Connecting multiple tanks to a single sump with overhead plumbing?

[Eric83]

I just bought a new house and I would like to add another tank, but I don't want the hassle of keeping a separate system, I'd like to do 1 water change, set tests, etc...

My problem is that they would be located on the same floor (slab) of the house and at opposite ends. I'm hoping there some really nifty way to connect them via overhead plumbing that I just haven't heard of. I'm opening several holes in my ceiling to redo some electrical, move some plumbing for upstairs bathrooms etc, so a few more holes to run lines for a tank wouldn't be a problem.

I know there are dual head peristaltic pumps that would remove/add the same volume of water to the secondary tank that is away from the sump, but that's not enough water exchange for filtration.

Any ideas on how to swap main tank water and secondary tank water on a 1:1 basis using overhead plumbing at a high enough flow for filtration on a 120gal?

 

[nervousmonkey]

Sounds like a super cool idea actually. One way to accomplish what you want is to put a small container, say 10 gallons, in between and instead of the tanks pulling directly from each other, they pull from the center container. That eliminates the issues of needing pumps that are so precise yet so high volume. This way, if there is a calibration difference between the two pumps, it only shows up in the center holding tank, which you can monitor and correct as needed. That gives you the ability to keep the same water exchanged between tanks, exchange high volumes of water at a time (on a 10 gallon holding tank, the pumps would have to run pretty close to one another in terms of time, but that part is easy), and remove/add the same amount of water, just from the holding tank, which just becomes a third tank in your system that has no function but to hold water. This method would also allow high enough flow for filtration.