Tyng multiple canister filters together?

[Keister]

I am curious if it is possible to tie multiple canister filters in together? I have three canister filters (fx5, eheim 2260, and filstar xl4) and I am annoyed with how there are three intakes and three outflows in my tank and it just doesn't look good at all in my opinion. I am curious if I can tie all three intakes and outflows into one single larger intake and outflow. I was thinking like a 1.5" intake and outflow and then run the hoses from the filters all into that? It would be the same setup on both the intake and outflow except for the 2260 has a smaller out hose then the intake hose. Has anyone done/tried this before? Good idea or bad?

 

[scott s]

Not sure on the intake line but the return line could be done that way for sure.

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[Keister]

Not sure on the intake line but the return line could be done that way for sure.

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Ok well that's have if it. I was thinking that the intakes would basically feed off of a large siphon. Any other opinions, ideas, and experiences?




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[rodger]

I don't think it will work well. You have three different pumps so three different flow ratings. Your highest capacity pump will interfere with lower rated pumps. The higher rated pump may starve a smaller pump. And I may be completely wrong if you had it set up right. Just food for thought from a guy that doesn't know much.

 

[Keister]

I don't think it will work well. You have three different pumps so three different flow ratings. Your highest capacity pump will interfere with lower rated pumps. The higher rated pump may starve a smaller pump. And I may be completely wrong if you had it set up right. Just food for thought from a guy that doesn't know much.

Ya that makes sense. I was hoping to avoid this issue by having a large enough intake so the separate intakes could basically feed solely off of the siphon if that was possible?




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[MilitantPotato]

My engineer girlfriend says as long as you use a large diameter intake and return it will be fine to run two dissimilar pumps in parallel. There will likely be some loss in flow rate though. She said there's something about if one loses or doesn't have prime it's no good, but couldn't remember exactly why. We think it might be damage to the unprimed pump due to the other one forcing the non-primed but spinning pump to crash into back flushing water due to the other pump, but that was a guess.

Oh, she said if one pump is significantly weaker, the stronger pump can actually force water backwards through the weaker pump below a certain head (determined by the pump) since the slower pump develops less pressure. Beyond that pressure the weaker pump will aid in output, but still not as much as running them independently

Here's a bit of light reading:
http://www.waterworld.com/articles/...-pumps-reliability-amp-efficiency-issues.html

Given all that, a single large intake feeding all of them, with separate outputs would be problem free given the intake is truly large enough.

 

[mudbuttjones]

Heres a pic of a 1.5" manifold I made to run 2 small canisters with 1/2" inputs

I got sidetracked and I'm returning to the project. Ill let you know how it goes

:edit:

Its designed to run with separate returns. Theres no reason why it shouldn't work as long as their is ample water suppy and the outgoing pumps are rated fairly similar. Im using this for a 2213 and fluval 104.

I wouldn't pair this with say a 2213 and an fx5.

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[PhysicsDude]

Yes this will work, I have used a setup with 3 canister filters on the same intake/output for years.

I have 3 Magnum 350 filters with a combined 1" intake and 3/4" output with 3 "nozzles" on it. I only run 2 filters at a time on timers, for all 3 you'd probably want slightly larger hoses.

Its not necesarry, but a good idea to have the intake larger than the output. I went with a slightly undersized output for a higher output pressure since I'm trying to simulate a river biotope.

Tube Size | cross section | max flow rate (approx)
1/2".................. .195" ................. 200gph
5/8" ................. .301" ................. 300gph
3/4" ................. .442" ................. 450gph
1" .................... .785 .................. 800gph
1.25"................ 1.227..................1300gph
1.5".................. 1.767..................1900gph
2.0"...................3.142..................3500gph

These numbers aren't set in stone... just some rough estimates based on what I've read, and looking at hose sizes that manufacturers use.

Here's my current setup:

Overall I'm happy with the setup. If I could do it again I'd probably go with a sump.

Regarding different pump/filters with different flow rates, I haven't noticed any issues with this. Perhaps theoretically if you had one pump that was much much stronger than another, it could create enough pressure on the output of the weaker pump that it wouldn't get through, but I haven't noticed this effect.

Right now I have a small circulation pump that I don't usually run, I intended it to run a reactor or heater or something which I I'm not currently using. It has less than half the flow of the magnum 350's when they're clean. Or for that matter the magnum 350 pumps have significantly different flow depending on the filter type and how clean it is. I've only noticed that the flows seem to add up to each other, their flow rates don't seem to interfere with the other pumps to a noticeable amount. Your results may vary.

 

[apastuszak]

The question that I have is, why are you running 3 canister filters on one tank? Wouldn't it make more sense to get one large canister filter, or find a method of filtration that can deal with the whole tank with a single intake and output?

 

[Oxymus]

The question that I have is, why are you running 3 canister filters on one tank? Wouldn't it make more sense to get one large canister filter, or find a method of filtration that can deal with the whole tank with a single intake and output?

I having similar setup like poster, the reason is that I can alternate clean and change filter medias without interrupt my biological filtration, also multi intakes better than one in this case for me!