anyone running two tanks off of one sump?

[46bfinGA]

Ok guys im moving in the next couple weeks which means i can finally setup the tanks ive been buying the last couple months.one is a 240 cube to upgrade my 46 bowfront reef.and the other is blfullers setup here on RC which is a 500 gallon acrylic tank 96x48x25.The 500 will be a fowlr tank for my three eels.

I really want to simplify my fish room by having one large sump(300 gallon rubbermaid)in between the two tanks that will be in wall with fish room behind them.im planning on the 300 gallon rubbermaid for rock,skimmer, and place for fish that wont necessarily work out too well in my other two tanks,as well as two 150 gallon rubbermaids for a refugium and a frag tank.


Does anyone see any problems that i will run into.the main idea is to simplify topoff,water changes(i have a 275 gallon saltwater mixing tank),only one skimmer(which i have its a quad beckett that blfuller made running off a sequence manta ray!)It seems to me that the added water volume should help to keep my reef stable.the total system will be 1340 gallons compared to just 400-500. if i kept the reef seperate.

 

[sadsak]

I'm running 2 tanks off of one sump. As long as you can turn off the return to either tank it's fine. Just in case something happens, like one tank going down, it won't drag the other one down. And ground probe! make sure you have one in the sump. Other than that it's all gravy..

 

[46bfinGA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8446418#post8446418 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sadsak
I'm running 2 tanks off of one sump. As long as you can turn off the return to either tank it's fine. Just in case something happens, like one tank going down, it won't drag the other one down. And ground probe! make sure you have one in the sump. Other than that it's all gravy..

well that was another thing i was concerned about should i use one big pump to return to both systems utilizing a T or use two seperate pumps?either way the pumps will be controlled off of a controller (still deciding which one to get)thinking about buying a reefkeeper 2 as well as being controlled off of a auto topoff device.(Oceanus ATO) in case the sump level goes too low the pump will be shut off.ill be running a closed loop system(run on seperate ckt's) on both tanks that way when i need to shut off the return pumps the systems will still have flow.


im also seriously considering installing a generator with a transfer switch that way im protected during power outages.

 

[46bfinGA]

anyone else run there tanks this way?id like to see some pics of how the plumbing and everything was utilized.thanks

 

[malintner]

I am setting up a 210 to run on the same sump/fug ith my current 55. One pump (barracuda) to run both returns. One pump = one problem . . . one non-working pump = two non-working tanks. Make sure you buy a backup! I opted for this setup for two reasons. First, my wife decided to move the 55 closer to the 210, so one pump can cover all of the head loss. Second, I just wasn't that excited about plumbing the 3" manifold. Good luck.

 

[46bfinGA]

yeh thats why im thinking about running two seperate return pumps.ill run a dart for each one.

 

[matthew5664]

Mine is like this have the one pump suppling the two tanks, I do have a back-up pump that I can stick in the sump if need be but it has a flex hose on it . Reson for this is because there wasn't enought room to have two pumps hard pumbed in

 

[Steve Atkins]

I have two tanks, my reef and a fish only, running off the same sump. There are two return pumps for the reef and one on the fish only.

The skimmer is plumbed into the return to the reef which hopefully is acting to protect the reef from anything going wrong in the fish only.

One thing to remember with two tanks on one sump is that the sump has to be able to handle the drainback from two tanks if you have a power failure.

I intend to eventually add a third tank upsatirs at some point but will need to install a larger sump first as the drainback from a tank that far away will be substantial.

Steve

 

[46bfinGA]

thanks for the diagram matthew!

im using a 300 gallon rubbermaid tank for a sump as well as a couple 150 gallon rubbermaids so im hoping that they will handle the overflow in case of a power outage.im planning on buying a generater with a transfer switch to eliminate those problems though.thankfully the sump will be right behind both tanks so their wont be quite as much return flow as you may have steve. Im also going to install an emergency drain at the top of the sump just in case.glad to see that others are doing the same as me! Its going to be a huge project but im looking forward to it. Im counting down the days until i move into my new house so i can start on this.

 

[46bfinGA]

hey steve,you have any pics of your setup?id like to see how your skimmer and sumps are setup.

 

[46bfinGA]

Also anything i may be overlooking as far as problems that may arise with this setup?thanks

 

[Fiziksgeek]

The only real draw back I have head about this is the extra nutrients released into the system by the FO tank. The reef needs higher water quality, but it will be connected to a tank with a large number of big fish and eels who live to eat and poop.

 

[Steve Atkins]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8458487#post8458487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 46bfinGA
hey steve,you have any pics of your setup?id like to see how your skimmer and sumps are setup.

I don't have any pics of the machinery but it is a simple set up, actually a temporary setup until I move the skimmer and sump into another room.

All the return pumps are Eheim submersible types of about 2400l/h connected up using standard Eheim tubing, so the skimmer and reef get about 4800l/h and the fish only 2400l/h (1500l reef and 600l fish only). I will use the same pumps with the bigger sump simply because they are easy to set up, work with and maintain, but for the proposed upstairs tank I will probably have to use a more powerful external pump.

The skimmer is designed for a lot bigger system than mine and the fish only tank only has three fish in it so far and will probably only ever have about 6.

The skimmer is a Aqua Medic Turboflotor5000, one of these:
http://www.aqua-medic.com/products/products.php?category=Protein Skimmers&product=Turboflotor 5000.

It sits at the same level as the tank but due to its height the outflow is higher than the top of the tank, which is quite low due to my intention to have it at eye level for someone sitting on the couch opposite.

Steve

 

[46bfinGA]

thats a big ole skimmer steve.

 

[46bfinGA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8463957#post8463957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fiziksgeek
The only real draw back I have head about this is the extra nutrients released into the system by the FO tank. The reef needs higher water quality, but it will be connected to a tank with a large number of big fish and eels who live to eat and poop.

with heavy skimming and large filtration including carbon,phospate removers,live rock,will it make much of a difference.ive heard that statement countless times,but it seems like having 400 gallon total system vs. 1000+ will it make much of a difference if the other tank is fish only.Maybe im just stubborn but more volume=more stable right?Am i overlookng something?I dont want to set this up this way if im going to jeapordize my reef in anyway.

 

[FVernese]

I will have one sump and two pumps for three tanks. One pump will return to main tank and the other for refugium and frag tank. The refugium also drains to main tank so all that live stuff does not have to go through a pump or back into sump. I think the main concern, as someone stated, is to make sure your sump can handle all the flow if the pumps go off or if one pump burns out and the other goes off/on in a power failure.


Frank

 

[Tyreef]

I have 6 tanks and 1 sump

 

[Steve Atkins]

with heavy skimming and large filtration including carbon,phospate removers,live rock,will it make much of a difference.ive heard that statement countless times,but it seems like having 400 gallon total system vs. 1000+ will it make much of a difference if the other tank is fish only.Maybe im just stubborn but more volume=more stable right?Am i overlookng something?I dont want to set this up this way if im going to jeapordize my reef in anyway.

When completed, my fish only tank will really just be a reef tank set up to house fish that might like to eat my corals or shrimps, the main one I have in mind being a Clown Trigger, as I had one of these many years ago when I first started with marines. No doubt some butterflys will also find there way in. It will have all the rock that a reef would and may even have an anemone or two.

I do not feed any more heavily then I do for the reef, which is quite heavily fed anyway, so effectively it is just two reef tanks sharing a large skimmer.

Steve

 

[Scuba Dog]

Im going to use one sump off of two 180s, both 180's will drain into the sumps dirty chamber to be skimmed by a MRC4 recirculation skimmer, then into a refugium area and finally into the sump return area. Each 180 will have it's own return pump. By keeping the fish count down i both tanks I believe the setup will work and save me money in the long run, one skimmer, one chiller one calcium reactor.

 

[46bfinGA]

sounds like im going to go ahead and setup my system this way then.i like the idea of only having one controller,one skimmer,etc.
thanks for all the replies.im moving next week so i will finally have a chance to make this system reality.
heres a few pics of my new tank and new skimmer that will be running the sytem.skimmer runs off a sequence manta ray.i also have three darts and a barricuda that will be running on this system.

new tank(96x48x25)
[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k85/46bfinga/2mplwkp.jpg
my 120 gallon moving into the 500

here is my 46 reef tank that will be moved into the 240 cube.