New Tank plumbing added new question please help

A

allhobbs

Hello all. Hope you had a Great Christmas!

My wonderful Hubby bought me a new tank for Christmas. It is a 24"x24"x12"high cube. I have been wanting one for my Clams which are out growing my 127 Tenecor.

Now for the hard part. I want to plumb it into my other tank. I am not very technical and am not sure how to link them. Any suggestions from members that have multiple systems hooked together would be most appreciated. I will post pictures of the tank later today as I think it is a little different than some.

Thanks,
Mary
 
It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds...

I'm assuming you have a sump on your current system. Also, you'll want to make sure the sump has a large enough capacity that it can handle all of the backflow water from your current tank AND the new one and the plumbing for the new one if all pumps are shut off...

Anyway, the way I do it is just put another return pump in the sump, pump the water to the secondary (or tertiary, or.....) tank, and have the alternate tank drain back into my sump just like the main tank does...

In fact, I set this up on my new system just yesterday, and that's exactly how I did it... That's also how I hooked up the majority of the 8 or so tanks that made up my old system...
 
Of course the other way is to tie the plumbing together with T's and union & ball valves - but can require a bigger return pump to push water to multiple tanks. I'm not sure which way I would prefer personally. Listen to me... I sound like a pro - I have come so far!

But I think just running new plumbing to a 2nd return pump would probably be easiest.
 
Hi, can you explain the external pump plumbing in more detail. I just bought a bigger pump. So It would probably be a posibility. I don't have a ton of room left in my sump for another pump. I attached a picture of the sump and fuge and one of the back of the new tank. The sump has a pretty big skimmer in it so there isn't a lot of extra room for equipment.


Mary alt=""> alt="">
 
If you wanted to use the same return pump, you just need to split the return line to feed both tanks. Use ball valves on both lines so that you can control the flow to both tanks. You'll split the return with a T or Y. Looks like you're using vinyl tubing... I used that on one of my previous tanks, but now I have been taught how to plub with pvc... After a friend (and fellow DFWMAS reefer) showed me, I realized how simple it really is.

I'm thinking of heading out to Frank's Tanks on Tuesday - I could drop by and help out or lend a hand if you're around during the day. Shoot me a PM... hope this helps.
 
New question:
I decided to put the clam tank a few feet from the main tank. Is there a minimum drop per foot for the pumbing from the overflow of the clam tank to the sump of the main tank.

I am planning to try to fit a pump in the sump for my return per Serks recomendation. I have a mag 5 in the closet that I may try.
 
For any horizontal runs, a 1/4" drop per foot will allow air to run back up the pipe, keeping away the burbling / gurgling.
 
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