Plumbing Multiple Drains Together

[mjohns27]

I will be plumbing together a 120 DT, 100 gallon sump, 50 gallon fuge and 40 gallon frag tank. The way the room is laid out makes the tanks spread out a little further than I'd like. I would like to plumb together my 1" drain from the frag tank and my 1" trickle drain from my fuge (using a Herbie for the fuge) so they are T'd together well before they drain into the sump.
Has anyone done this before where they combine two drains into one? Will this work?

Thanks!

 

[mcgyvr]

It can work but its generally frowned upon as it makes it more prone to failure as now a single point of failure can cause 2 tanks to not drain properly as well as reducing the drains total capacity

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What style of standpipe is on the frag tank 1 inch drain? You can't combine unlike styles - for instance, the "trickle" (really an emergency backup) from your DT herbie cannot be combined with a full siphon.

You really need to think about capacity, too. The emergency from the DT needs to be able to handle full flow if the DT main siphon is blocked. If you're t'ing it into another drain, you're probably losing that capacity.

 

[Kalyndrid]

My setup is probably close to what you are explaining. 180g DT with 2 (29g) frag tanks that drain into 75g sump. Fuge is a 30g that is separate as well.

Only issue I have is pump strength.

If I were to do it all over again, I would purchase a separate pump to put in sump for just the DT. I am finding that when I turn on the second return line off the manifold, I get micro bubbles from that line.



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[mjohns27]

Thanks for the replies!

It would be a 1" durso style overflow from the frag tank T'd into a 1" emergency from the herbie in the fuge.
I've never used a herbie before, does the emergency handle much water normally unless the full siphon fails?

 

[Kalyndrid]

I can't add any knowledge regarding the Herbie, however, I agree with der_will's content above.... You are losing that capacity. Both my frag tanks on each side of my 180 are BioCubes that are drilled in the back and drain into the sump. Water is pumped back via manifold.


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[Gorgok]

Thanks for the replies!

It would be a 1" durso style overflow from the frag tank T'd into a 1" emergency from the herbie in the fuge.
I've never used a herbie before, does the emergency handle much water normally unless the full siphon fails?

An emergency should not handle any water unless the siphon fails. Once it gets turned on it should go full siphon rapidly, which may or may not happen if its teed off somewhere else.

In your case it would maybe go siphon, draining the smaller overflow box first and cycle. That may work to prevent a flood, or it may not, depending on flow, overflow size, plumbing height etc...

Pipe is cheap, flood cleanup is not. (Now granted i had a little more water than a tank failure due to Harvey but still...)

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It won't go full siphon if there is a durso stuck on the other branch, it'll just suck air through the durso. Teeing a return line is fine. Teeing a drain is almost never a good idea especially if you're mixing types or involving a siphon or emergency drain.