Maggie Muffler vs. Herbie-style Overflow - Which is Quieter?

[dfleary]

Anyone out there have any experience hearing the difference between these two styles of overflow? Which is more quiet, and which would allow for more flow?

Thanks for your insight.

[likmonster]

I have tried both, and I would recommend the Herbie over the Maggie any day.

[dfleary]

Thanks for the quick reply! Do you recommend the Herbie because it produces less noise, or more flow, or both?

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by likmonster

I have tried both, and I would recommend the Herbie over the Maggie any day.

X2

Anything that requires air, makes noise. Click on the pic to see a short video of how silent my Herbie setup is on one of my tanks -

[dfleary]

Amazing. It's hard to believe how silent that is!

[Herbie]

No air in the main drain lines (Bean, Herbie) will always be quieter than one where the sound is just muffled by some device.

Herbie

[dfleary]

Do you recommend that the back-up/emergency drain pipe be covered (to protect it from blockages) also?

[Herbie]

Originally Posted by dfleary

Do you recommend that the back-up/emergency drain pipe be covered (to protect it from blockages) also?

Thats a personal preference. I have run them with screen guards, and wide open standpipes or bulkheads. A screen would help to keep large debris, or say a snail from clogging the drain, but anything thats small enough to get through the screen can eventually start to block the drain anyway.
Whether something clogs the screen or the standpipe, the outcome will be the same, so its a toss up. Currently, I am running my main, and emergency drains wide open, no screens.

Herbie

[likmonster]

I changed to Herbie because of noise. Another benefit I noticed from using Herbie is because there is no mixture of air and water, there is no splashing in the sump. Therefore even less noise, smooth laminar flow, and no salt creep everywhere.

[toofrigginswt]

I actually purchased a maggie muffler but never used it. After using the Herbie, I'm never going to use anything else. The full siphon of a herbie is dead silent. My bubble blaster pump on my skimmer and my vortechs are the only things I hear.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by dfleary

Do you recommend that the back-up/emergency drain pipe be covered (to protect it from blockages) also?

As you can see from above, I have them both covered. The screens let me know when it is time to clean or if something is in the overflow when you hear the slurping sounds. It flat out works. Silent, and I tried them all before this, Durso, Hofer, etc,.

[eferna]

due to lack of space in my overflow i went with a maggie and it works well

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by eferna

due to lack of space in my overflow i went with a maggie and it works well

Just buy another overflow with duel drains. The emergency can be hooked up with pool hose if the sump does not have have a second connection. Here is a pic of an old 80g I had that I did that with -

[Sensei ClamMan]

Sorry to be off topic here but don't use pool hose for anything in your reef tank. The inside ridges cause backpressure, detritus trap, leak prone and the plastic is not of a type you want in your tank, it is not made of PVC and not for use with potable wate. It's made for vacuum only not pressure and can leach toxins.

[azjohnny]

I have a Maggie Muffler on a 1.5" drain on my 180 and its quiet enough, there are other noises that are louder than the water going down the overflow ( such as my Vortech pumps), you can slow your flow down to quiet things if you have to.

The Maggie Muffler is very simple and easy to set up

[solitude127]

I run a the Herbie method and I would only run it with some sort of emergeny drain

[eferna]

Originally Posted by azjohnny

The Maggie Muffler is very simple and easy to set up

+1 very easy to install and remove

@wildman926 - cant buy another overflow box as mine is fixed into the tank and not external.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by Sensei ClamMan

Sorry to be off topic here but don't use pool hose for anything in your reef tank. The inside ridges cause backpressure, detritus trap, leak prone and the plastic is not of a type you want in your tank, it is not made of PVC and not for use with potable wate. It's made for vacuum only not pressure and can leach toxins.

It was used for a short time till I plumbed with pvc. Just making a point about adding the second drain.