Help with Connecting 2 Tanks Together

[Mr. Mantis]

The main 40 gallon tank is currently housing a 5 inch Peacock Mantis Shrimp. By attaching another aquarium to the main, I'm hoping to at least keep a couple small fish. Maybe a small Clown Goby and a Sexy shrimp. I have 40Lbs of LS and about 20Lbs of LR in the main tank. I'm planning on adding 10lbs of LS and 10lbs of LR in the 10 gallon. I have a new HOB Aquaclear 70 on the main and a Marineland Penguin 150 for the smaller tank.

Here are my questions:

1) What should the flowrate be for the powerhead in the 10 gallon tank?

2) Do i have enough filtration for the 2 tanks?

3) If the powerhead fails, will anything die?

4) Anyone done anything similar with positive results?

5) Any suggestions on improvements?

 

[ccCapt]

IMO, that is a disaster waiting to happen.
The main issues I see is how are you going to even start the siphon that connects the 2 tanks, and if a snail or piece of algae restricts the connecting lines, all the water will get pumped out of the 1 tank, into the other and ultimately on the floor.

If you really want to try to connect them, I would try drilling them and connecting them with bulkheads.

 

[jsoong]

fishighway.com

This is how someone connects multiple tanks. But I agree with ccCapt that if the siphon fails, you will have a flood, plus you will pump the small tank dry .... not good for its inhabitant.

This is essentially a sump/fuge setup with the sump at the same level as your display. You can minimize flooding if:
1. Have someway of preventing siphon failure - screens to prevent critters form entering the siphon <or have huge siphons like the fish highway people>, and some way of air evacuation - people usu. use a venturi attached to the PH .... but if that fails .....
2. Move the PH to the top of the tank - That way, if the siphon fails, the pump can only pump so much water before it runs dry. You must have enough room in the tanks to handle the extra flow (ie tanks should not be full), and if the pump runs dry, it will kill the pump - but better than a flood.

 

[ThrowedToad]

how about one tank higher than the other and making an overflow? That would consist of drilling only one tank and it would only have to be slightly higher than the other. It would be similar to a sump/fuge but set the overflow to where if the pump stops it will only siphon a little and not overflow the other tank. If you need advise on how to drill a tank let me know and I will help.

 

[harshy]

i was thinking of the same setup with one main large and and a smaller tank which the base of would be a couple inches higher than the main tanks base it would be setup like your diagram but im planning on pumping the water into the smaller tank first which will be siphoned to the larger main thank. i will be using a 110mm diameter clear pvc pipe with is about 4 inches so i doubt the siphon would get blocked unless a big fish got stuck. but my question is, as i done tonnes of research but can not find anyone with the answer with my smaller tank overflow or would both tank end up at the same levels remembering that one tank is slightly higher will this have alot of affect