Good or bad idea?

Ocho Cinco · 05-29-2012, 11:20 AM

Ok. I had an idea for a 3-way type set up. I wanted to set up a reef tank with a fuge/frag tank in the sump. I have always wanted to use a rubbermaid stock tank for a frag set up (http://www.tractorsupply.com/rubberm...pacity-2229901). I came up with this. Would it work if I had my DT on a stand being the highest of the 3. Water from that tank would then just drain into the rubbermaid stock tank (to the side of the DT) which will be elevated some making it the 2nd tallest. Water from that would drain into a sump in the DTs stand. In the sump I would put the return pump (to the DT), skimmer and a fuge. I want it this way because it will keep the mess of a skimmer, pump and fuge out of the frag tub. My main concern is if power goes out. Would it overflow the sump (3rd level). I wanted to get some opinions before I put more thought into it. Thanks!!!

rmalone · 05-29-2012, 11:38 AM

Crunch your numbers on volume, but otherwise there is no reason it wont work. Make sure you keep the drain on the middle tank high so it wont drain all of it's volume into the bottom sump tank. But yeah you can make that work, there is 1728cubic inches per gallon as a little guide. It will come down to how many gallons the display drains and how many gallons your going to make the two sump tanks hold without overflowing.

Ocho Cinco · 05-29-2012, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmalone

Crunch your numbers on volume, but otherwise there is no reason it wont work. Make sure you keep the drain on the middle tank high so it wont drain all of it's volume into the bottom sump tank. But yeah you can make that work, there is 1728cubic inches per gallon as a little guide. It will come down to how many gallons the display drains and how many gallons your going to make the two sump tanks hold without overflowing.

Good to know thanks. The sump will just be an old aquarium, nothing fancy. I was thinking of just getting a taller sump just in case, that way it has less of a chance to overflow if I lost power.

Chris · 05-29-2012, 04:53 PM

Yeah it is definitely doable, but make sure the sump will hold all the water in the event of a power outage obviously. What size display/ sump are you planning?

Ocho Cinco · 05-30-2012, 12:14 AM

For the display it depends on what I find that I like. I'm thinking around a 55 but could be less or more. The frag tub will be 100 or 50 gallons. Ill go as big as I can with the sump depending what will fit under the display.

Tom@HaslettMI · 05-30-2012, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmalone

Crunch your numbers on volume, but otherwise there is no reason it wont work. Make sure you keep the drain on the middle tank high so it wont drain all of it's volume into the bottom sump tank. But yeah you can make that work, there is 1728cubic inches per gallon as a little guide. It will come down to how many gallons the display drains and how many gallons your going to make the two sump tanks hold without overflowing.

I agree, with an exception. There are 231 cubic inches per gallon.

Tom

Ocho Cinco · 05-31-2012, 06:19 PM

I guess I don't know what that means or how to use that info towards making this set up.

Tom@HaslettMI · 05-31-2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocho Cinco

I guess I don't know what that means or how to use that info towards making this set up.

Basically you'll need to calculate the volume of water that will drain out of the display and frag tub when the return pump is turned off. Then make sure that the sump will accommodate the extra water. Here are the equations to use:

Display overflow volume = (length x width x height*) / 231

Frag tub overflow volume = ((length of the straight edge x width between the two straight edges) + ((.5 x width between the two straight edges) x (.5 x width between the two straight edges) x 3.14) x height*) / 231

*height = distance from waterline (when system is running normally) down to the bottom of the overflow weirs.

Sump capacity volume** = (length x width x waterless height (distance from the waterline to the top of the tank)) / 231

** may need to do this calculation several times if the sump has sections with different water heights. If that is the case use the sections length and width rather than the whole tanks and add the volumes together.

All lengths should be measured in inches and all volumes will be in gallons.

Add the display and frag volumes and design the sump so that it can handle about 10% more water.

HTH,
Tom

slapshot · 06-01-2012, 06:14 AM

You can limit the amount of drainage by putting your drains high in the tank and sumps. Even with that you would be surprised at the amount of water that will drain out of pipes etc. when the power us shut off. Your setup sounds great but flooding will for sure be an issue. Not hard to overcome you just have to plan for it.