Herbie Method Drain Question

[Aquaman101]

I'm planning to install a Herbie drain and am a bit confused on what to do with the emergency drain part.

I've seen people who have a little bit of water going down the emergency drain and some of who have the emergency drain just high enough that no water goes down it unless the herbie drain gets clogged.

What's the right way?

Second question. The tank has two overflows, both with two holes. I'm trying to figure out the best way to plumb this herbie style. Is it ok to have the herbie drain in one overflow and the emergency drain in the second, then have a return coming back up the 2nd hole in both overflows?

[Salty Waffles]

I run dual Herbies in my 125.

My system has a full siphon and emergency in each overflow box. I plumbed my returns over the back of the tank.

I understand where you're getting confusing/conflicting info on if the emergency should be dry or not. I've seen both arguments while I was researching my setup.

Perhaps it's easier to tune the full siphon so the emergency drain stays dry on a single Herbie setup, but with dual Herbies, I've found it near impossible to keep the emergencies dry without constant tuning. Some days there will be a trickle out of one or the other emergencies, other days one or the other will be dry. I can't quite put my finger on why this is, atmospheric pressure I assume, but that's how mine behaves. I don't worry about it. All I care is that it runs quiet (silent) and is reliable, which it is.

One problem with splitting the Herbie between the two overflow boxes is that the water in the emergency side overflow box can go stagnant if you don't take measures to avoid this.

Plumbing two full Herbies also gives you the safety advantage of having four drains should something go wrong. In my system, any one drain can handle all of the drain water on it's own with the pump at full power. That's peace of mind.

fishgate, a member here has a good video on dual Herbies here ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhAp6GFNz8

[Ab129]

I’m confused here. If you ran dual herbies in two overflows wouldn’t you do a main drain and emergency in each overflow as opposed to two emergency drains in one of the overflows?

If you do a herbie setup in one overflow and use the second overflow for your return what would be the best use of the fourth pre drilled hole in your second overflow since you only need one hole for the return?

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Salty Waffles

fishgate, a member here has a good video on dual Herbies here ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhAp6GFNz8

This +1000
watch the video.. Duplicate the setup.. Enjoy knowing its been done correctly..

[nereefpat]

Agree with having a Herbie in both overflows...Siphon and emergency in each overflow.

A trickle in the emergency is fine. More than a trickle becomes noisy and less safe.

[Salty Waffles]

Originally Posted by Ab129

I’m confused here. If you ran dual herbies in two overflows wouldn’t you do a main drain and emergency in each overflow as opposed to two emergency drains in one of the overflows?

Correct