Adding a second sump

[DiZASTiX]

I'm trying to attach a second sump to my current setup; however, the caveat is that it's impossible to properly drill a water bridge pipe in the back of the sump without emptying both the display tank and the sump. Is there a way to do this using an alternative method, perhaps employing pumps, for instance? While I cannot drill the original sump, I would be able to drill the new sump, of course, if this helps. The original sump is on the floor. I also can't drill under me (I'd drill thru to my neighbors).

Eventually this second sump will help usher the installation of a second tank. The plumbing on my current display tank (30 gal) is 3x 1 in pipes (beananimal setup), with roughly 10 gal in the sump used while under normal operation. I anticipate the second display tank should be 50-60 gal tidal pool build, with a 20-30 gal sump. Most equipment will be stored in the original sump; the second sump will act as a giant(?) refugium.

 

[tank o tang]

Treat it like a second display tank. Have the overflow from new sump drain into existing sump and use a pump or tee the drain from display tank to feed water into it. You can always drill the drain on the back or side panel so new sump doesn't have to sit so much higher than 1st sump.

 

[DiZASTiX]

Treat it like a second display tank. Have the overflow from new sump drain into existing sump and use a pump or tee the drain from display tank to feed water into it. You can always drill the drain on the back or side panel so new sump doesn't have to sit so much higher than 1st sump.

Thank you for the response. In this case, are there any ways to address the precautions of overflowing of the ersatz "second display tank" into the first sump, when the power is turned off or the pump shut off? The capacity of the first sump isn't that much.

 

[Richie27]

Here’s what I did to inch slip bulkhead from one sump to the other with 2 inch pipe

 

[DiZASTiX]

Now is there a way to control the height of the water level of the sump (or perhaps display tank)? Would we use an overflow box typical of regular display tanks? As I understand, we can control the height of the water of the display tank thru a combination of the height of the overflow box, as well as the flow rate entering the display tank. Additionally, we can control the height of the water of the overflow box by carefully selecting shorter outflow standpipes. In that case, we do a combination of all three to keep the amount of water that flows from the new sump to the old sump. Would this be enough so that there is only a small amount of water that is dumped to the old sump when the power goes out?

I'd like to use a water bridge from one sump to the other, but I looked at it, and there's simply no way, unless the entire display tank and the sump are drained.

 

[Richie27]

you should have gate valve from over flow intake to control the flow shut them off and drain sump

 

[DiZASTiX]

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far, both of you. I've included some photos here for reference:

This is the gap behind the display tank. The sump itself seems to contain just a tad more space:

You maybe able to tell from this photo that there's that original space in the photo above, plus the width of a 2-by-4 beam; however, there's a horizontal 2-by-4 in the way, so really there's only the gap that you can see above. You can also sort of see the gap in this photo against the white wall.

Originally, my thought was to drain the sump and then move the sump. The sump in that case could be moved only a tad towards us / the viewer, giving us a tiny bit more space. It won't be much, though, and it won't be enough for me to fit my arms thru, unfortunately.

I assume one day I'll move from this place, and at that point, I'll "do it right." Maybe a 1.5 years? That could be a very long time to wait, even for us reefers.

It sounds like I'd have to drain a lot of the display tank as well to move that weight. I tried to give it a few good tugs to see if it'd move with all the water, but it didn't budge the slightest.

 

[tank o tang]

If your existing sump is to small to hold the overflow you can always put 1 larger sump in a cabinet next to the display.

 

[DiZASTiX]

If your existing sump is to small to hold the overflow you can always put 1 larger sump in a cabinet next to the display.

So to clarify: you propose to pump water from the new sump to the old sump, in which case, the new old sump would have the overflow?

I misunderstood initially, it seems. I thought you meant the other way around.

But where would I pragmatically do the drilling? (I wish it would it work to have a double pair of pumps.)

 

[tank o tang]

Instead of having 2 10g sumps just use 1 larger tank in a cabinet next to tank and use under tank space for dry equipment dosing storage and ato. Another idea is to build a bigger stand thats wider than the tank and gives you the room you want for 1 sump.

 

[DiZASTiX]

Instead of having 2 10g sumps just use 1 larger tank in a cabinet next to tank and use under tank space for dry equipment dosing storage and ato. Another idea is to build a bigger stand thats wider than the tank and gives you the room you want for 1 sump.

Well, I was hoping to use the this sump mainly for wet equipment, such as a skimmer. I can't really increase the footprint of this particular stand however, because it's a rental unit, and the shape is both small and irregular. The other aquarium would be in a different room, and I'd be running piping to that room near where the TV cabling would go thru the wall anyway (another DIY project).

Obviously, I could get two independent sets of equipment, but I'd enjoy more to maintain a single system. It'd both be more fun, and less complicated on the part of maintaining two sets of water parameters.

 

[DiZASTiX]

Doesn't seem like I can edit prior posts:

What size pipe would be good if I were to be able to make some sort of water bridge between the two tanks?

Would it be possible to simply make a water bridges?

• New (larger) sump pumps water to old sump.
• Old (smaller) sump returns water to new sump via water bridge / siphon.

This would be of course, temporary. When the move happens, we'll change it so it's drilled instead.

 

[DiZASTiX]

A pump pushes water up. I have one black pipe as a placeholder: that's one place where I can install a double union ball valve for easy disassembly. Water then continues out the left side, and follows as in the second photo.

Water then continues from the aquarium stand and follows along the only slightly warped hardwood flooring and past the 50 gallon (?) bin of RODI water, and past the range of electronics safely placed on the floor: