Durso or Hofer

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

 

Hofer

Advantages-
Easy and cheap to make, with little to no skill level. VERY quiet! Easy to adjust!
Don't look half bad, to me anyway! might want to paint before installation, like Geek said. I don't mind them, I can see the copepods walking and the coralline growing on them!

Disadvantages-
you see them

 

Durso

Advantages-
quite
"self-priming and will not allow the overflow chamber to drain during a power outage. As a result the overflow chamber can also act as a refugium."
Deelbeck, J.C. and J. Sprung.2005.The Reef Aquarium Science, Art, and Technology. Volume 3. Ricordia Publishing, Coconut Grove, FL, USA

 

On my 55 I had an overflow box. The short 5" or so piece of PVC in that box was noisy so I built the gurglebuster. It worked ok, but is more prone to getting gunked up, as the water only has the diameter of the outer coupling to cascade and "fit through." If you remove it occasionally to maintain, and make sure there's no algal growth inside, it's fine.

On my drilled 90 with built-in corner overflow, I use a Durso.

Either works as well as the next under perfect circumstances, but if there's a clog, the hofer is going down first. For a Durso to clog, the obstruction must be as large as the entire diameter of the downward-facing 90. That's much less likely.

With all things equal, I'd stick with the Durso. I'd only use the hofer device in a small external overflow box.

 

Gotcha! Thanks for the replies. Sparky, you have a 1" and a 3/4" hole in your 90? What size pvc are you using for the Durso?

 

The tank came drilled with two holes the same size. I'm used to seeing a larger hole for the drain, but oh well. The Durso is 1.5", the return is 1".

 

Durso is what I use and they are great for as cheap as they were to make.

 

Make sure you use one of these before the T so you can adjust the height without cutting new pipe.

 

Home Depot has those. I use them when I need to fix all the ^*@#%! breaks in my irrigation pipes.

 

They are great for making the standpipe adjustable. I got KOgle to use it on his modified 180g and he loves it.