another silly/crazy sump Q

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Squirtle919

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2011
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Within Earth
Hello everyone.

So I know if I have my overflow pipe lower then my sumps height it wont work but as my tanks are on a tier system what would happen if I connected the top tanks drain pipe to the BH-drain pipe in the tank under it but had a t high up with a valve allowing some water to fall into the lower tank then another T in the bottom tank to drain? would this work or is it a dumb idea?

I know with out the Ts it would work but then the bottom tank is unfiltered.

Hope it makes sense :|
 
Didn't quite understand the details of your plan, but I connect/combine higher tanks drains to lower tank drains all the time. The most important aspect is to make the main drain pipe at least double the diameter of others. ie, if the highest drain is 1/2" then the next should be at least 1", and the main drain pipe should be 2" to prevent backups, and overflows.
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You know Squirtle919, I could stare at your avatar for hours! :drool:

Looking at living rooms with all those pvc pipes going everywhere makes me dizzy..

At the lfs I recently went to I took a peek behind their tanks to see the plumbing. The upper tanks drained directly downwards and into a large 4" pipe running the length of the wall at a slant at approx mid level to the lower tanks which were also plumbed into. As far as a return, simply a return pipe to each tank from a line with separate valves to each.

I'd imagine if you used the same drainage system, you could perhaps link the upper tanks to a higher GPH return pump, and the lower tank to a less GPH one or the same system with the valve closed a little to restrict the flow to match the upper?

I don't get into this mess mainly because the wife wants things neat and super quiet- like pretending it's not there..
 
I'm not sure I get it either, a pic is worth a thousand words when trying to describe something like that, even if its a 5-minute MSPaint job or a pic of a quick pencil sketch.

But if the problem is the lower tank being too low for the sump I'd look at putting a pump in the tank and having a gravity-fed-return, though how you would do that with a communal sump with other tanks running into it I'm not sure.
 
David R said:
I'm not sure I get it either, a pic is worth a thousand words when trying to describe something like that, even if its a 5-minute MSPaint job or a pic of a quick pencil sketch.

But if the problem is the lower tank being too low for the sump I'd look at putting a pump in the tank and having a gravity-fed-return, though how you would do that with a communal sump with other tanks running into it I'm not sure.
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Sadly it wont work the tank on top of the bot tank is almost 3ft tall and sits taller then the sump so it would require a pump!

The only other option is to have a pump in the bottom tank feeding my skimmer in the sump (5000-8000 LPH) but I would have to match the return pump with this one correct? if ones pushing more then the other the sump will drain or tank will overflow.

I also have 2 big triggers in the bottom tank so cords are not high on the list to have in the tank. I did dangle a cord in there that was not connected etc and it never got chewed but its a risk.
 
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