Adding additional tank to system- plumbing help.

[GOSKN5]

Forgive my drawing (I can’t)- but I am thinking about adding a drilled cube tank that I have into my current system. Like to make it a display refugium maybe.

 

Would this plumbing work? Any concerns with this plan? How about when the pumps are off with back flow into the sump/extra tank? I know I might need a couple valves to control the flow and a strong enough return pump.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

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[YHSublime]

At first blush, I'm thinking you're going to want to make sure your sump can handle the additional overflow from the refugium if you lose power. Based on the way you've drawn this though, I'm presuming return pump goes into the display, drain passes through the refugium then into the sump? 

 

I did this on my old 150 in "Two Tanks, One Room." IIRC, I used the same sump, but two separate return pumps. I only added a 20L, so didn't need a ton. 

[GOSKN5]

No- actually the return pump would basically be split and some would go into the display and some would go into the refugium- essentially that water would recirculate from return pump to refugium and back to return pump.

If power goes, I don’t think much would go back into the sump, other than what is in the plumbing from the addition tank?

My sump is small and about at its max limit now for water- that is my concern


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[epleeds]

I have added several frag tanks to my display over the years. I have had the ability to do so due to having a large sump that can handle the extra water volume. 
 

on my last tank I used a separate pump for the frag tank but on this new tank I’m trying to do it with one oversized return pump. We will see how that works once I source my new frag tank and get it plumbed up. 
 

Your biggest concern is the sump volume. See how much volume you have once you turn the pumps off and calculate it from there. If you’re only talking about a 20 gallon cube, they don’t drain much when the power goes down.  I used the Fiji cube with external overflow box with my last set up. Worked great. 

[epleeds]

2 minutes ago, GOSKN5 said:

No- actually the return pump would basically be split and some would go into the display and some would go into the refugium- essentially that water would recirculate from return pump to refugium and back to return pump.

If power goes, I don’t think much would go back into the sump, other than what is in the plumbing from the addition tank?

My sump is small and about at its max limit now for water- that is my concern


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Do you have a picture of your sump with the power off to see how much space you have left?

[YHSublime]

7 minutes ago, epleeds said:

Your biggest concern is the sump volume. See how much volume you have once you turn the pumps off and calculate it from there. 

 

This

[WheresTheReef]

+1 on the sump volume, but a small tank shouldn’t back up too much more water.

 

You will need valves to balance the return flow. How is your drain setup? You consider using a drain to gravity feed the extra tank under the stand? You might need to split a drain and use a valve to control the flow to the tank. 

[GOSKN5]

I thought about the drain, but it’s on the other side and hooked into a roller mat- I don’t want to mess with that.

I can adjust the sump volume some to give some more headroom for back flow- all that will flow back in there is what’s in the plumbing from the refugium tank (it’s a 40 cube) and the plumbing from the display- which already flows back- I don’t think there is much to flow back, right?


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[YHSublime]

4 minutes ago, GOSKN5 said:

I can adjust the sump volume some to give some more headroom for back flow- all that will flow back in there is what’s in the plumbing from the refugium tank (it’s a 40 cube) and the plumbing from the display- which already flows back- I don’t think there is much to flow back, right?

 

Depends how high up the water line is on the 40 cube. Whatever you have right now that would drain in if there was no power, plus whatever would drain out of the 40. 

[GOSKN5]

Right, that’s what I was thinking. I think I can accommodate that, but would need to check. Thanks for the responses!


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[epleeds]

Depending on your return pump, you could put a 90 degree elbow on it so that it draws water from a lower position and then you can lower the working level of your return chamber to accommodate the extra water volume from the 40 cube. 

[GOSKN5]

Depending on your return pump, you could put a 90 degree elbow on it so that it draws water from a lower position and then you can lower the working level of your return chamber to accommodate the extra water volume from the 40 cube. 

Another question- the return line from the cube to the sump- that needs to dump above water right? I couldn’t drill the sump and have it empty below water- otherwise it would want to fill and not have pressure to dump?


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[epleeds]

Are you talking about the drain line from the cube to the sump?  Cause that can be under the water line to prevent splashing. 

[GOSKN5]

Yes, will it flow though if it’s well under water? Like near the bottom of the sump?


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[GOSKN5]

In other words, the red line is from the overflow of the cube, to the bottom of the sump section with the return pump.

When the sump fills, will the overflow from the cube work if it’s that low?


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[Origami]

It's been a while since you posted, but I'm just seeing this now. I would probably put a valve on the tapped line going into the refugium display tank. Without it, you're creating a low pressure point in your main line that will almost certainly reduce flow considerably in the right leg to the main tank and possibly reduce flow to the left leg in the process. To keep this from being a problem, add a valve. Better yet, tap off the initial line from the return pump rather than the right leg with a tee and a valve so that both the right and left legs to the main tank have similar flow.