Request for Comment: I've researched don't think I've seen anything like I'm planning here. Would love to hear anyone that has done it.
CONCEPT
Plumbing a 45-55 gallon custom tank up to my current 75 gallon heavily planted lowtech dirted freshwater. Lots of native US fish but not currently overstocked. Low iron glass front and sides, nice. Not drilled yet.
Tank 2 will be custom. $ not the hugest factor. Original plan was to have setup as a sump/refuge for more water volume, filtration, and general purpose use. And also just for the fun of it. I have a lot of parts/lights on hand so geeking out.
SUPERFILTER
Seems like if I also plumbed in a bucket filter in between, with an independent pump, that I could essentially have Tank 2 be basically another display tank with some refuge like properties. In the scenario I imagine here Tank 2 will be heavily planted and stocking level will depend on how well the filtration is performing. If this works as well as I imagine then maybe I can really expand my stock level I don't know.
I have a spare 12 gallon and spare 7.5 gallon that I thought could help with any kind of emergency overflow. I'll be drilling my 75 gallon and thought I could just put like an emergency overflow on everything. The flow to the filter and emergency overflows will all direct into kitchen hidden storage area that can tolerate water better than my hardwoods and also soundproof the filter pump.
HAVING 2 PUMPS
All that I've read suggests trying to balance pumps is foolish and I think I get it but this context is a bit different maybe since they are independent loops right?. I'm new to the plumbing aspects of this so help me out. Wouldn't this all balance out even if both pumps had different flow rate since they operate independently?
EMERGENCY FLOW
The emergency overflows may be overkill. The overflow box I'm drilling into the 75 has 3 bulkheads going out and figured I could put a Beananimal style overflow on it. Worst case scenario the box is totally blocked my emergency overflow on 75 gal would kick in. Same theory on Tank 2 and even the filter.
HEADROOM
A 5 gallon home depot bucket may be plenty to filter all this but I figure if I go with 15 gallon capacity (Uline has some) I can build in more headroom, like using only 10 gallons of it, and increasing filtration capacity. I have 4 submersible UV lights on hand and want a chamber dedicated to that exposure.
Am I right in that with all the emergency overflows I can maybe have my water line a little higher in both display tanks? 12 gallon (emergency from 2 Tanks) 7.5 gallon (emergency from filter) gives almost 20 gallons of screw up capacity.
POWER FAILURE
For the filter was thinking safest option is to have it on a switch that will not restart after power resumes. Maybe I'm paranoid but seems safer to get this restarted manually. Maybe put a battery on it. Power outages have only ever been brief in this house and I've lived here 10 years.
CONCLUSION
I'm not all that emotionally attached to this design so tear it apart. Before I order Tank 2 want to vet this out as it could influence the design I request. If this is crazy foolish then I'll just plumb it up more like a traditional sump/fuge.
Thanks
CONCEPT
Plumbing a 45-55 gallon custom tank up to my current 75 gallon heavily planted lowtech dirted freshwater. Lots of native US fish but not currently overstocked. Low iron glass front and sides, nice. Not drilled yet.
Tank 2 will be custom. $ not the hugest factor. Original plan was to have setup as a sump/refuge for more water volume, filtration, and general purpose use. And also just for the fun of it. I have a lot of parts/lights on hand so geeking out.
SUPERFILTER
Seems like if I also plumbed in a bucket filter in between, with an independent pump, that I could essentially have Tank 2 be basically another display tank with some refuge like properties. In the scenario I imagine here Tank 2 will be heavily planted and stocking level will depend on how well the filtration is performing. If this works as well as I imagine then maybe I can really expand my stock level I don't know.
I have a spare 12 gallon and spare 7.5 gallon that I thought could help with any kind of emergency overflow. I'll be drilling my 75 gallon and thought I could just put like an emergency overflow on everything. The flow to the filter and emergency overflows will all direct into kitchen hidden storage area that can tolerate water better than my hardwoods and also soundproof the filter pump.
HAVING 2 PUMPS
All that I've read suggests trying to balance pumps is foolish and I think I get it but this context is a bit different maybe since they are independent loops right?. I'm new to the plumbing aspects of this so help me out. Wouldn't this all balance out even if both pumps had different flow rate since they operate independently?
EMERGENCY FLOW
The emergency overflows may be overkill. The overflow box I'm drilling into the 75 has 3 bulkheads going out and figured I could put a Beananimal style overflow on it. Worst case scenario the box is totally blocked my emergency overflow on 75 gal would kick in. Same theory on Tank 2 and even the filter.
HEADROOM
A 5 gallon home depot bucket may be plenty to filter all this but I figure if I go with 15 gallon capacity (Uline has some) I can build in more headroom, like using only 10 gallons of it, and increasing filtration capacity. I have 4 submersible UV lights on hand and want a chamber dedicated to that exposure.
Am I right in that with all the emergency overflows I can maybe have my water line a little higher in both display tanks? 12 gallon (emergency from 2 Tanks) 7.5 gallon (emergency from filter) gives almost 20 gallons of screw up capacity.
POWER FAILURE
For the filter was thinking safest option is to have it on a switch that will not restart after power resumes. Maybe I'm paranoid but seems safer to get this restarted manually. Maybe put a battery on it. Power outages have only ever been brief in this house and I've lived here 10 years.
CONCLUSION
I'm not all that emotionally attached to this design so tear it apart. Before I order Tank 2 want to vet this out as it could influence the design I request. If this is crazy foolish then I'll just plumb it up more like a traditional sump/fuge.
Thanks
