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Overflow Diagrams


Tigahboy

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I bet i could get this thing working, but i'm weary of trying it with just a single overflow and no backup drain.

 

Then again, i'm thinking this method would be no less dangerous than a single durso or stockman..

 

Agree?

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San,

Really, what makes this approach so safe is the backup bulkhead - to do it properly, you need two bulkheads.

 

Unofficially though, I can tell you that in the two years that I ran mine, not once did the backup drain get used. The main line never got blocked, despite the fact that I was not using any sort of strainer but just a naked bulkhead.

 

A 1" single durso will be safer than a single 1" herbie (not really a 'herbie' then) because the durso has the full 1" to deal with when it comes to blockages. The herbie will be less than 1" because you have closed down the ball valve to achieve silence.

If you still want to give it a shot, I would recommend using that strainer pipe like in the photo, from the bottom of the overlow box to the top. That way, no snail, anemone, or macro algae would be enough to block your drain. Infact, it would be easier to clog the 1" opening of a conventional standpipe than it would be to clog 8 inches of strainer pipe... so I guess it might be safer...?

 

- Chad

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mybuickskill6979
You're right, depending on the capacity of your overflow box, it could make a big difference to the level of your sump when the pump is shut off. With my 20gal sump it only changed the water level by an inch. If it was going to be more of a change than that, I would just mark a max level on the side of the sump so you didn't fill it up any higher than what it could handle when the power went off.

 

You brought up a good point about the placement of the valve but with my system, the valve was up near the top and I still didn't get any noise from water in the sump - it was totally silent. I really think that the noise isn't from the water but from the air. With my setup, I closed the ball valve a little more so that the water level in my overflow was only a couple inches below the ledge. The only noise I could hear is the slight 'tinkle' of water going over the ledge. If I put my ear against the drain pipe I could hear a faint rushing - the sound of friction between water and pvc... totally inaudible unless you put your ear right against the pipe.

My sump was just as quiet; all I could hear was the sound of the water going over the first baffle. Another benefit is that the only bubbles I had in the sump were the ones from my protein skimmer.

 

This is just my experience. I have tried both the stockman and durso and even ordered a professionally built durso online... I can state 100% that this is the quietest and safest way to get water to the sump. Try it and you will see.

I'm just trying to help out some fellow reefers - I wish someone would have shared it with me a lot sooner!

 

- Chad

 

sweet then i do understand it pretty well. i well try it sometime. but on my one tanks its gonna have to be ghetto style lol. i need a simple overflow type. its for my turtle tank and constructing an over flow box is pretty much out of the question. but most definitely will give it a try in the future. thanx man for sure. didn;t mean to hurt any feeling but i figured it would help me and others who might read this!! ;)

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Im currently working on a 29 gallon. And i have an interal overflow but it is loud because i just have the siphon. I want to do a external durso. Are you guys saying that i do not even need an overflow and i can remove it and put a standpipe on the back? Or do i need it and can add a stand pipe? My hole is drilled pretty low.

 

Here is a pic of the back of my 29 please help i cant stand the noise at night....

post-15832-1162346885_thumb.jpg

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mybuickskill6979

overflow is definitely a good idea. if your worried about the noise of the overflow you can put an elbow on the bulk head and run a pipe up a little farther and put an internal dorso and that will help with the over flow noise but you might still have noise in the pipe or tube running to the sump!!

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  • 1 month later...

tigahboy, what bulkhead size do you recommend for a 20Gal Tall (10gal sump)? I plan to do the external durso pipe mod to my AGA tank. Also, from your experience, do they have the sucking noise? it seems like it would from the design.

 

thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

tigah, you mentioned early in a post that you use an external durso for one of your tanks. help me remember but you said it also surface skims with the valve cover? is it very effective? how far below do you think i would have to drill the hole to be sufficient to get 600gph with 1" bulk head? i think ive read 2-3" right?

 

just want to make sure before i start drilling.

 

also has anyone tried externally housing a mag 5 as a return on a 10gal sump? do you have pictures?

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  • 1 month later...
BrassMonkey030

oh, ok so its a full blown siphon with a ball valve regulat9ing the flow.

 

seems like it could be a pain to get the water level right and maintaining it there.

 

nice diagram.

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  • 3 months later...

for the external durso overflow, im going to do 2 1" bulkheads, any idea on how much flow i will get? also should i use 1 1/4 pipe or 1" pipe fine? b/c i know w/ regular dursos you jump up a size to 1 1/4.

 

help much appriciated

 

~snazzy

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avalanche1201

ill be using an external dorso...havnt gotten into the details of bulkhead size yet etc, but the smaller the hole the lower rthe h2o level...im assuming thats for the sump level, but i want to be 100% certain.....and not a lower level for the water intake in the bulkhead

 

i feel its a noob question but im blaming the booze for it right now

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How far below the water line does an external durso need to be if you run it Tigah style with just the screen attached to the bulkhead?

 

Thanks,

J64

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

I was wondering if it is possible to drill holes into the overflow box and add on a few strainers. Am I right in thinking that this would mean most of the water in the tank would get into the sump where as with a standard overflow only the top of the tank goes into the sump? Could adding a few strainers to the overflow box help more water get to the sump and filtration or will this stop the oveflow working????

 

Thanks in advance for any help :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Can i use a stockman or reverse stockman (hofer gurgle buster) without an overflow? ie, bulk on tank bottom, standpipe, stockman/HGB, the result is the height of the standpipe would set the water level.

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  • 1 month later...

BTW, the Herbie method uses two drains, one primary and a second higher up unregulated as an emergency back-up measure. If the main slows down, the backup picks up the extra. And, because it is not regulated, it makes a lot of noise so you know something is up.

 

I just set a tank up this way and tuning was surprisingly easy to do.

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im looking forward to trying the herbie method on my 30g build. it seems like a pretty quiet and reliable way to go.

 

Yes, takes up less room too. You just need two bulkheads for drains though. I am going to change my higher drain standpipe to a smaller screen so I have a larger "margin for error" between the two heights. Should make tuning even easier.

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Yes, takes up less room too. You just need two bulkheads for drains though. I am going to change my higher drain standpipe to a smaller screen so I have a larger "margin for error" between the two heights. Should make tuning even easier.

 

 

are you using a gate valve on the drain to the sump or a ball valve?

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are you using a gate valve on the drain to the sump or a ball valve?

Plastic ball valve on 1" pipe. I have an Eheim 1260 as a return pump. It is choked maybe 1/3 of the way.

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