Durso vs Herbie

[TDan]

As I have said before I'm ferrying ready to set up my 125g tank with dual overflow. Which method is should I use being new to the hobby?

 

[Spit.fire]

do it right from the beginning
go with the herbie IMO

its quiet
bubble free (no salt creep or bubbles returning to your display)

 

[TDan]

Ok, so how do I do the return from the sump to the main tank?

 

[ngvu1]

I wanted to do Herbie too but I only have 2 holes and 1 overflow box....I went with Durso. I could have gone with the Herbie but that means I would have to do something with the return pump to get the water into the DT.....

 

[Spit.fire]

Ok, so how do I do the return from the sump to the main tank?

Most people run pvc over the back of the tank if they don't have 3 holes in the tank

 

[dangros]

I just went over the back with pvc going up to the middle of the tank and split the water flow to both directions using a loc-line like this one: http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2013Q2/LL1337-2.jpg

 

[TDan]

Doing a durso I could do one overflow each side and one return on each side is that right?

 

[Dtackett]

just do it right, do a herbie. run return up and over the back. your tank will be silent, wont put a ton of bubbles in your sump, will reduce salt creep. just an all around good idea.

 

[badfinger]

I have ran 3 ( durso, herbie, and beans) beans was my favorite. It was set it and forget it. With herbie, I always have to open and close my gate a little. And durso was noisier, but a set and forget.

 

[TDan]

With the return coming up the back does it look nice?

 

[Dtackett]

bean is overall best. I never had to adjust my herbie and never ran a durso athough I hear a lot of issues with them and that theyre a bit of a pain to get setup properly.

 

[TDan]

I can split the return in the back to spread it out across the tank

 

[Dtackett]

With the return coming up the back does it look nice?

it can.

 

[TDan]

I do like dangros idea of using loc-line too

 

[Spit.fire]

bean is overall best. I never had to adjust my herbie and never ran a durso athough I hear a lot of issues with them and that theyre a bit of a pain to get setup properly.

tbh i know nothing about bean animals so my opinion is slightly biased... can a bean animal be done with only 2 holes drilled in the tank?

 

[TDan]

I have 4 holes 2 on each side and they are all the same diameter

 

[TDan]

Is that going to matter?

 

[Dtackett]

you can a bean animal. they don't have to be side by side. bean animal is basically a herbie with an extra emergency overflow. plus with 4 you can still run your return up through one of them instead of over the back.

 

[Jimbo662]

I'm on my third tank with the herbie and won't use any other method. Dead silent.

 

[dangros]

My only complaint w/the Herbie is that when my filter socks start to clog, it tends to gurgle a bit. That's simply a limitation of how I have the pvc too low into the filter sock and hence, causing some back pressure. It's not a huge deal. I prefer the Herbie over durso any day. I would have gone bean animal if my tank had more holes but w/a 90g and given the 2 predrilled holes, I wanted to put my efforts elsewhere. If I ever get another tank, it will be larger and bean animaled
One important note about the loc-line: Here's a quick vid:
Notice how short and close to the surface mine are. I shortened them by pulling out a link and kept the right side close to the surface of the water. That is to break the back siphon when the return pump stops. It's an almost foolproof way of making sure the back siphon wont flood the sump.
I used fluorescent wire ties to hold the pipe in place - it's ugly, I know . I got lazy and didnt bolt it down to the stand... yet