Quote:
Originally Posted by PB_Smith
I have considered doing the same thing.
My concern/suggestion is to set it up in a manner that allows you to run each tank separately if needed. I was going to actually make a second smaller sump and then plumb them together in a manner that allows me to run each separately if needed.
Is the sump you have glass or acrylic?
if acrylic then plumbing in another sump/container will be easy, if it's glass, not so much.
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Depending on how much you need to do in the separate tank what we did was have a valve on the water return that can shut the tank off the system, run some sponge filters in the tank at all times so that you have the biological already there if there's no water running and aeration as well. Again, depending on how long you want to keep the tank off the system, this setup allows you time to add an outside filter or other mechanical filtration at a later date. So now, you have the security of having the tanks running if the water pump shuts down and aeration via the sump if the airpump shuts down. The main thing is to make sure your sump can handle the water volume for all the tanks and still hold enough water to not be sucking air into the water pump. ( You don't want to add more water to the sump if this happens so that if the electric goes out, the sump doesn't overflow.
) You want to start the whole system with a full sump then turn on the pump. Where that water level stops falling, THAT'S how much water total can be in the sump at all times when running. ( I use a marker to mark that level so I know to only add water, for evaporation, to that level. "No more or it will be on the floor." ( Little rhyme to remember
)
Hope this helps.
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