? on herbie plumbing

[james1990]

Im getting started on my plumbing for a 120 into a closet behind the display. My overflow is on the left side of the tank but I need to bring the plumbing through the wall on the right side. To make it worse, there is very little height to work with between the bulkhead on the tank to where I need to bring the plumbing into the room behind it.

So my question is, would it be better to just run the drains horizontally from the bulkhead to the sump ( about 4') with a slight downward slant, or to keep the drains on the left under the overflow but use four 90 degree elbows to get it into the sump?

If I'm not clear I could try to draw something up. Thanks MR

 

[james1990]

maybe I asked the question wrong:

For a Herbie full syphon drain, At what Horizontal distance and angle is the syphon not possible? my sump is about 5' to the right of my bulkheads with a very limited head height. I really need an answer to this as I might need to flip my sump around (though I don't want too for other reasons)

 

[ReefMonkey13]

I was looking this up for a possible future build. Found this great write-up which may help.

http://gmacreef.com/herbie-overflow-reef-tank-plumbing-method-basics/

The issue with horizontal runs is getting the full siphon . . it will either take longer or risk of not getting a full siphon at all.

 

[HonsBronco]

Hey this is my first post (just sayin). I just installed the herbie method on my 75 gallon method and I wanna say good choice. It is completely silent and works great. To answer your question, I'm Goin to go with yes. As long as it's no going up and does eventually drop down, it will work. The reason being is that the flow is obviously controlled by the gate valve or whatever valve you have.

The water level in your over flow box has to be above the bottom bulkhead in order to create the siphon (technically the top of the decending water in your drain pipe, can't go above the overflow water line or the siphon is broken. Therefore, as long as you keep it there by finding the right flow with your gate value (to match closely to the flow of your return pump) it will work. However, I would absolutely try to avoid an upward angle for the pipe going through the wall. If you can have a slight pitch down, that would be ideal. Does that make sense?

 

[james1990]

yes it does but from my research I read of people having problems purging air from the drain on a restart. for ex: having a air bubble stuck in a pump and having to turn that nozzle until there is enough of an angle for the bubble to release out. I would think it's the same on a drain that goes down but has a long horizontal angle, even on a slight angle the air would take longer to purge. this is all from my reading and study iv never used or seen a herbie done in person.

right now I have a trade off between (1) 45elbow and (2) 90elbows with that 4' run across the tank on a slight pitch
OR
(3) 90elbows. down, across 2' into the reef room and down once more into the sump

 

[HonsBronco]

Very true and the air bubble s Could happen with an upward slope. But not with the downward slope. I would go with a. 45 out of the overflow and bring it through the wall. Then 45again down in to the sump. It will work perfectly. Go with herbie, it's awesome

 

[ming]

I would say go either way, I have 2 90 degrees on mine and see no negative effects. Never had a problem on restarts either, although it might take a minute or less to purge all the air in the siphon. Until then, it just sounds like a normal loud waterfall because the siphon doesn't happen until the water level completely covers the drain intake