Sump For Multiple Tanks

[Mike McConville]

So, as many of you already know, I'm setting up a killifish rack. I'm considering making a sump for all of the tanks to make the water more stable and easily heated, filtered, and changed. I've seen a fair number of posts on sumps and overflows for single, large tanks, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'd rig 6+ (and potentially many more in the future) tanks to a single sump. Any guides or suggestions?

 

[sciknen]

6 different inlets maybe?

or just combine them into bigger pipes

like 2) 1.5in into a 3in

 

[jbishop]

I would put all of them into one large pipe.

 

[sciknen]

wouldnt that one pipe have to be massive then like 5in or something rediculous

 

[jbishop]

yeah prob.

 

[JohnK]

There are many ways to do it.

For the return, you could use a single larger pump and run it into a manifold splitting it off to the seperate tanks. Or you if it's all in a stack you could even pump to the top tank, then have that drain into the one below it, and that one drain into the next one down.....

For the drains, you can run 6 seperate pipes from the different tanks to the sump, or have the individual drains flow into a larger pipe that then flows into the sump.

There really are endless ways you can do it. Pump up, gravity down....

 

[Mike McConville]

Thanks for the speedy response! My on concern with the multiple pumps is that the failure rate is much higher. Anyone know where to get cheap mini overflow systems or an easy way to make one?

 

[nichols]

Diamond holesaws are pretty cheap and tanks are easy to drill. I drilled my tanks and set them up like this. Cheap, easy and quiet.

 

[nichols]

These are all fed by gravity from the display upstairs. All running from a genx mark- 4. about 1200 gph. With head loss I'm overflowing around 950 gph.

 

[nichols]

This is a better picture.

This is my 150 gal sump.

Hope this helps.

 

[Shenlung]

iirc, 1.5x2 does not equal flow rate of 3, two 1.5 inch pipes will flow just as easily through a 2.25 or something like that, so 6 tanks all running 1.5 won't require a 9 inch pipe, it'd only need a 5 inch or something along those lines, and I'd think you'd get away with something smaller anyways, as an overflow rarely uses the entire flow capacity of it's pipe....or so my overflow would indicate. I'd presonally use "y" connectors and brach them into to groups of 3 tanks and go with 3 inch pipe at the end so it's twin outputs at the sump into hanging filtersocks or something like that.

Take this with a grain of crushed coral, I've not been doing this long lol

If you have the funds to kick around, you could even go with black spaflex on all 6 tanks and run them all into the sump. 6 - 1.5 inch spaflex hoses would consolidate nicely with the liberal use of brackets and zip-ties, and spaflex makes it easy to sort the hoses into the sump, utilizing space to best advantage.

 

[Mike McConville]

Good call Shenlung, it's the area of the pipe, not the diameter.

 

[MisFit]

Need more info on your planned set up.
Tank size, number of tanks, bulkhead size etc....
For most rack applications if you have 1inch bulkheads you can plumb them all to a 2" line and be fine, depending on how many tanks you have.
For supply, I would use a pump like a reeflo dart/snapper/barracuda (depending on the number of tanks) which has a 1.5" output. Set up a 1.5" manifold and step it down to something like 3/8" tubing with valves that have barbed fittings.

Drain you would need to determine if you want to drain out the back or through the bottom. If its for breeding I like the bottom because you can cut the standpipe to whatever height you want which is good for fry because you can drop the level to concentrate them for feeding live food and as they get bigger you can swap out the pipe for a taller one. Anyway, just have a drain line that they all connect to running to the side or back of the rack and down to the sump.

I suggest you take a trip to Jays and look at his racks there. It should help you visualize what Im saying pretty well.