Scubadawg's 187 Gallon Tank Journal - Edmonton

[Arok3000]

From what I can tell on that picture you're only concern would be getting a full siphon and quietly enough on your main drain (closest in picture). If you either removed that strainer, or removed the standpipe and had the strainer directly attached to the bulkhead you would be good to go.

The height of the primary drain is not really a significant detail, it just has to be lower than your secondary trickle drain by a large enough amount that it will take a full siphon without sucking in air.

You can leave the strainer on the secondary if you'd like, as you only have a tiny amount of flow going down that pipe.

Originally Posted by sphelps

You could try it without the tee, since you're really just putting a small amount of flow through it, it probably won't matter much. Could always add the tee later.

Don't forget about the other option I mentioned regarding a straight herbie overflow with two back ups. Would look like this:

This is a great option. I have mine set up like this, except the left standpipe is 1/2" lower than the emergency drain. I have siphon on the right, emergency middle and a secondary "trickle" drain on the left. Since I have very little flow going down the secondary, I personally don't see a durso style pipe as advantageous to me.

Furthermore, I made full attempts to make an efficient overflow that pulls as much of the surface scum off the top of the water as possible. I feel that my overflows should also take advantage of this as a durso has the potential for scum to collect on the surface in your overflow still. I'm sure in the end it's an insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things, but I like to blow the little things out of proportion in my head.

I hope you don't mind Sphelps, but I edited your image to show how I run mine: