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NEReef

350g sump ideas

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by
NEReef
, 06-19-2012 at 10:05 PM (8142 Views)
So i have a question does anyone run multiple tanks on the same level as a sump? I know people have separate refugiums but I want some feedback about how the whole daisy chaining multiple tanks together actually works. Are there more problems with water levels due to different tanks or does it all just level out? Do bulkheads between the tanks distribute the water evenly etc??? Those types of questions are what I'm working through because right now to keep the equipment under the tank I basically need to have a custom acrylic sump made or connect some smaller tanks together to get the gallonage I want in a sump.

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‎ Questions - Need some input , ‎ Equipment

Comments

  1. cyano's Avatar
    I had considered doing something similar for a sump of my own at one point but all the what-ifs and potential grief caused me just to go with a more custom sump rather than risking all the potential problems of that setup and the potential headaches of figuring it all out.

    If you decide multiple tanks is the way you are going to go though then a few things.......the water level will all ultimately level out but you have to really plan out the flow and what you want to do (a typical refugium for instance has low flow for pod growth) so in a daisy chain of 3 tanks for example a refugium would have to be the last tank draining into the middle tank at a reduced flow than the rest of the sump so a standard setup in order from first tank to last would be cleaning tank(skimmer, reactor) return tank (probes, auto top off, can also do calcium reactor through here but if you do auto top off you typically don't want a lot of splashing) refugium.

    I personally would consider a custom sump still, I am not sure of the price on one/size you need/design but you don't really want to "cheap out" in this part of a build find what will work best for you and go for it. if you have to save and wait a couple more months for it I know waiting sucks but the wait will be well worth it.

    If you will be happy with a chain of tanks and it will work great for your application then by all means do it! I am sure there are others on here that can give you some better help than me and I also know that Marc builds sumps so hopefully he can chime in here...
  2. NEReef's Avatar
    ya i hear ya about all the what ifs... i was really entertaining the multiple tank idea because of the awkward size restraints which kinda preclude me from taking a normal size 6' tank and make a sump. I am trying to get everything inside my stand with inside dimensions of about 66"Lx30"Wx29"T. I could get a 4' tank under there but a 90 is kinda tall for that space and i dont know that a 75 would really let me maximise the set up.... I was thinking about grabbing a couple 40 Breeders at the Petco $1/G sale and linking them together or talking to my local plastics place about making me a sump thats like 60x28x16.