Sharing a Sump/Refugium Between Tanks

[MBliss81]

Has anyone ever had/seen anyone set up more than one aquarium sharing a single sump/refugium?

I have a 16g bowfront nano reef and I'm looking into adding another aquarium soon. I'm leaning towards either another bowfront (26 or 36 gal) or Marineland makes a 27 gallon cube tank that is 20" x 18" x 20" that would make for a nice reef tank. I am toying with the idea of using a single sump/refugium as a way of creating a system where both tanks are joined and share water. My thinking is that this will create a higher volume and more stable system.

Any thought, ideas, experiences?

 

[mandarinlove]

Any sort of refugium added to any reef tank is always going to help stabilize your system and help with algae control. This is also a place for copepods to thrive, which will allow for a healthier tank and another source of food for your livestock. The questions you need to figure out is what are you going to have in the refugium and how are you going to connect it to the tank. If you don't know what you're doing, refugiums can do a lot of harm to your tank if they go bad.

 

[MBliss81]

I'm researching online to find out how others have done this type of thing. It has been done, but so far I haven't seen anyone do it with nano tanks, and it looks like the fact that my 16g tank is not pre-drilled and would have to use an hob overflow might present a possible disaster if it loses syphon.

If I did find a way to make the plumbing work I would fill the refugium with a deep sand bed and live rock and probably some chaeto to filter out nitrates and give the pods a good place to multiply.

What I'm sure I'll end up doing is starting my 2nd nano tank without any connection between the tanks while I research things more, and maybe down the road I'll figure out the best way to make it work.

Mr. X has done a similar system before, but with much larger tanks, and his stuff was all drilled. Then again, he seems to have done just about everything you can do.

 

[mandarinlove]

I haven't been on this site in a while, but I am going to start a 29 bio cube help thread. I am also going to post some pictures of my tank. I have a refugium with my bio cube. Let's chat on that thread.