water transport question

[LoneRanger]

I posted this in the "lighting, filtration, and everything else" section and didnt get much help, I am hoping some of you can shed some light on this:


sump pumps to the tank, tank drains back to the sump assuming your overflows are big enough, or can carry enough volume you can keep an equilibrium(sp*)- pump in, spils back out, etc.....


this is my question/ problem........ if I have a remote tank say a 55 gallon in a seperate room of the house how do I get the water from the main display or sump to the other room, and back again AND keep an equilibrium? I want to have a DSB with some mangroves for asthetics, but It needs to go in a spare bedroom. how do I control water flow/ to and from? the 55 in the spare room can have a sump of some sort under it if that would help. the pvc for water flow will need to go in the attic as we are building a block house and have no other place to put it!




thoughts?

L.R.

 

[mfinn]

If I read your question right, your trying to figure out how to pump water from the main tank to the sump and back again up over the top of your walls?
Forget it.
It's a water spill in the making.

 

[Jflip2002]

I agree with Mfinn, its a spill waiting to happen. BUTTTTTTT if you were going to do it, I can only think of one way. Drill a hole lets say in the back of tank 1. have a huge pump between tank 1 and tank two, with the intake connected to tank 1. Then have the exhaust of the pump connected to tank 2. Then you in turn would have to have a seperate connecting pipe, which would in turn let the water between the two tanks distribute to one another. You'll probbaly have to mix in some gate valves too, to make sure that everything is kinda kept in check if need be.

It sounds like a real PITA to me, and definitely not work it lol. Hope you have this in a basement where there is a drain lol.

 

[ManotheSea]

Are the tanks on opposite sides of the same wall? Punch a hole through the block with a hammer and chisle. Who would know later on when its patched with plaster? If you are having the house built then talk to the builder about acomodating for the reef set up.

I have a similar dilema. I have a 300 gal sump/refuge/holding/grow out system in the garage. The opposing wall is our dining room where the 90 gal is going to be plumbed through the wall so its part of the same system. I would prefer the main display tank to be in a more visible area where we are more likely to spend time watching the tank like in the living room. We have a very open floor plan with 15 foot high ceiling. The only way to get to the living room would be up into the attic then across the house and back. I didnt like the idea and thought it would be filled with problems so I am staying in the dining room. Buuuut...

Could this overhead plumbing be regulated if you put flow meters on both the return and drain lines? This way the two pumps could be dialed in with each other using gate valves. With the flow meters you could easily see how you have each pump adjusted. I would also put a secondary drain line higher in the tank and the same in the remote sump that runs into dedicated house drains just in case one pump died and the other kept running. Do you guys think this could work?

 

["Umm fish?"]

You guys are putting way too much thought into this. Keep way oversized overflows on both display tanks down to the sump. (Or to a common pipe down to the sump. Just make sure it's oversized.) Pump the return up to a manifold above the display tanks with ball valves to regulate the flow to each display. Let gravity take care of whatever water flow goes to whatever display tank.

Gravity's almost always more reliable than the flow rate of a pump.

 

[LoneRanger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12426684#post12426684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by "Umm, fish?"
You guys are putting way too much thought into this. Keep way oversized overflows on both display tanks down to the sump. (Or to a common pipe down to the sump. Just make sure it's oversized.) Pump the return up to a manifold above the display tanks with ball valves to regulate the flow to each display. Let gravity take care of whatever water flow goes to whatever display tank.

Gravity's almost always more reliable than the flow rate of a pump.

ummmm can you elaborate further? (like in baby terms?) LoL

L.R.


EDIT: after re-reading your post I think you think I have a common sump (which I Can do) but this is not going into a basement, the water has to go up into the cieling then across the living room, then back down into another room~ (where it needs to be pumped BACK to the main display/ sump.

L.R.

 

["Umm fish?"]

I wouldn't do it, then. I'd keep them completely separate unless you can figure out a way to do it without relying on synching pumps. All you'd need is one snail stuck in a pump and it would be a disaster. One piece of hair algae in the pump intake screen would screw up the synch. Do you really want to worry about that all of the time?

Is there no way that you could make one stand high up and come back through the wall to a sump under the other tank? Maybe drill the high tank high up on its side and go straight into the wall? You only need a drop of 1" per 1' (I think) for gravity to take care of it for you.

Good luck!

 

[Elliott]

my 300g display is 50 ft from the sump, the overflows gravity feed the sump and I use a Panworld 250 to pump water back through the ceiling to the top of the display ending with eductors, works quite well

adjust the return to the overflow and viola, equilibrium

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Overflow systems only work safely with 1 pump. It can eithe rtank water from the sump and put it in the tank (standard configuration) or take water from the tank and put it in the sump. The retunt trip should be done by gravity and an overflow that is capable of handing the amount of flow your pump puts out.

Trying to balance two pumps is impossible. One will eventually push more water than the other resulting in a flood and other damage. This unless you have a way of controlling the pumps to maintain certain water levels on each side. But this is more difficult and results in pumps turning on and off frequently.