Frag Tank Plumbing Issue

[JGT]

Finally getting around to setting up my frag/growout tank. Going to set it up in my basement fish room near my sump. Plan to tie it into my DT so it’s using the same water.
Issue I have is that the sump is higher than the frag tank. Originally I built the sump stand to be at chest level for easier maintenance.
Because of this, I can’t use gravity to return the water to the sump. I’ve tried using a pump but no matter how I fine tune it, I always wind up with too much or not enough water being returned to the sump.
Before I go and modify the sump stand and drop it down lower, wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.

Thanks.

 

[Asm481]

Gravity is always going to win. Your lowest level will always need room for drain down in power outage or maintenance. Nothing says your lowest level couldn't be a frag tank or display. Just leave room for drain down but that's also where the pump will need to be.

 

[twentyleagues]

I agree with @Asm481. Either lower the sump or raise the frag tank. Last time I was in reefing I had multiple tanks tied together. Sump system, display fuge, 90g nps tank were in the basement and 120 and 125 gallon reefs upstairs. The 90 and fuge had to be taller then the sump which wasnt terrible but that put the top of the 90 6' off the basement floor. The fuge was about chest level or about 4' off the floor (bottom drain in that tank) which gave just enough room to run the drainpipe to the first part of the sump. Sump was 3-100g rubbermaid stock tanks that sat on the floor. I wont get into the time frame I had 2-300g stock tanks hooked up too, it was a mess of pvc pipes and barely safe water levels in an emergency.

 

[Jamie814]

Without a picture of the sump & frag tank setup I'm just guessing here.... but, if the sump is not a lot higher, could you drill and install a bulkhead in the side of the sump for the frag tank drain?

 

[JGT]

Gravity is always going to win. Your lowest level will always need room for drain down in power outage or maintenance. Nothing says your lowest level couldn't be a frag tank or display. Just leave room for drain down but that's also where the pump will need to be.

Tank is on first floor, fish room is basement. So lowest level is going to be either the frag tank or the sump.

 

[JGT]

I agree with @Asm481. Either lower the sump or raise the frag tank. Last time I was in reefing I had multiple tanks tied together. Sump system, display fuge, 90g nps tank were in the basement and 120 and 125 gallon reefs upstairs. The 90 and fuge had to be taller then the sump which wasnt terrible but that put the top of the 90 6' off the basement floor. The fuge was about chest level or about 4' off the floor (bottom drain in that tank) which gave just enough room to run the drainpipe to the first part of the sump. Sump was 3-100g rubbermaid stock tanks that sat on the floor. I wont get into the time frame I had 2-300g stock tanks hooked up too, it was a mess of pvc pipes and barely safe water levels in an emergency.

Yes, if I raised frag tank it would need to be about 6-7’ off the ground. Not ideal. :)
Having to lower sump is just going to be a pain. Need to shorten or remove the stand in it’s entirely. Also have my ato container under it now which will also need to be relocated. Will need to extend the pvc lines to accommodate the lower height. Ugh.

 

[JGT]

Without a picture of the sump & frag tank setup I'm just guessing here.... but, if the sump is not a lot higher, could you drill and install a bulkhead in the side of the sump for the frag tank drain?

Considered this but don’t like the idea of gravity feed from the sump to the frag tank. When power goes off tank drains into sump and that could then overflow the frag tank.
Right now, I have a pvc line running from a manifold on the DT mainline that goes over to the frag tank.
If the sump was lower, would simply adjust manifold to send water over to frag tank and have it drain back into sump. Would keep water levels consistent as well. This way when power goes off, no water being sent over to the frag talk and no siphon issues.

 

[Jamie814]

Considered this but don’t like the idea of gravity feed from the sump to the frag tank. When power goes off tank drains into sump and that could then overflow the frag tank.
Right now, I have a pvc line running from a manifold on the DT mainline that goes over to the frag tank.
If the sump was lower, would simply adjust manifold to send water over to frag tank and have it drain back into sump. Would keep water levels consistent as well. This way when power goes off, no water being sent over to the frag talk and no siphon issues.

Like I mentioned it's hard to visualize without seeing a picture of the setup but as long as the top of the frag tank is even or higher than the top of the sump some water backflowing into the frag tank during an outage won't hurt anything.

 

[JGT]

Like I mentioned it's hard to visualize without seeing a picture of the setup but as long as the top of the frag tank is even or higher than the top of the sump some water backflowing into the frag tank during an outage won't hurt anything.

Yeah, unfortunately it’s not.