Plumbing design for two tanks, 1 sump.

Kairus

New member
What is the best way to do the plumbing for two tanks that will drain into one sump? Both display tanks will be 40 breeders, and the sump will be a 40 breeder as well.

The refuge will be a 20g, I would need to tie that into the system as well, but I'm not set on it yet as I think it would be smarter to use it as a QT tank.

61yGhzz.jpg


This is the design I want to go with. Both tanks will be drilled with beananimal overflows on the side panes. So all 6 drain pipes will come down in the open space in the corner between the two displays.

1) How should the drains be laid out? All 6 drain pipes dumping into the sump? Or combined?
2) One or two pumps for the return?
3) If I decide to plumb in refuge what is the best way to do that? Put a pump in one of the tanks and have one outlet higher than the other?'
4) Would 1" drains be adequate?
 
In reverse order:
1" will be fine

fuge - I'd put it higher than the sump and pump into it either from a dedicated pump or off of one of the returns. Then it can just overflow into the sump

I'd use two return pumps. Makes it easy to shut off flow to one without effecting the other.

Drain lines should NOT be combined. Run all 6 - careful layout here - into the right end of the sump. Avoid 90 degree turns and horizontal pipe.


That's going to be a cool looking setup. How are you going to deal with the gap where the two tanks come together?
 
In reverse order:
1" will be fine

fuge - I'd put it higher than the sump and pump into it either from a dedicated pump or off of one of the returns. Then it can just overflow into the sump

I'd use two return pumps. Makes it easy to shut off flow to one without effecting the other.

Drain lines should NOT be combined. Run all 6 - careful layout here - into the right end of the sump. Avoid 90 degree turns and horizontal pipe.


That's going to be a cool looking setup. How are you going to deal with the gap where the two tanks come together?

Thanks. I'll probably only need some 45 degree elbows.

I'm going to paint the side of each tank where they meet and probably going to put some type of plastic board in between so you can't see through the gap.

I'm excited I'll be able to keep some of the not reef safe fish I always wanted as well as be able to keep corals. 40 breeders are actually 48 gallons so it's actually a good amount of volume.
 
Hi All,
I've messed around with a Dual 40B setup as well. I'm attaching some pictures from the SketchUP model I did a while ago in hopes that you may find them useful. On the DTs I had planned on using a coast-to-coast (but front-to-back rather than left-to-right) and probably a glass-holes kit on the refuge. The sump and fuge tanks are 29G.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I love the idea of dual tanks and 40Bs (IMHO) are an excellent option if someone were to do it.
 

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It is important to note that horizontal drains don't drain anything other than a trickle. Fuges really require flow rates similar to that of display tanks.

When it is all said and done, the second refuge is a complete was of time, complicates the plumbing becuase it cannot be raised high enough above the sump for practical purposes. The refuge will not help the system in any way, and not having it, will not hurt the system in any way. The whole object of system design is to keep it simple, not complicate it beyond reason.

If you want two tanks under the display tanks, run two sumps, two everything, elsewise, use a single custom sump that spans both tanks, so the plumbing of returns does not get nuts...
 
Just to clarify, my design uses a single fuge (under the right tank as viewed from the front) and a single sump (under the left tank) and not a dual-fuge system that uncleof6 wrote about.

I understand that running a horizontal drain (especially one as long as I have) isn't ideal in a typical setup, however in this scenario a 1" horizontal pipe should easily be able to handle the ~250GPH from the fuge to the sump (sufficient for most I would think) without any problems.

FWIW I don't think anything in either design is "complicated beyond reason." If you want two tanks organized in this fashion with a single sump/fuge, everything presented here is reasonable.

Please understand that what I'm saying is simply a competing idea and not meant to be argumentative.
 
Tom that's awesome. It seems we had the same exact idea. I think I'm going to nix the separate fuge for this build and have one tank as a QT and run an algae scrubber in the fuge area of my sump.

I designed the stand a bit differently so that the 40 breeders sit inside of the rim of the stand, which allows me to put a 40 breeder under the stand as well.
 

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