Multi-System plumbing guidance

[retroreefing]

Anyone have any good threads or YouTube videos about plumbing multiple tanks to one sump?

Looking to plumb a 180 and 50 gallon to a central sump but having trouble finding good info on how to do this.

 

[TX_REEF]

I am doing a similar project now, happy to compare notes. It is pretty straightforward if you can handle a single DIY sump setup!

 

[retroreefing]

I am doing a similar project now, happy to compare notes. It is pretty straightforward if you can handle a single DIY sump setup!

Awesome! Plenty of experience with single sumps. I was looking for answer to the following.

Would a single return pump with a T to each tank be best?

Seperate drains for each tank to sump correct?

Will the water levels in each tank take care of themselves with the overflow? Or would I need control valves on the drains to dial this in?

How many drain pipes per tank is best practice to prevent floods on a system like this? 2 or 3?

 

[UncommonSense]

with the second tank being 50g (not a small frag tank or remote refugium) here’s my answers:

Would a single return pump with a T to each tank be best?

Best practice here will be having a separate return pump for each tank, primarily so you don’t loose life support to both tanks in the event of a return pump failure! (On this note, the 180G would have best life support redundancy with two separate dedicated return pumps, on separate plumbing! — so three return pumps total in a perfect world!)

Seperate drains for each tank to sump correct?

Correct!

Combining multiple full siphon drains requires a lot more care in the plumbing design to prevent one or several complications!

Will the water levels in each tank take care of themselves with the overflow? Or would I need control valves on the drains to dial this in?

Yes, the overflow box’s weir in each tank dictates the tank’s operating water height!

The control valve (ideally a gate valve) is only used on the lowest drain in a tank’s overflow box (aka “siphon channel” or “primary drain”)… this is used to restrict the drain plumbing until a full siphon is formed, creating near-silent drain operation! (This is for two and three drain plumbing [aka “Herbie” and “BeanAnimal” respectively]… Single drain [aka “Durso”] systems should NEVER have a valve restricting their only drain in attempt to silence drain noise.)

How many drain pipes per tank is best practice to prevent floods on a system like this? 2 or 3?

If they were my tanks, and I had the space? I’d do three drains per tank!

(BeanAnimal drain plumbing, leaves the third “emergency” drain wide open and dry during normal operation, ready to prevent a massive house flood even if all other failsafes against clogs are overwhelmed!)

1” drains on the 50G

1.25-1.5” drains on the 180g (my 180g has 3x 1.5” drains… a tad overkill, but I don’t like drain clogs!)



— Are either or both tanks already drilled/boxed? Or are you making plans to do that work yourself?

 

[Rob A]

Anyone have any good threads or YouTube videos about plumbing multiple tanks to one sump?

Looking to plumb a 180 and 50 gallon to a central sump but having trouble finding good info on how to do this.

I have multiple tanks tied together using a common sump check my build thread it might give you some ideas

 

[TX_REEF]

with the second tank being 50g (not a small frag tank or remote refugium) here’s my answers:


Best practice here will be having a separate return pump for each tank, primarily so you don’t loose life support to both tanks in the event of a return pump failure! (On this note, the 180G would have best life support redundancy with two separate dedicated return pumps, on separate plumbing! — so three return pumps total in a perfect world!)


Correct!

Combining multiple full siphon drains requires a lot more care in the plumbing design to prevent one or several complications!


Yes, the overflow box’s weir in each tank dictates the tank’s operating water height!

The control valve (ideally a gate valve) is only used on the lowest drain in a tank’s overflow box (aka “siphon channel” or “primary drain”)… this is used to restrict the drain plumbing until a full siphon is formed, creating near-silent drain operation! (This is for two and three drain plumbing [aka “Herbie” and “BeanAnimal” respectively]… Single drain [aka “Durso”] systems should NEVER have a valve restricting their only drain in attempt to silence drain noise.)


If they were my tanks, and I had the space? I’d do three drains per tank!

(BeanAnimal drain plumbing, leaves the third “emergency” drain wide open and dry during normal operation, ready to prevent a massive house flood even if all other failsafes against clogs are overwhelmed!)

1” drains on the 50G

1.25-1.5” drains on the 180g (my 180g has 3x 1.5” drains… a tad overkill, but I don’t like drain clogs!)



— Are either or both tanks already drilled/boxed? Or are you making plans to do that work yourself?

awesome advice above, totally agree. though I will admit I usually have 2 drains per tank, since my displays are 50 gallons or so and space/cost is a factor. 2 drain Eshopps Eclipse overflows have worked very well for me: https://amzn.to/3OsfgaZ