possible? connecting 2 sumps to each other without drilling holes?

[vincent1972]

Hello,
i was wondering if this is possible.
is there a way to connect 2 sump on each other without drilling holes?
what i mean is for example you have allready a sump and you want to place a next one in front or beside the old one , but you don't want to dril holes in the old sump
maybe with an extra pump as feed for the second sump


vince

 

[vincent1972]

maybe one of this?

 

[gbru316]

Not a good idea. You'll never be able to achieve equal flow rates between 2 pumps.

Without drilling, the safest way would be to locate one higher than the other and use an overflow box.

 

[vincent1972]

is there a example or pics of 2 sumps with one higher then the other with overflow box?
i can raise the second one about 4 inches

 

[Ldagger]

if you don't cut any glass, then you have to make the walls of the top of the sump higher so it will flow over the low spot. So go get some cheap strips of glass and silicone it to 3 sides and part of the 4th. OR if it is a smaller sump, set it in to the larger one on something in the bigger sump and let the water overflow all 4 sides. You could use an egg crate to sit it on, which is how i have mine setup. overflow boxes do work, but if they ever break siphon the floor is flooded, i don't recommend them.

 

[vincent1972]

okay thank you ,
i found a solution , next to mij tank there is a closet that is used for tank material .
i gonna make this empty and i'm gonna install 2 tanks of 15 gallons above each other.

in these tank , i'm gonna dril some holes

but my question now is:

should i use a second return pump to feed these 2 tanks or should i redesign the overflow from my display tank so that the overflow from the display tank will run through these tanks before it gets into the sump

 

[gbru316]

Just use one pump to return to the display. No sense in using 2 pumps when you can replace one with gravity.

 

[vincent1972]

my return pump that is in use right now is an ehaim 1262
3400l/h (approx 900 g/h

i gonna drill holes on the back side of the 2 tanks.

i want to drill 1 hole each tank.
now what i don't know is : should i make an overflow over the whole lenght of the tanks or should i make a box?
and my second question is what diam of ppipe should i use for those tanks? 25mm (appr 1 inch) or 32 mm (apr 1.26 inch)?

 

[vincent1972]

when i should 2 pumps , then it's more a remote system?

 

[Subsea]

One inch pipe is more than big enough. No matter what you do to connect multiple tanks, you will increase the potential for overflowing tanks. Many do not like utube syphon because of its inherent risk of losing a syphon. A bulkhead connection, while less risky, can be disabled by a snail plugging up the line. If your tank levels are not designed properly, eventually, you will get a wet floor.
Patrick

 

[Ikserk]

should i use a second return pump to feed these 2 tanks or should i redesign the overflow from my display tank so that the overflow from the display tank will run through these tanks before it gets into the sump

you do not want to create a cascading drain meaning one tank overflows to another which overflows to another, etc....

The reason is because each drain between each of the tanks have to be in perfect balance since the same volume of water must flow through them in the same amount of time. without that, it is a flood risk.

 

[gbru316]

you do not want to create a cascading drain meaning one tank overflows to another which overflows to another, etc....

The reason is because each drain between each of the tanks have to be in perfect balance since the same volume of water must flow through them in the same amount of time. without that, it is a flood risk.

Assuming the drain size is big enough,It's not a problem as long as you position the drains as overflows and the last tank has enough volume to handle the excess in the event of a disruption.

Now, if you use a 2" drain on the top tank and a 1/2" drain on the next tank, you'll have issues.

But using equal size drains and maybe a t off the display drain that goes directly to the sump (with a gate valve) to slow flow through the cascaded system is perfectly fine.

Keep in mind that the flow rate through a bulkhead isn't static. As the water level increases above the bulkhead, so too will the flow rate (until it reaches maximum flow dictated by bulkhead size and plumbing).