Connecting two tanks side by side?

[kimura]

I wanted to use a spare 10g tank as a refugium tank along side my 12g nano. They're both made of glass, the 12 is a bit taller than the 10g. I want to make the fuge look really nice:)

 

Any Ideas? out there? I was thinking about a U-tube between the two, and have a PH in the fuge returning the water, but I want to have some seperation bewteen the two tanks. I would have been soo much easier with acrylic tanks, but I don't have that option:(

[zumzumn]

if you goto a good glass shop they can drill out your tanks no problem and use tank conectors. I have done it before no problems, as long as the bottoms are not being drilled.

[Crakeur]

take a look at the aquafuge hang on refugium and copy their model. if set up that way, you will only need one powerhead pulling water into the fuge and the outflow will slowly send water back to the main tank.

[kimura]

Crakeur, I was just about to do that.

 

But, hey Zum those fuge's you make......what does it come with? Hit me up. I was that guy from Carmel Mountain who came over towards the end of the day when you had that 20% coral sale. Email me the details if you can ok.

 

Mike

[sr3w]

I've connected a pair of tanks via PVC piping. Using 1.5" piping, I joined 2 lengths together via a 180 degree connector. Then I drilled a hole in the top of the connector (i.e. the highest point on the getup when the tube was inverted over the mutual side of the tanks) and siliconed a 1-way air valve into the hole. Insert the tube between the two tanks, draw air through the valve, and you've got a siphon. Connect that to a venturi intake on a pump, and it won't break.

 

If I can get my hands on a digital camera, I'll show you how I did this between my 55 and 30.

 

The reasons I did this:

Large diameter pipe allows high flow rate, which prevents my skimmer from transferring water from 1 tank to the other faster than it can drain back.

Animals can go through - my lawnmower blenny, mandarin, and BTA all wandered on through. It was kind of neat to see.

 

I hope that's helpful!

Scott

[sr3w]

I was an idiot and didn't read your first post all the way through. To correct what I did for your application, use two 90 degree connectors with a tube in between instead of the 180 degree connector. That makes more sense.

 

Sorry!

Scott

[The Unit]

here is a link to my tank..they are connected and have about a 2 or 4 inch gap between.......http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=6092

[kimura]

Thanks guys, I'm not gonna put the tanks together after all. I've decided to get a fuge from Zumzumn. And I'll use the 10g as an extra tank YEaH another nano project! Plus we just got a 1g tank that I plan on setting up for wife. I'll be busy next year.

[gobies]

I finally got the hubby to okay a mantis, so eventually I'm going to be doing this, too...planning on connecting the side of a 5.5g to the end of a 10g.

 

drilled a hole in the top of the connector (i.e. the highest point on the getup when the tube was inverted over the mutual side of the tanks) and siliconed a 1-way air valve into the hole. Insert the tube between the two tanks, draw air through the valve, and you've got a siphon. Connect that to a venturi intake on a pump, and it won't break.

 

Just to check...once you've got this going, you have water going through the air valve, through a bit of tubing, and into a venturi intake?

 

What do you use to get water moving between the two tanks?

[sr3w]

I'm using a bak-pak to pull water from one tank to the other - it spans between the 55 and the 30 quite well. Using a powerhead to pump from one tank to the other would work identically. You'll see when I get the picture. I'm going to borrow my roommate's camera tomorrow to do it.

Scott