Plumbing help

[Fishy_mcfish]

I currently have a 25 gal that’s running but want to bring in a bigger stand and run the 25 gal and a 30 gal off of the same sump. The sump would be in the stand directly under the two tanks.
My question is how do I go about plumbing these two tanks to run off the same sump? Well mainly I just need help and ideas on how to plumbing these two tanks return to , hopefully, run off one return pump.
The 25 gal has a main drain and an emergency drain. The 30 gal only has a single drain.
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Bonus points for drawings or pics

 

[*GAREEF*]

I currently have a 25 gal that’s running but want to bring in a bigger stand and run the 25 gal and a 30 gal off of the same sump. The sump would be in the stand directly under the two tanks.
My question is how do I go about plumbing these two tanks to run off the same sump? Well mainly I just need help and ideas on how to plumbing these two tanks return to , hopefully, run off one return pump.
The 25 gal has a main drain and an emergency drain. The 30 gal only has a single drain.
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Bonus points for drawings or pics

You can use a T fitting for the pump and have separate or connected together drains also using a T fitting.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Best practice in my opinion is two return pumps and separate drains. Biggest issue is making sure there's enough headroom if power goes out to handle both tanks

 

[*GAREEF*]

Best practice in my opinion is two return pumps and separate drains. Biggest issue is making sure there's enough headroom if power goes out to handle both tanks

I fully support this idea.

 

[Fishy_mcfish]

I was going to run separate drains. I was also thinking about putting backflow valve on the return line to help minimize backflow back into the sump in case of power outage or me needing to turn the pump off.

 

[hoffmeyerz]

Best practice in my opinion is two return pumps and separate drains. Biggest issue is making sure there's enough headroom if power goes out to handle both tanks

Spot on.
Allows you to have gate/ball valves on the lines for each tank so they can be controlled individually.
For simplicity sake you can make a siphon break in your return to limit the water returning to the sump when pump is off. I drilled a small hole in my J-tube about 1/4" below the water line. That way no matter what happens it won't siphon back into the sump more than that level.

 

[Shirak]

Check valves on the return are fine.. until they don't work when the pump stops. They need cleaning and are finicky IMO and not to be trusted to stop a tank from siphoning water down the return into the sump.

Single drain is also asking for trouble. Very easy to accidently overflow the tank if the drain slows down for whatever reason.

 

[Fishy_mcfish]

Check valves on the return are fine.. until they don't work when the pump stops. They need cleaning and are finicky IMO and not to be trusted to stop a tank from siphoning water down the return into the sump.

Single drain is also asking for trouble. Very easy to accidently overflow the tank if the drain slows down for whatever reason.

I am not a huge fan of single drains myself but I picked up a seapora 24x24x12 and that’s how they have them setup. It’s a corner overflow with a 1” drain and 3/4 return. I would drill a new return line in the back but I’m not sure if it’s tempered or not.

 

[Shirak]

I am not a huge fan of single drains myself but I picked up a seapora 24x24x12 and that’s how they have them setup. It’s a corner overflow with a 1” drain and 3/4 return. I would drill a new return line in the back but I’m not sure if it’s tempered or not.

What if you used an over the top return so you could use both drilled holes as drains? Small tank so 3/4" main drain with a valve and leave the 1" wide open?