Durso, Herbie or Bean animal

[Oceanavekid]

My synergy overflow should be here on Monday. Out of the three most popular methods Durso, Herbie and Bean animal, I'm leaning toward bean animal. I like having a back up should something fail.


Which did you choose?

 

[Sleepydoc]

Really no comparison. But part of the equation is your tank/overflow setup. Herbies really work best in a corner or full depth overflow. Beans require 3 holes. A durso only needs one hole. Dursos can be adapted to different overflows, but if you want silent flow, they're quite limited.

 

[Oceanavekid]

Really no comparison. But part of the equation is your tank/overflow setup. Herbies really work best in a corner or full depth overflow. Beans require 3 holes. A durso only needs one hole. Dursos can be adapted to different overflows, but if you want silent flow, they're quite limited.

Dang only have two holes in my tank

I guess I could always drill another hole and plumb that

 

[Oceanavekid]

Well I'll have the synergy overflow

Than I have one for the return to the tank

 

[Sleepydoc]

If you're getting the synergy overflow, then you only need one or 2 holes in your tank since all the essential overflow plumbing will be going to the overflow box. IIRC, the synergy overflow boxes have 3 holes to run a bean system.

 

[Oceanavekid]

If you're getting the synergy overflow, then you only need one or 2 holes in your tank since all the essential overflow plumbing will be going to the overflow box. IIRC, the synergy overflow boxes have 3 holes to run a bean system.

So I'd plumb all three(if I wanted a bean) to the sump?

 

[Sleepydoc]

Yes. You sound like you're not terribly familiar with the drain/overflow systems. I would advise you to read up on the systems:

• Bean animal
• Herbie (The original description can be found here)
• Durso
• Comparison of the overflows

 

[Oceanavekid]

Yes. You sound like you're not terribly familiar with the drain/overflow systems. I would advise you to read up on the systems:

• Bean animal
• Herbie (The original description can be found here)
• Durso
• Comparison of the overflows

I know what they do but when it comes to plumbing I'm totally lost. Plumbing isn't my thing

I'd rather hire someone to do it for me

 

[JoshH]

Did you get all this figured out?

 

[Oceanavekid]

Did you get all this figured out?

No

I have the syngery reef 16” overflow box
I had what I thought was a decent plumbing setup but for some reason water wasn’t getting to the return pump. It just kept making a gargling noise

I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Like I said I’m at the point I’ll just hire someone that knows what they’re doing to do it for me. I know fish, but have no clue when it comes to plumbing

 

[leahfiish]

Can you share some pictures? We can help you out.

 

[JoshH]

Yes pictures would be a huge help, we can definitely guide you through your set up we just need to see where you're at now with everything first. No need to hire anyone, help here is free

 

[Oceanavekid]

Tore it apart yesterday. Basically had two pipes going to the returns at the top of the tank, connected by a tee. My emergency is on the left, the 2nd highest pipe was in the middle and the main was the last one. I have a ball valve connected to it. Seemed like water was pouring out the 2nd pipe not sure if that’s normal or not. Have the main at about 2 1/2 and 2nd 3 1/2. It’s a pretty simple setup. Didn’t want to go to complicated but still seem to have issues. It seemed like not enough water was going to the return pump as it kept making a gargling noise. The tank was at the top of the water line. I’m just confused as to why water was pouring out the 2nd pipe and not enough water was getting to the sump. Never set up a bean animal before

 

[Oceanavekid]

Would it be better to hard plumb the line to the sump or will the hose be fine?

 

[leahfiish]

What is your return pump gph? Sorry I didn't have time to read your whole post and examine the plumbing right now (I'm no expert either) but maybe your return pump is pumping up more water than what your drain is capable of? I'll come back in a few when I have time to look at the pictures

 

[leahfiish]

Also is the water in your display rising too high to the point that it might overflow? Do you have enough water in your sump?

 

[JoshH]

Your return pipes look very large, whats the diameter of your plumbing? The flex hose will be okay but will have build up over time(quicker than straight pipe will). If you're up for it Personally I'd replace the flex, but that's just me. Also your siphon's in your overflow box are two elbows in a U shape right? If so does your secondary drain have a hole drilled into the top of the elbows? It could be your secondary is trying to go full siphon at the same time as your main.

 

[Oceanavekid]

Also is the water in your display rising too high to the point that it might overflow? Do you have enough water in your sump?

The water in the display seemed fine. It was right where it was supposed to be the line I had going back into the tank didn’t seem to be pumping anything back up. The output back into the tank was pretty weak. It’s a 30G rimless with the synergy 16” overflow
I have a sicce 2.0 565GPH return pump

 

[Oceanavekid]

Your return pipes look very large, whats the diameter of your plumbing? The flex hose will be okay but will have build up over time(quicker than straight pipe will). If you're up for it Personally I'd replace the flex, but that's just me. Also your siphon's in your overflow box are two elbows in a U shape right? If so does your secondary drain have a hole drilled into the top of the elbows? It could be your secondary is trying to go full siphon at the same time as your main.

The plumbing is 1” on the box(downsized from 1.5) and the return is 3/4

Yes, U on the main and 2nd. The U that came with the overflow both have holes drilled in the top. Maybe I need to put a valve

 

[Oceanavekid]

Here’s what I have 30G rimless cube. synergy reef 16” overflow the plumbing coming out of that is 1” downsized from 1.5
The return is 3/4 and hav a sicce 2.0 565 GPH for the return pump. Both the U that came with the synergy have a hole in the top should I get a valve for one of the holes? It’s basically two pipes coming off the top of the tank connected by a tee to the return pump and plumbing from the box to the sump eshopps 75