Remote sump for 700G system with 2 DT's

[pelicansreef]

My wife and I decided to treat ourselves to a new Display tank for Christmas. ;Happy

Our current system is comprised of a 220G reef with a 100G dedicated sump located in our Great room and a 90G reef with a 45G dedicated sump located in the adjacent Kitchen/breakfast area. We will be replacing the 220G reef tank with a new 375G Planet aquarium that is 96" X 30" X 30". Since we will have to disassemble the Great room reef to replace the carpet and install the new tank, we will be upgrading some of the systems and components on the Great room reef. One of the things we intend to rethink is the system sumps.

Both the great room tank and the kitchen tank are run by separate sumps located under each tank. I am thinking that I can reuse the current 220 as a common sump and locate it either in the garage or in a room behind the kitchen. Either location would be within 15' to 25' of both tanks. I currently use a Neptune apex system on the Great room tank and run the Kitchen tank without the luxury of automation. Both tanks have separate small ATO systems and these need to be refilled on a regular basis. The Kitchen lacks a refugium because there isn't room.

My thought is if I use the 220 as a remote sump and hook both tanks to it, I can facilitate a lot of maintenance chores in a single location and save a ton of testing and maintenance that I currently do to 2 separate systems, I have a 300G (200G RO/DI water - 100G saltwater) water system, located in the garage, that can feed the remote sump and enlarged ATO very easily. the new sump would have plenty of room for an increased refugium as well as media reactors etc. I also have a new recirculating skimmer that could handle the combined load and if I need more skimmer, I could utilize the current skimmer as a backup.

Any of your thoughts or recommendations are welcomed. Please point out any issues you see or think of with a single sump 2 display system.

Thanks
John

 

[phillybean]

No experience doing it, but if I were to run two display tanks, that is what I would do. Obviously having the sump further away will create challenges with drain pipes and at 15-25 feet, you'll need a couple strong pumps. But if you can figure out those logistical issues, I think you'll be great. I'd even go a step further and say use your current 100 gallon sump as a refugium.

 

[Yodeling]

That sounds like a reasonable plan. Consolidating my tanks to run off a single sump was a game changer for me. Not only will you cut your chores in half, but greater water volume provides more stability (not that you’d have to worry with such a massive tank). You can also run with half the equipment provided they are properly sized to run multiple tanks. There really are no downsides imho.

 

[pelicansreef]

A big part of the thought process has been that by combining the two sumps to a remote location with water and drains close by, it makes water changes a lot easier and if it is easier, it is more likely to happen regularly. Additionally, it makes a lot of sense from an automation standpoint. As far as the piping and return pumps I intend to install a 4" gravity drain from each tank to the sump. the top of the sump will end up lower than the bottom of the display tank so gravity feed from 1 1/2" drains to a 4" drain between the tank and the sump should work fine. return pumps will likely get up graded somewhat but I already flow 9 to 10 x DT volume thru my sumps per hr. which seems to work fine. I am considering adding a second return pump for each tank and running each return pump at less than full flow. This gives me a good redundancy and adjustable flow. I currently have a reef octopus VarioS-8 pump on the 220 and will likely add a second for a total ability of over 5000 gph minus any piping resistance. The additional 20' of run from the new sump to the tank should not be a significant difference from the current setup. As for ancillary equipment like skimmers etc. I already bought a reef octopus regal 250 recirculating skimmer and have a current Reef octopus Regal 300int as a backup as well as a small Reef octopus 110 that is on the 90 now.

 

[phillybean]

Sounds like you have a solid plan, one thing I would recommend, since you are already running an Apex is AWC with a DOS. It’s been great for me.

 

[pelicansreef]

I use the DOS to dose Kalkwaser. Actually, it feeds RO water to an Avast Kalk stirrer. That way the Kalk never gets into the DOS. I have seen a few conversations about the dos being used for auto water changes but given the noise it makes feeding the Kalk stirrer I am unsure of the long-term use for auto water changes. Additionally, I'm not a big fan of automatic water changes. I really prefer to do water changes by "open a valve to drain and then open a valve to refill. I always envision something going wrong and filling the floor with fresh saltwater. I get a really vivid image of my lovely wife standing in the door and saying "what the h*** happened. You said that wouldn't happen" and it scares me.....LOL

 

[KenO]

I have a 200 gallon and a 250 gallon along with a couple of 40 breeders connected to one sump. My sump is an infloor concrete sump in my fish room. The 200 gallon is 25' away from the sump. The 250 gallon is 45' away from the sump. The 2 - 40 breeders sit right next to the sump. I use 4 jebao 20,000L pumps. 2 for each tank. I have no problem pushing water to each setup. The jebao's on the 200 gallon are running just over the minimum 30% setting. The ones for the 250 are running at 50%. I use 1.5" return lines.

My drains are the bean animal style. The drains for the 200 gallon are 1.5" and 2" for the 250. I have the gate valves on the main drain line on each tank and the valves sit right above the water in the sump. Both tanks are dead silent.

If you have any questions fire away.

Also to heat my tanks I'm using my on demand hot water heater with a dedicated loop and a titanium heat exchanger.

 

[pelicansreef]

That sound like a nice setup. I just got a message from Planet Aquarium that my new tank will be here 2nd or 3rd week of Feb. So, I guess I will be making some definite choices about sump location. I have a garage about 15' from both the 90 and the 375 however, it is not heated. It doesn't usually get below 50 and generally stays in the 60-to-70-degree range. I think I will be using the current 220 as the new sump and will insulate everything including a lid, which i have to design and build

 

[Ben Pedersen]

Photos?

 

[pelicansreef]

I'll try to get some better pictures of the current tank which will be the new sump and I will post pictures of the stand and new tank as the construction of the stand comes along.

first picture is current tank.

 

[pelicansreef]

I'll post more pictures tomorrow as soon as I get a chance to take more current pictures

 

[KenO]

That sound like a nice setup. I just got a message from Planet Aquarium that my new tank will be here 2nd or 3rd week of Feb. So, I guess I will be making some definite choices about sump location. I have a garage about 15' from both the 90 and the 375 however, it is not heated. It doesn't usually get below 50 and generally stays in the 60-to-70-degree range. I think I will be using the current 220 as the new sump and will insulate everything including a lid, which i have to design and build

Sounds like a plan. If you have any question let me know.