Double Sump

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IMPERATORFAN

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 26, 2004
Messages
46
Location
Louisiana
This should be a simple one for several of you. How do you set up two fuge's for your tank? I'm going to run a hang-on to take water out of the tank and send it to the fuge. I've run this before and understand that in a single fuge setup, the pump in the fuge will determine how much water flows out through my hang-on .... but what about a 2 fuge setup. Naturally, I'll need a pump to send water from fuge 1 to fuge 2 and then a pump in fuge 2 to send it back to the aquarium. What happens if the fuge 2 pump runs stronger than the fuge 1 pump (and it starts sucking wind) or vice versa ... how do you avoid this problem? Please don't say the only answer is a second hang-on in fuge 1 or to just buy one big fuge ... I'm running out of money.
 
I would not rely on pumps to connect the two. You will want one higher than the other and use another hang-on overflow to siphon water from the 1st to the 2nd, then pump the water back to the tank.

Alternately you could drill the sides of the two tanks and connect them via bulkheads and pvc.
 
i have my set up were water drops from the first floor into my fuge in the basement which is a 55 gallon tank and then into the sump !! i had another 55 gallon that i wanted to add to the system in the basement so i just dropped another pump in the sump to pump into the new 55 gallon but another overflow was needed !! i was gonna use an iron stand with both 55's stacked and have it flow from one into the other and then into the sump but not much room to work with on the tank on the bottom so just set it up that way !!
 
water drops from the first floor into my fuge in the basement

I wish I had that option (LOL). It's not all that ofter (ever) that you see a basement in south Louisiana. It wouldn't take long for it to turn into an under-house freshwater aquarium.

use another hang-on overflow
but another overflow was needed

I was afraid of that. Kevin, I would try the pvc option, but I think it would just be a matter of time before something would shift and leak. I quess I'm going to construct a hang-on overflow myself. Anyone know the best bay to cut and bind plexi? I hear that the biggest problem with cutting is finding the right kind of blade to keep the acrylic from heating up.
 
imo the easiest over flow and cheapest would be two large specimen containers and glue them together :)
 
I have a double sump setup fed by two overflows. Two 25gal tanks connected by what I call an equalizer. It's basically what reefrunner suggested. Two bulkhead fittings with pvc connecting the two tanks. I have a pump in the first one just returning the water back to the tank. The water level in the first with the pump is always about 3 to 4 inches below the other one which ensures a constant flow from the second to the first. The only thing I have to be careful about is making sure I restrict the water volume feeding the sump without the pump so it doesn't fill up.
 
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