Siphon overflow setup for my new 90

[TripleToe]

I need some advice about how to setup the overflow on my new 90 gallon tank with an external overflow.

I would like to go with a herbie or bean animal. The overflow box is kind of small and has 3 holes (two 1 inch and one 3/4 inch) If I use the center hole for a return (that's what the builder intended since it there is a matching 3/4 cutout in the weir to accomodate the return pipe back into the tank; see second image), I will be doing a Herbie with one siphon and one overflow pipe. The other option is to use all three holes for a bean-animal style overflow, but I think I'd prefer the herbie if I can make it work.

Questions:

1. Do I have to have a curved-top durso-style pipe for the siphon and/or overflow pipe in the herbie/bean animal setup? With the small overflow box, it will be hard to fit the PVC Tee+90 durso-style head on the siphon and overflow pipes. I've seen some examples in the forums where Herbies have been implemented with just open straight pipes but the durso tops seem to be used 99% of the time. Is it that important? And could I use a gurgle-buster as my overflow top? (it is smaller than a durso which seems like an advantage)

2. The drain holes in the overflow are 1 inch. I've read that durso standpipes would need to be oversized to work correctly. Does that also apply to siphons? I'd prefer to use a 1 inch siphon pipe and 1 inch overflow pipe since space is so tight. My return pump is a Sicce Syncra 4.0 rated at 951gph (probably resulting in around 800 gph with the 3-4 head). I could go with 1.25 inch pipes but there would be almost no room for any type of durso-style top if that is needed.

3. Some herbie/bean-animal examples I've seen here show the durso-style down-curved pipe for the siphon and an up-turned durso for the overflow. What's the advantage for using the up-turned pipe for the overflow? Or is that just personal preference?


Any input is greatly appreciated.
Bill

[TripleToe]

As you can see from these 2 additional pictures, there is really no much room for using the durso style top on my Herbie siphon. I will have to cut them down to make them compact and even then, if I had to go with the 1.25, there won't be room for the return in the middle. It will be a tight fit with the 1" with compact durso-tops.

- Does the durso top provide something I really need for a Herbie or will open tops be ok?

- Do I really need the 1.25 piping rather than the 1" since it is a siphon and not a true durso?

Anyone?

[TripleToe]

Anyone able to help me out on this? Kinda desperate for some insight on these overflow pipes. Anything at all would be helpful....

[degibson84]

I used these in my overflow box

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/mer...Category_Code=

[TripleToe]

Originally Posted by degibson84

I used these in my overflow box

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/mer...Category_Code=

Do you run a herbie/bean-animal and if so, is this on the siphon pipe?

[IanWR]

I run a herbie and just have open pipes, no durso style 90s. You can add screens if you like.

[TripleToe]

Good to know; do you have trouble with things getting sucked in and clogging the tubes? I wonder if those screens will restrict the flow and make the siphon harder to restart?