question about linking tanks in one setup

[psariandras]

is it impractical to link tanks together and then to a sump so I could have different kinds of inverts and fish in each tank?

I thought it could be useful for increasing water volume and filtration and also be able to keep some livestock that I could not keep in one tank. I have a 20 g and 15 gallon tank, I wanted to keep more stuff but I cannot buy a large tank atm(and 10 gallon tanks are cheap).

I am not sure though about the plumbing aspect of this idea or if it is impractical for other reasons.

I appreicate any feedback about this idea. Forgive me if it is foolish.

 

[rockethippo]

Well if you have a sump and 2 tanks, just plumb both tanks into the same sump. You can use 2 pumps or a stronger one and "t" it so both tanks get flow.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

one bad part if something happens to the one tank it will happen to both.

 

[dorkfish]

Certainly it's possible... it's been done at least a few thousand times by now.

You definitely want to quarantine ALL your livestock... or one step further everything wet... if a parasite gets in your display, it will be a major PITA to get rid of... now your talking two displays...

I'll post you a plumbing schematic in the afternoon...

 

[dorkfish]

Here's a diagram...

The valves are there becuase of the fact that the head pressure won't be equal... meaning one tank would get almost no flow and the other the full force of the pump...

 

[dorkfish]

Or, here's a bit simpler (I wouldn't say better though) way to do it...

The tanks have to be positioned so that the water level will be equal, or you will end up with a flood... The water level can also not drop below the input/output of the siphon, or you will have a flood...

Water Bridge

 

[psariandras]

Thanks for the great diagram!

I don't think that I will attemp this yet. I'm still setting up my SW tank with sump and I don't want to complicate plumbing matters until after I have everything finished.

I think I will use the extra tank for quarentine, instead of linking it to my tank.

 

[noskimmer]

Your on the right idea with water volume, something that has so many benefits that it is difficult to explain. Later down the track revisit it. I'm a great believer that fish will catch everything that there is going around, just like us, it is our immune system, or how stressed or not stressed we are that determines whether we get better or not. I've never quarantined sick fish and they generally get better, as long as they have lots of water, lots of room, and you just leave them alone.

 

[Nolapete]

You definitely don't want all those 90 degree turns in your return plumbing. Every turn you have impacts your flow rate dramatically.

It would be best to go straight up then make one turn and use either T's with valves or valves directly installed on the return pipe.

The bridge idea is one I favor.

The problems with a centralized system:

Disease contaminates all tanks.
One clog or failure can shutdown the whole system and kill everything.

A combined system indeed gives more water volume, but it doesn't change the constraints and stunting that will occur on animals kept in too small of a tank.

For what you want to use it for, multiple display of animals that can't necessarily go together it works great.

 

[dorkfish]

You definitely don't want all those 90 degree turns in your return plumbing. Every turn you have impacts your flow rate dramatically.

Well ya... you woudn't be using square pipes either; the diagrams were mostly to explain the concept. In actual use, you would want the water to follow as smooth a path as possible... you could even go so far as to bend the PVC pipes to do this (there's a video on reefvideos.com that explains this)...

But I don't know about the 90* elbows putting in that much of an impact... I just checked on reefcentrals calculator... and a 90* elbow knocks about 2 gph off an eheim 1250 (random pump I choose out of the list).

One clog or failure can shutdown the whole system and kill everything.

Very true... this is why you should try to design a redundant system - employ two pumps vs. one, add emergency drain lines, use more than one GFCI, etc... basically make it impossible for the failure of any one device to turn your system into a disaster.