like to see it.
Option 2, with the "balance pipe" is what I did. I had never done a Herbie before, JC1119 mentioned he'd had trouble trying to get 2 siphon drains to drain at roughly the same rate, so I just did it like he did.
I'd never built a Herbie setup, never had a 540 gallon tank, and I was focused on doing what I knew would work at the time. If I had it to do over, maybe I'd try 2 independent siphon drains since Travis says he's had no trouble with it. Maybe not, I don't know.
I have the "balance pipe" running silent, but it does have some air in it sometimes that won't come out, and that does make some noise--a quiet popping sound kinda. After a few days, it goes away. Careful tuning of the gate valve and it goes away. But it takes some care to get it quiet.
Once it gets quiet, and the gate is set right, it just runs quiet. I USED to mess with the gate valve all the time. Now, I don't need to--I might move a couple times a year just to make sure it still moves.
If you have a good build thread showing a Beanimal, post a link. I'd like to see it.
James --
The pic above of the external overflows. If I had overflows like that, I'd do a Beanimal. Or 3 Beanimals. With the Beanimals, you get the gate valve on the siphon kinda close, and then 3 drains in Beanimal system stay adjusted themselves automagically.
So, if you had 3 independent Beanimals, you'd set and forget the 3 gate valves, and that'd be it. You'd also have LOTS of pipe to run.
But, I wouldn't want to set 3 different Herbie drains with 3 different gate valves on a tank.
If you wanted to do Herbie with external overflow boxes like those in the picture, I think you'd want them to be at least 12 inches deep. The Siphon drain should have 5-6 inches of water above it so it catches siphon real easy. And I'd just want some room to play with different size standpipes and stuff in an overflow box. 12 inches I think.
The pic above of the external overflows. If I had overflows like that, I'd do a Beanimal. Or 3 Beanimals. With the Beanimals, you get the gate valve on the siphon kinda close, and then 3 drains in Beanimal system stay adjusted themselves automagically.
So, if you had 3 independent Beanimals, you'd set and forget the 3 gate valves, and that'd be it. You'd also have LOTS of pipe to run.
But, I wouldn't want to set 3 different Herbie drains with 3 different gate valves on a tank.
If you wanted to do Herbie with external overflow boxes like those in the picture, I think you'd want them to be at least 12 inches deep. The Siphon drain should have 5-6 inches of water above it so it catches siphon real easy. And I'd just want some room to play with different size standpipes and stuff in an overflow box. 12 inches I think.
