# Converting from durso to herbie



## darcyr (Jan 24, 2014)

This may be a dumb question, but is it possible to convert a single bottom drilled durso setup to a herbie setup without drilling an additional hole? I was thinking maybe 2 3/4in pipes could fit inside the 2 in pipe. Or maybe there is a 2in bulkhead with dual 1in fittings instead? My corner overflow doesnt have much room to add another pipe and I dont want to empty the tank and drill.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*durso*

why do u want to do this .. how many holes do u have right now
any pics 
I have a durso set up and its dead quiet ....


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

just go with a stockman modification.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*stockman*

yes that is what I meant to type when I first responded 
I have a stockman mod..


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## darcyr (Jan 24, 2014)

*durso*

There is one main hole and 4 holes around in the downpipe cap. The 3 reasons i want to do this are noise from the downpipe, noise from water entering the overflow (repetitive swoosh from the wavemaker), and bubbles in the sump. I saw the herbie setup at duckhams and couldnt believe how quiet and non bubbly it was. Stockman mod looks way easier and if i can raise the waterlevel in the overflow box, it might fix at least 2 problems. how far is your tank water level from your overflow box water level? Mine is 4in


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

Awesome question...I have the same one ....can we convert. ?
Following this thread


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*overflow*

My syandpipe is about an inch under overflow cutouts...
mine was noisy at the begining .. i ended up cutting some sponge 
and running it along the inside of the overdlow so that i didnt 
get a waterfall effect...i contolled the air into the stickman by putting 
a brass adjusting tap into the holes on the cap ... if that makes 
sense...


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

What would happen if you did the bean animal style by drilling new holes and letting the water in the corner overflow fill up to the pipe height


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## darcyr (Jan 24, 2014)

Isnt bean animal 3 drains? My only concern with stockman is clogging as I dont have an emergency drain. Right now its an unobstructed 2in drain so no chance of clogging. I will first try a new cap with 2 holes and hoses with air valves and also lifting the pipe up closer to the water level.


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## Sea MunnKey (Oct 2, 2014)

I've an old HOB overflow box with it's original 1" twin holes & recently by using an old 2⅛ inch door saw hole drill bit, I've drilled both holes to 2⅛ inch holes size. Nice and smooth holes with no cracks on the acrylics/plexiglass housing. Mind you this HOB overflow box is over 11 years old.

I found a local company that has a certain polyproplyene 2 inch bulkheads which I'm going to experiment with a mod type of Herbie style overflow ... 

One (right) standpipe would be fully submerged whereas the other (left) standpipe would be slightly submerged from the top end of the standpipe. The fully submerge standpipe flow will be control by a true union gate valve & plus I have the option to take it off for whatever reason in the future.

It may or may not work but dang ... I'm gonna make it happen 

Now I got to figure out the "time" to pick up them PVC stuffs soon ... and hopefully work on it during the holidays.


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

I was hoping someone would give you some insight from experience! 

I've been waiting to purchase a new tank because I've been noodling getting an existing with durso and converting... May just buy a new display and have it drilled and built how I'd like.


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## Sea MunnKey (Oct 2, 2014)

Talk to John (NAFB) about what you think you would like to do and possibly he could offer a suggestion or two ... just saying

North American Fish Breeder @ 416-267-7252


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

*You could probably do a Herbie real easy*

Exactly what size and how many holes do you have? 1x2 inch and 1 x 3/4 inch?

If that's the case you could do a Herbie with your 3/4 as your symphony and the 2 inch as the emergency. You would then need to route your return over the top. 
A 3/4 inch pipe at full syphon delivers over 1000 GPH with 2 feet of head height. More than enough for a 90 Gallon tank. I ran a 90 Gallon with a 3/4 inch syphon and a 1 inch emergency and still had to close the gate valve almost half way running an Eheim 1262.

I would use the 2 inch as the emergency that way you know with 100% certainty that it will be able to handle the flow of your main line gets totally blocked.


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

Sea MunnKey said:


> Talk to John (NAFB) about what you think you would like to do and possibly he could offer a suggestion or two ... just saying
> 
> North American Fish Breeder @ 416-267-7252


Thanks a million for the number and suggestion!


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## saltmeup (Nov 12, 2015)

fesso clown said:


> Exactly what size and how many holes do you have? 1x2 inch and 1 x 3/4 inch?
> 
> If that's the case you could do a Herbie with your 3/4 as your symphony and the 2 inch as the emergency. You would then need to route your return over the top.
> A 3/4 inch pipe at full syphon delivers over 1000 GPH with 2 feet of head height. More than enough for a 90 Gallon tank. I ran a 90 Gallon with a 3/4 inch syphon and a 1 inch emergency and still had to close the gate valve almost half way running an Eheim 1262.
> ...


Thanks......good question re the pipe size. It'll be something I ask when I'm search for a use good condition 90 gallon. I'm going to give this some thought and if the right priced tank doesn't come along, I'm going to grab one on boxing week and just get it done Herbie style.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

I think that a Herbie is totally safe enough. A Bean Animal is safer but overkill and it takes up quite a bit of space.


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