back to back

[T Man]

Can two tanks" back to back" have different levels and share the same water? When I drew this out, it looks just like baffles in a sump - so now I'm back to thinkin'.
What if the divider baffle in the center was below both tank bottoms? There has got to be a way to do this, anyone know? TinMan

 

[mbbuna]

water will always seek its own level so as long as the water level is not broken by an air lock the water level in both tanks will be the same.

 

[TomRep]

Only way you could do it in that picture would be if the lower water level tank had a baffle at the height of the water line on either the closest side or the farthest side (or in the front if you really wanted to look at it. It's tough to explain in words. Let me know if you get what I'm trying to say.
tom

 

[Cope]

The built in sump in my tank looked almost identical to you're drawing, what I did was slipped a small piece of egg crate in the sump baffle "slots" then leaned a piece of plexi against the inner section at an angel. (bottom edge of clear plexi on bottom of first tank in you're pick,top edge of clear plexi on second baffle)Then back filled the first section with a DSB now the flow goes over the second baffle and some down through the DSB. If you're baffle goes to the top edge of the sump just drill a few holes( been thinkin about doonin this to mine)
My return pump is in the second portion of you're pick, this is the hard part tho, this is the chamber where watter level changes, so you won't want to run any thing that needs a constant watter level, ATO in this area would be a huge benefit.
JMO
Cope

 

[Cope]

Heres some pick if this helps?
These are the sump over flowing the/ you're second baffle (and my CB who lives in my sump)

return pump section (second chamber in you're pick,+crab)

And last but not least the RDSB and cheato section of my sump

Let me know if this helps?
Cope

 

[Cope]

Basically just stop the watter from going under the baffle and make it go over it? That is what is going on in my sump.
(EDIT) if you look you can see the ledges where this used to be a wet dry set up, left bottom ledge is just about level with the RDSB.This system use to flow under just like in you're pick, now it flows over and under. The extra baffle and RDSB slows flow enough for the watter level to need to go over the second baffle. If you have a pump that pulls/pushes a lot of watter.

 

[T Man]

Thanks guys for the input. Cope, what happens to the water levels when the display is not draining and the return pump is off?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11618679#post11618679 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TomRep
Only way you could do it in that picture would be if the lower water level tank had a baffle at the height of the water line on either the closest side or the farthest side (or in the front if you really wanted to look at it. It's tough to explain in words. Let me know if you get what I'm trying to say.
tom

Is this it Tom? T

 

[Cope]

When the power is off the return pump back siphons and both tanks equal out.

 

[ScottL4619]

I don't see why you couldn't set one tank higher and overflow it into the lower level tank and then overflow the lower tank into the sump and pump the water back into the higher tank. As long as the water flows OVER something in the upper tank, the level will remain the same and the water level in the lower tank will not be affected. Same principal used to keep the water level on the intake side of your sump higher (if you want) than the return section.

 

[T Man]

plan view

plan view

Here is a top view of my plan, the return has to be in the hi section (36 in.) and the lo section is at 12 inches.. The red section is where I want to make this transition - that when the power goes off.........the levels hold.

The tank will be draining from both ends, the far overflow (right side) will drain into the lo 12 inch tank to an external exposed mangrove and mud lagoon (gold) below and in front of the display which is at 24 in. (purple). The other overflow (left side) drains directly into the sump.
The whole thing will be fiberglass and reefsafe epoxy, the mold construction is "glued & screwed" plywood and masonite and a 36x36x1 chunk of acrylic.