THINKERS PLEASE --- Can a tank run with dual sumps?? Ideas

[DIDYSIS]

I have two 55 gallon tanks, I have a 450 gallon L shape tank that I will be filtering, instead of running one sump could I run two at either end? 55 gallons is not allot and I worry about it filling up with a pump shut off and what. I know I could but would it be safe from flooding over in case something happened?? Two tanks twice the water holding? Less piping, if both pumps shut off they will just fill up and all good, but what about one??

Pros- More water, more filtering
Cons- Two pumps, more power

Problem I see, What if one pump goes bad and the other keeps flowing, wont that flood the sumps and flood the basement???, Or would it run the one dry and the other just fill all the way to the top.

For some reason I just cant rap my head around all that would happen with everything.

If anyone has a tank with two sumps and knows the best way to work it all, I am all ears. PICS PLEASE, run me though your safety messures and everything please,

I have one powerful pump and one that is about half that power that I would be running on the tank, mostly because I would want more current on one side and less on the other.

 

[fishman09]

what about one larger pump plummed to both sumps (not sure if possible) that way it works like 1 110 gallon sump and not two independant sumps

 

[Gervahlt]

Yeah, I think a daisy-chain effect would be more what you're looking for. For instance, run the overflow from the main tank down into one 55 gallon and connect the two tanks via a couple of bulkheads and a piece of piping. You'd pump back to the main tank from the second tank. For safety's sake, I'd plumb two separate pipes so you're not worried about one of them clogging up.

 

[pacu mom]

I have two 55 gallon tanks, I have a 450 gallon L shape tank that I will be filtering, instead of running one sump could I run two at either end? 55 gallons is not allot and I worry about it filling up with a pump shut off and what. I know I could but would it be safe from flooding over in case something happened?? Two tanks twice the water holding? Less piping, if both pumps shut off they will just fill up and all good, but what about one??

Pros- More water, more filtering
Cons- Two pumps, more power

Problem I see, What if one pump goes bad and the other keeps flowing, wont that flood the sumps and flood the basement???, Or would it run the one dry and the other just fill all the way to the top.

For some reason I just cant rap my head around all that would happen with everything.

If anyone has a tank with two sumps and knows the best way to work it all, I am all ears. PICS PLEASE, run me though your safety messures and everything please,

I have one powerful pump and one that is about half that power that I would be running on the tank, mostly because I would want more current on one side and less on the other.

doviiman has two wet/dry filters on his 822 gallon system
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...onster-822-gallon-(ext)-aquarium-build-thread

 

[DIDYSIS]

ya they are setup together I wonder if you can run them separate? Not a huge fan of drilling a tank that is already good. But also I like to use stuff that I already have also.

 

[snowhnter]

I agree with the one pump solution. Get a single external pump large enough to do what you want, plumb it in with a large WYE coming from the two 55's with a single return to your tank. Then you will have almost 25% of the capacity of your tank in your sump, mor than enough. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[Oughtsix]

I believe you will have to add a level balancing pipe between the two sumps for everything to run properly. Basically just a tube between the two sumps to keep the water level in the two sumps at the same level.

With out this I think that the pump in one of the sumps is going to be a little faster than the other sump or the overflow for one of the sumps is going to be a little slower than the other resulting in the sump water always ending up in one sump or the other eventually. The level balancing tube will keep both sumps at the same level. It will also balance the "In System" water between the two sumps during a power outage.

I would drill the sides of both sumps as close to the bottom as possible. Put a bulkhead in each new hole. Run tubing between the two bulkheads. 1" plumbing sounds like a nice number to me.

If you size this cross over pipe large enough and the overflows in the main tank are large enough to handle the flow from both sump pumps it will prevent flooding if one overflow is clogged.

 

[aldiaz33]

As others have mentioned, you would want to connect the sumps.

If you run the sumps independently and one pump fails, the good pump will continue pumping water up to your display tank and water will continue overflowing into BOTH sumps. This means the water level in the sump with the dead pump will continue to rise until the water level in the sump with the good pump is so low that it is no longer able to pump any water (aka runs dry).

To put it another way, even if the sump with the bad pump does not flood, that only means that it has enough capacity to hold enough water so that the pump in your other sump is running dry (basically, the only point in time that the water level in the sump with the dead pump will stop rising is if the other pump stops pumping water back up to your display tank).

If you have to use the two tanks as sumps, I would plumb them together with the largest plumbing possible- 2" bulkhead fittings should work, but the bigger the better.

I know you are trying to use what you've got, but in my area there always seem to be old acrylic tanks for sale that would make perfect sumps. Instead of worrying about connecting the two sumps, I would just keep an eye out for a scratched up acrylic 100G-135G and avoid the hassle of connecting the two.

 

[duanes]

I run 2 sumps, one into the other, no problem at all, one is a bit higher than the other. I use plants in one, and the pump and other hardware in the lowest positioned sump. Been doing it that way for years.

the planted one above sometimes holds fry.
The lower one, below holds heaters, pump and filter socks.

 

[aldiaz33]

Duanes, is it possible to post a picture from farther back? I think your setup is a bit different in that your display tank feeds into a smaller tank which then feeds into your sump which contains only one pump. The potential for problems that I mentioned is when you have two sumps plumbed independently, each with their own pump. It looks like your lower tanks/sumps are connected, so there isn't much danger there.