2 Sumps - 1 Tank? Need advice from the sump pros!

[ShanerBock888]

I recently purchased a used 300 gal acrylic tank and it's the biggest tank I've ever had, so it's the first tank I'll be using a sump on so I could use some advice. There are some aspects of my setup that make it a little complicated, at least for a first time sumper.

The tank will be a growout for my big cats - 2 x TSN and 1 x Ripsaw, so 3 big cats that produce a lot of waste AND like well-filtered water. I also always lean on the side of over-filtration. The problem is that it will be in my basement, which has very low ceilings, so after leaving enough space above the tank, there isn't much space left in the stand for a large sump, at least not without making it impossible to get into the sump. The tank also has 2 weirs, one on each side, in the middle of the wall, each has a drain and a return.

My plan (as of now) is to have two sumps, one for each weir. I have two brand new Jebao DCT-8000. At one point I realized that if the overflows drain at different rates, I might end up with a problem, so I did a little research and decided to add a pipe connecting the two sumps, the idea being that it will level the sumps.

I should also mention that the weirs are too small to add another hole for a herbie.

So, sump experts, does this plan work? Is there anything else I need to be worrying about? Any tips/advice/pointers? Any help is appreciated!

 

[jettefrances17]

I'm in no way an expert or anything of that sort but I've done a similar set up before and it worked beautifully. Good luck setting this beast up.

 

[ShanerBock888]

great, thanks!

 

[JK47]

Yes the pipe will level the two sumps. However if you use a pipe that is too small in diameter to easily allow for the gallons per hour flow needed it will be a nightmare. My recommendation would be to use a 2" diameter pvc pipe and bulkhead fittings to tether the two sumps together. I prefer both overflows going into the same sump. You can use the other chamber for more media, heaters and the pump.

 

[hart24601]

I have connected two sumps with bulkhead and pvc. I also like having the drains come to one sump and the other for media or in my case waterlettuce refugium.

 

[duanes]

If the stand is too small to hold sumps, or not enough room to comfortably do maintenance, it is not neseccary to put the sumps in the stand.
I often put my large sumps off to the side, in order to make maintenance easier.
You can also use a valve to throttle back a pump if the drains cannot handle the volume.
Centrifugal pumps can handle being throttled out on the outflow, you just don't want to choke them back on the inflow to the pump (this can burn them out)
Photo is a sump set up off to the side of a tank. I wanted enough head room to set up a fractionating bio-tower.

 

[jaws7777]

Gonna be an intereting build...post pics as you go... told you these guys would have a solution lol

 

[ShanerBock888]

Yes the pipe will level the two sumps. However if you use a pipe that is too small in diameter to easily allow for the gallons per hour flow needed it will be a nightmare. My recommendation would be to use a 2" diameter pvc pipe and bulkhead fittings to tether the two sumps together. I prefer both overflows going into the same sump. You can use the other chamber for more media, heaters and the pump.

I have connected two sumps with bulkhead and pvc. I also like having the drains come to one sump and the other for media or in my case waterlettuce refugium.

Thanks for the advice. So you're saying I have both overflows lead to one sump, then the water flows through the connecting pipe into the 2nd sump, where I house my heaters, extra media, pumps, etc? And am I correct in thinking that the connecting pipe should be below water level?

 

[ShanerBock888]

Yes the pipe will level the two sumps. However if you use a pipe that is too small in diameter to easily allow for the gallons per hour flow needed it will be a nightmare. My recommendation would be to use a 2" diameter pvc pipe and bulkhead fittings to tether the two sumps together. I prefer both overflows going into the same sump. You can use the other chamber for more media, heaters and the pump.

It seems to me that the 2" pipe would only be an issue if I had both overflows in one sump and the pumps in the other, because with that setup the pipe has a significant flow. But if I were to have it so that one overflow leads to each sump, couldn't the pipe be smaller, since in this case it would only be taking care of the imbalance? It just seems to me that with this setup there isn't much demand placed on the pipe so it wouldn't need to be that big. Just trying to understand the reason for everything so that I get it right.

 

[JK47]

It seems to me that the 2" pipe would only be an issue if I had both overflows in one sump and the pumps in the other, because with that setup the pipe has a significant flow. But if I were to have it so that one overflow leads to each sump, couldn't the pipe be smaller, since in this case it would only be taking care of the imbalance? It just seems to me that with this setup there isn't much demand placed on the pipe so it wouldn't need to be that big. Just trying to understand the reason for everything so that I get it right.

The issue is not the overflow (that is more preference) the issue is the single pump. If the pipe is not large enough to feed water to the single side with the pump it will be a problem. It isn't the water level balance that's important it's the overall strength of the system being able to handle each of your components. You may be fine. I just wanted to highlight that as a concern. I learned the hard way