2 aquariums one filter

[quakstar]

Ok here is my situation I already have a very established 90 gallon reef tank with a 40 gallon sump, what i want to do is on the other side of the wall in my bed room set up another tank with some live rock and clown fish. I want to drill the new tank for an over flow but run it to the other side of the wall on work it on the 90 gallon's sump
Bad idea? suggestions?

 

[stdreb27]

That is what LFS do. They run several tanks off of one filter. But the question is your sump big enough to handle both.
The downside is that if you have a problem like ich in one tank then you get ich in the other.

 

[earlybird]

You just need to make sure there's enough room for backwash on both tanks in the event of a power outage. Other than that there's no problem.

 

[nu2salt]

not gonna be much help but when i picked up 3 tanks from a guy that is the way he had two of them setup. best of luck

 

[groupergenius]

I'm with the others. Make sure the sump won't overflow and maybe upsize the skimmer if it's only rated for the 90. Remember too that the evaporation will be more as well.

 

[quakstar]

Cool thanks for the help... Yeah I am just planning on have a pair of picassos in the new tank which will be like a 40 gallon with alot of rock and a RBTA...
I was going to do this when me and my wife get back from our honeymoon which we leave on monday so not really my wife till saturday. But the new pair of clown fish were going to be like a wedding gift...

 

[quakstar]

Yeah i was getting ready to upgrade to a new Deltec skimmer for christmas on my reef tank
Santa has been getting my list for months now.
100 gallon rimless frag tank
6 pallets of cinder blocks to build my new shark tank

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by Quakstar
Cool thanks for the help... Yeah I am just planning on have a pair of picassos in the new tank which will be like a 40 gallon with alot of rock and a RBTA...
I was going to do this when me and my wife get back from our honeymoon which we leave on monday so not really my wife till saturday. But the new pair of clown fish were going to be like a wedding gift...
2 triggers in a 40 gallon? They get big.

 

[zman1]

Originally Posted by Quakstar
Ok here is my situation I already have a very established 90 gallon reef tank with a 40 gallon sump, what i want to do is on the other side of the wall in my bed room set up another tank with some live rock and clown fish. I want to drill the new tank for an over flow but run it to the other side of the wall on work it on the 90 gallon's sump
Bad idea? suggestions?
Should work just fine. Just calculate the drain down of the added tank and make sure you have sump space to handle it.
example"
To calculate how much room you need in a sump to handle the main tank drain down in a power off condition, you can do this:
There are .0043 gallons of water per cubic inch
Let's say your main tank 48" X 24"x 24". It drops 2" total in a power out condition.
48"x24"x2" = 2304 cubic inches (Volume L X W X H)
2304X.0043 = 9.9072 gallons
Your sump is a 36"X18". how many inches will your sump water rise or what would be required to accommodate the water above the normal sump water level?
36"x18" = 648 square inches (Area L X W)
2304 cubic inches (from the Main Tank) / 648 square inches = 3.556 The missing height for volume
36" X 18" X 3.556" = 2304.288 cubic inches or
2304.288 X .0043 = 9.908 Gallons
You will need 3.556 inches of sump space to accommodate the drain back water on a power out condition.

 

[zeroc]

I think he's talking about Picasso clowns.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by ZeroC
I think he's talking about Picasso clowns.
lol I sure hope so.