Piggy back tank

[rostalee]

How to make your own tank? I really want to piggyback a 45x45 tank onto my main tank. So looking at an aqua one minireef 90 because it’s already plumbed. But I already have a cabinet and don’t need the sump. I want to essentially end up with it as a refugium / breeding tank. But I’m scared to try to drill and plumb it myself. It will drain and return to my main sump.

 

[twentyleagues]

So you want to run two tanks off one sump essentially, but it sounds like you want them in sort of a series. Main tank draining to this tank and that to the sump? The easiest way would be plumb new tank to sump and either split your return between the two or give it its own return pump. The other way would involve drilling your main tank and making sure the new tank was in a position to receive water via gravity then sending that water to the sump. Much harder way of doing it. If your tank is drilled through the back near the top it may not be that much of an issue but the new tank would need to sit well below that and still be above the sump. Plumb overflow from existing tank to new tank, new tank to sump return water to existing tank. Besides gravity you would need to make sure the new tanks overflow was capable of handling the water coming out of the existing tanks overflow.

 

[rostalee]

The easiest way would be plumb new tank to sump and either split your return between the two or give it its own return pump.

This is my plan. I’m just not sure about how you build your own tank with overflow.ate external overflows reliable? How likely am I to break the glass of if I try to drill it if I bought say 45cm cube and plumbed it.

 

[twentyleagues]

This is my plan. I’m just not sure about how you build your own tank with overflow.ate external overflows reliable? How likely am I to break the glass of if I try to drill it if I bought say 45cm cube and plumbed it.

As long as it isnt tempered its not that hard. I have an eshopps eclipse L overflow on a 75g that works great. Lots of utube videos on how to set up for drilling. The eshopps come with a template and hole saw to drill the tank. And yes external overflows are very reliable.