Bridging tanks questions.

[dan macmillan]

First I have a well established 55 gal tank that has fish and I am starting to introduce some corals. All is doing fine, The fish include
1 royal gramma, 1 Azure damsel, 2 cardinals, 5 green chromis, 2 clowns, 1 watchman goby and a cleaup crew.
I am running a 50 gal sump that contains approx 35 gal of water. A Coral life super skimmer, refugium with live rock.
My system has auto water top off and auto pump shutdown should the main display water level raise more than 1/4 inch. When the pumps shut
down the sump only recieves approx 3 gallons of water.

I have decided to bridge my display tank with a second 55 gal tank and have a couple of questions.

1 Do I have to cycle the second tank prior to installing the bridge?
2 If I keep the bioload the same for now do I have to add more rock to the second tank?
3 Should I bridge with tubing or a plexi structure that is big enough for fish to go through.
4 As this new tank will not contain corals do I need a ful blown lighting system with actinics on it, It currently has
cheap led lighting that came with the hoods.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

1. Looking at it as a 50% wc you'd most like be alright mixing new salt for a day or so, correcting the temp and ph and opening the valve. I would do a couple water exchanges every day for a few days, but either way, it shouldn't matter.

2. Not if you don't want to. You might want to look for a better skimmer before you do increase bio mass.

3. I'm not sure what you are planning here; are you planning an over the top syphon, tying two bulkheads together, or something else? A fish bridge would be neat, but otherwise, why wouldn't you tie them together in a single sump?

4. Light it with what you have if you like the look, and you're not keeping any light demanding animals.

 

[AcroporAddict]

If you bridge the two tanks with a tube going from one tank, out the top and into the top of the other, make sure to oversize it by a good bit. I did the same thing with some Oceanic 30 gallon planted tanks I had, and you will see a depth difference between the first and second tanks in the chain even with a small flow rate between the two.

 

[SGT_York]

What would you use for a bulkhead? Also any large holes in the side of a smaller tank will vibrate, My friend in college did this with 2" bulkheads and it lasted a month before the glass cracked. If you had them on the same stand over concrete, that may give you better results. Two tanks attached with acrylic pipe is a bad idea. Let alone cleaning the tube.

Tying the two together in the sump or buying a bigger tank is a much better idea.

 

[dan macmillan]

What would you use for a bulkhead? Also any large holes in the side of a smaller tank will vibrate, My friend in college did this with 2" bulkheads and it lasted a month before the glass cracked. If you had them on the same stand over concrete, that may give you better results. Two tanks attached with acrylic pipe is a bad idea. Let alone cleaning the tube.

Tying the two together in the sump or buying a bigger tank is a much better idea.

No bulkheads, my tanks are tempered. My sump is 2 rooms over with piping going through the walls so tying them in the sump is not an option. The bridge goes over the top of the tanks. If a fish swims through it swims up above the waterline of one tank then down into the other.

Thanks for the replies. I have the bridge made of 1 1/2 abs for now. Hob on each tank as backup. The main tank has an electronic high water monitor {looks for conductivity between 2 probes} and will shut down the sumps pump if something goes wrong. Water is pumped out of second tank into main with bridge as return. This way should the bridge fail I get no water on the floor, it simply returns to the sump. If the return to sump fails the sumps pump shuts down and the water from the second tank will recirculate through the main tank and back. Again no water lost.

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[SpartaReef]

:thumbsup:that looks awesome!

 

[The_fishkeeper86]

Do the fish actually use that? attached in such a way I cant imagine the bridge would "feel" right to the fish. Like a low pressure zone or something

 

[Joe0813]

Moar pictures

 

[dan macmillan]

My first attempt at underwater photography. It is a fishes view of my main tank. Shaky as the camera is suspended by fishing line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIoJM_cby28&feature=youtu.be

 

[Ronic]

kcress has a bridged tank that he showed in his build of his new tank http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1869655.
It's on the first page and his fish like to use it.

 

[dan macmillan]

:thumbsup:that looks awesome!

Thank you.

 

[dan macmillan]

Well so far one of my cleaner shrimp made the move to the other tank

 

[SpartaReef]

I imagine the cuc would use it more than the fish...

 

[mikecc67548]

Neat-O

 

[Gladrial]

I don't have any answers for you but I wanted to tell you how awesome your set up looked. I also really enjoyed your underwater cam. Now I want a camera that will go underwater!!!

 

[dan macmillan]

A video update of my bridged secondary tank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnanxFuqvnk

 

[SGT_York]

I like the rifle too!

Very nice tank(s).