Multiple tanks - single sump

[Mr Pleco]

Having a few issues due to my lack of plumbing knowledge trying to design a single sump system for a group of tanks in my fish room.
I currently have single sumps running on single tanks.. however my fish room is expanding.

How do you balance the water return from a single pump to multiple tanks, so you are not over filling or draining the different tank set ups?

Pictures and drawings would be perfect as I'm more visually orientated,

Thank you

 

[duanes]

above is a shot with 3 tanks on the same sump, there are actually 4 tanks, one would not fit in the shot.
In the upper left you see a PVC valve above the tank(it has a red handle) each tank has at least 1 that controls water to the tank, each tank has its own over flow to the sump. The water to the tank is controlled by the valve, and gravity takes care of the flow to the sump.
below is the middle tank

note the valve handles, the red handle is cocked to control how much flow goes to the tank.
The pump is on full, you can safely restrict the outflow from any centrifugal pump, you just don't want to restrict flow at the suction end.
below is another bank of tanks, the larger PVC pipes are to the sump, 1/2" goes to the tanks.
It is preferable to have larger pipes coming out of tanks, because debris (plants, dead fish, gunk) can easily block small pipes and cause over flow.

although some of my tanks have commercial siphon overflows, some are drilled, like the one to the left, its sump is in another room

PVC unions are a good idea, because they allow for detaching pipes from pumps, and long runs for maintenance.
There is a union on the outflow of the Mag Drive in this sump shot, for easy on easy off.

The red thing upper left is a float valve that closes when filling the tank after water changes. It closes when the sump is full, if I forget to turn the water off( for me a wise $12 investment)

 

[WiredDragon93]

This is my setup for the Overflow into my sump, then my return.

1st pic: This is how the whole system looks like. The Middle section with all the tubing are individual standard 3/4 PVC overflows connected in the center Using "T"s and "+"s, which drain down into my sump.

2nd Pic: A closer look at the Overflows.

3rd Pic: The Valves I used to control flow into the tanks.

4th Pic: My whole project. (Sump is missing at the very bottom)

5th Pic: My sump (50g Rubber maid horse traw)

I will upload a video of my whole thing running, just need to find it!

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Mr Pleco]

above is a shot with 3 tanks on the same sump, there are actually 4 tanks, one would not fit in the shot.
In the upper left you see a PVC valve above the tank(it has a red handle) each tank has at least 1 that controls water to the tank, each tank has its own over flow to the sump. The water to the tank is controlled by the valve, and gravity takes care of the flow to the sump.
below is the middle tank

note the valve handles, the red handle is cocked to control how much flow goes to the tank.
The pump is on full, you can safely restrict the outflow from any centrifugal pump, you just don't want to restrict flow at the suction end.
below is another bank of tanks, the larger PVC pipes are to the sump, 1/2" goes to the tanks.
It is preferable to have larger pipes coming out of tanks, because debris (plants, dead fish, gunk) can easily block small pipes and cause over flow.

although some of my tanks have commercial siphon overflows, some are drilled, like the one to the left, its sump is in another room

PVC unions are a good idea, because they allow for detaching pipes from pumps, and long runs for maintenance.
There is a union on the outflow of the Mag Drive in this sump shot, for easy on easy off.

The red thing upper left is a float valve that closes when filling the tank after water changes. It closes when the sump is full, if I forget to turn the water off( for me a wise $12 investment)

Thank you

 

[Mr Pleco]

This is my setup for the Overflow into my sump, then my return.

1st pic: This is how the whole system looks like. The Middle section with all the tubing are individual standard 3/4 PVC overflows connected in the center Using "T"s and "+"s, which drain down into my sump.

2nd Pic: A closer look at the Overflows.

3rd Pic: The Valves I used to control flow into the tanks.

4th Pic: My whole project. (Sump is missing at the very bottom)

5th Pic: My sump (50g Rubber maid horse traw)

I will upload a video of my whole thing running, just need to find it!

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Thank you this is great

 

[WiredDragon93]

Did this actually help? lol

And did the rest if the pics show up? i only see 2

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Mr Pleco]

Did this actually help? lol

And did the rest if the pics show up? i only see 2

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Only 2 did show up ... any pics? help .. since your outside , noise level probably isn't a concern for you

 

[WiredDragon93]

These are the missing ones

The system, the project, and my sump.

This ia actually for indoor, i just worked on it outside incase of spills and stuff!

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Mr Pleco]

These are the missing ones

The system, the project, and my sump.

This ia actually for indoor, i just worked on it outside incase of spills and stuff!

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Whoa, I'm really going to have to study that last pic..that center vertical pipe that one connects to your overflows and down into the sump? how do you keep the overflow water from the top tank from entering the lower tank(s)? What size(GPH) and type pump ( circulating or pressurized?) are you running?

 

[WiredDragon93]

Whoa, I'm really going to have to study that last pic..that center vertical pipe that one connects to your overflows and down into the sump? how do you keep the overflow water from the top tank from entering the lower tank(s)? What size(GPH) and type pump ( circulating or pressurized?) are you running?

Yes that pipe goes jnto my sump. Thanks to gravity, the flow of the center vertical pipe just goes straight down. I used to use a 580gph pump called F600c Swimming Pool Pump 115v 0.8amp, but it burnt out ._. the pump was just pressurized, just used for return.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App