Tying main display and frag tank together

[chuckfu5]

Just recently received a 50 gallon CADE frag system and it’s larger than i expected and won’t fit where I originally had planned.

I want to tie the system together with my display tank but they will have to be in different rooms.

I do have an unfinished basement but I don’t want to drill large holes in each room to run 1” pipe down and then back up.

I was thinking of doing the following:

Run the frag system as an independent system but hook up a Neptune DOS to continuously change water daily from the main display to the frag system.

If I do that I wouldn’t need all of the equipment for the frag system and could likely get away with a return pump, wave maker and a heater.

Anyone ever tried this before?

 

[Cichlid23]

I've done similar setups, nothing wrong with that.

 

[JPM San Diego]

Your question brings back memories. In 2019, just before Refapalooza, Anaheim I connected two tanks. A third, old tank, became the sump. Yes, very DIY. I pumped into one tank, siphoned back into the second, and then down to the sump. I installed dual siphon tubes for redundancy. My six line wrasse figure out pretty quick he had access to both tanks.
About that time I hired a consultant who's first comment was "NO."
Separate those two tanks before you have a 60 gallon mess on the floor!
Wisely, I took his advice, much to my six line's disappointment. :)

 

[chuckfu5]

Your question brings back memories. In 2019, just before Refapalooza, Anaheim I connected two tanks. A third, old tank, became the sump. Yes, very DIY. I pumped into one tank, siphoned back into the second, and then down to the sump. I installed dual siphon tubes for redundancy. My six line wrasse figure out pretty quick he had access to both tanks.
About that time I hired a consultant who's first comment was "NO."
Separate those two tanks before you have a 60 gallon mess on the floor!
Wisely, I took his advice, much to my six line's disappointment. :)

LOL....that awesome.

Same but different what I was thinking.

Mine would be controlled via DOS and would be cycling water back and forth between the two systems.

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

The only problem I see with joining the two systems is that if you develop a problem with one you now have a problem in two. Just my thoughts.

 

[John1966]

I run a big (8 tank) system. Main concern is to run only 1 or 2 tanks on any one pump from the sump, and leave enough space in sump so it does not overflow if all power is lost.

Another thing is make sure nothing can get in the pipes. I have had problems with snails or fish getting into pipes or inlets and blocking flow.

Shared problems is a concern, but the large water volume gives stability and reduces number of tanks to test. Most fish stores run multi-tank systems for simplicity.