3tanks one sump

[BallzDeepInU]

Hi iam planing on connecting 3 tanks to one sump. The furthest tank will be about 5' away from the sump. I plan on using Joeys diy overflow method as i dont want to drill my tanks. Are there any redundancys i can put in place to prevent overflowing if it fails for whatever reason? The tanks are 50g,30g,20g what type of flow rate should i be aiming for? What size pipe should i use?and size of pump?

Mainly im doing this so i wont have a bounch of electrical cords all over the place and so that all 3 tanks have basically the same parameters. I will have an sponge filter in each tank.

Any direction would be a help ty. Also i cant find any of that white pvc everyone has in their vids all i have here (toronto,ontario) is the gray kind u find in the electrical isle at home Depot.

 

[BallzDeepInU]

Im also trying to come up with an idea on how to configure the outflow (water going into the tanks) as i will have to send water to 3 tanks that are side by side. I will put a flow control valve on each line thats forsure. Just not too sure how to connect the lines to spit off.

The 50g is on the left side which is about 5' or alittle more from where the sump would be. In the middle is the 20g which i plan on housing a breeding pair of discus and on the right is the 30 which is where the sump would be under due to more head room between the floor and stand. Im going to make it so that i can disconnect or take out the pipeing if need be in the 20 easily incase fry get sucked up in the overflow and just rely on a sponge filter

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Not sure about redundancy system, but u could have the tanks in a stair like system, with water flowing from the smallest top tank to the largest bottom tank

 

[fishguy306]

I personally am scared of those DIY PVC overflows, you couldn't pay me to use one. I'd spend the few bucks and get some on the hang on the back overflows. It'll be a bit more expensive but also more reliable.

Have you looked in the plumbing section for the PVC? They grey stuff will be in electrical, that is not the correct section. Home depot should have nearly an entire isle dedicated to PVC pipe and fittings.

You will have two runs of pipe behind your tanks. The first being the drains. Each overflow runs into this one pipe, I'd probably use a 1.5" pipe. The overflow connects to this pipe which then runs down to the sump. The second pipe is connected to your pump and runs all the way down to the last tank. You will have three T's on it where you have your tanks. Then between the T's put a ball valve so you can control the flow to each tank. On your fry tank you can close it fully, then water from that tank will stop flowing to the sump from that tank.

Hopefully that gets you started on your planning. Feel free to ask if I didn't answer anything

 

[duanes]

I always run minimum 3 tanks on a sump, usually at least 5.
Heaters, pump, filter bags are always in the sump, It matters not how far they are away, or even if they are in the same room. The sump can be in a basement.
Tanks don't need to be at an even height, you control flow with valve running to each tank, and overflows by gravity.
PVC, PVC valves etc, should be available at any home improvement store, its here in Panama, so it should be available in Canada.