125 gal into 40 breeder??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Even with the canister idea, if you lost power, the higher tank would still siphon into the lower one and potentially flood.

I dont think your idea with extending the tank walls or whatnot would work. To install a proper overflow you will most likely have to drill your tank if possible.
i see what you mean.

In a single tank setup, if you lose power, the water syphons back into the tank anyways right? so if it syphoned into a smaller tank would definitely overflow
 
Ok, that was what i thought you were referring to...

I believe it is possible, i would suggest either get another sheet of glass or pull a side of the 125 off to cut a slot into it, then reassebling the tank.

A good idea would be to drain water from the 125 into the 40b to see what the volume is. Mark that spot then drill/cut the glass at that level. The 125 won't completely drain empty, it should stop.

The 40b will never be full if you do it this way to allow for the displaced water in the 125.. Either that, or you would still need a third tank to serve as a sump/reservior for the two tanks.

It wouldn't be as asthetically pleasing, but i think drilling holes would be easier and a lot less likely to crack/break the tank.

The other thing to worry about would be splashing and potentially leaking in the gap between the two tanks. I guess a makeshift lip could solve that.
 
A good idea would be to drain water from the 125 into the 40b to see what the volume is. Mark that spot then drill/cut the glass at that level. The 125 won't completely drain empty, it should stop.

The 40b will never be full if you do it this way to allow for the displaced water in the 125.. Either that, or you would still need a third tank to serve as a sump/reservior for the two tanks.

Could you draw a diagram?

I think I understand what you mean. Like find exactly the line where 40 gallons is in terms of the 125? Then make that point at which the water would flow out?

eg. 125 completely full, suck out 40 gallons, then that marks the line?
 
Could you draw a diagram?

I think I understand what you mean. Like find exactly the line where 40 gallons is in terms of the 125? Then make that point at which the water would flow out?

eg. 125 completely full, suck out 40 gallons, then that marks the line?

Kind of. Since you more than likely won't completely drain and fill the 40g, you could mark to dain only 10g out the 125. But that also means the 40g needs to have the capacity to fill 10g when there is no power to the pump. If that makes sense.

The other idea would be to switch and put the 40b higher draining into the 125. Same concept just more room for error.
 
Now that i think about it, you won't need to lower the height in the top tank, because once the water drains past the level of the overflow it will stop automatically, just ensure it is high on the tank so it doesn't drain the whole tank. As long as there is not a syphon that forms it will stop on it's own.
 
Now that i think about it, you won't need to lower the height in the top tank, because once the water drains past the level of the overflow it will stop automatically, just ensure it is high on the tank so it doesn't drain the whole tank. As long as there is not a syphon that forms it will stop on it's own.
I guess as a safety you could always put a one way valve between the pump and the 125 because in the event of an outage it would stop the backflow into the pump.

But like you said, the125 is only going to overflow into the 40 until it hits the lowest level of the "waterfall spout". So if you make sure that the water levels in both tanks are at the correct height, plus water volume in the canister/pump or sump, then a one way valve preventing the backflow into and through the pump would be the only other piece to assure no catastrophes.........right?
 
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