Water pumping between 20gal and 10gal?

[rodi]

I have two tanks: 20 gal and 10 gal that are sitting next to each other. I want to share the water between the two tanks to make water changes easier. Both tanks must be next to each other, because that's how they are situated now and there's no space below the table like what you would have w/ a sump setup.

Right now, the 20 gal is full of water w/ fish. The 10 gal is only at 1/3 water level, and is a land/water terrarium.

I was planning on getting the Colbalt MJ1200 Pump to pump between the two tanks. One will sit near the top of the 20 gal (so it won't pump all the water out), the other will sit in the 10 gal at the bottom. Both pvc lines will have a ball valve to adjust the flow.

They're both marine tanks. Will this work, or is there a better design?

 

[Brookster123]

I basically did the same thing.. I drilled one of the tanks. You'll need to have a way to return water to 10 gal. I have a 29 dt with a 20l sump. The sump is set so the gravity return is about 1" higher than top of dt. I use a maxi jet 600 to pump water from display to sump.

 

[54seaweed]

I'm kind of Leary about how you want to do this . my biggest concern would be if one pump failed causing one tank to overflow .

another thing you need to consider is the pump in the shallow tank it will be working harder pumping back to the bigger tank , since it needs to pump water up and over to the bigger tank (above gravity) .

now the bigger tank will have a little help with the siphon suction (lower gravity).

I'm guessing frogs and newts in the smaller of the 2 the wire on the pump could make for a fast escape something to think about .