How To Help/Side-by-Side Refugium

[up north hermit]

I need help.
I want to set up a 30 gallon refugium NEXT to my 40 gallon reef.
I am stumped on the plumbing. How do I get the water to go to one tank then back to the other if they are are the same level? I am not a DIY'er, so need to keep it simple.
Also keep in mind we have alot of power outages here, especially in the winter, and I am afraid of ending up with the Great Salt Lake in my living room.
I have been at this hobby a long time, but I need you experts on this one, as I have never tried to plumb two tanks together like this.
Please help!
TIA
Hermit

 

[wally]

Well actually since they are side by side it makes it MUCH easier as you can let gravity and air pressure do most of the work for you.
I am actually going to do the same thing on my new setup only with a 55 and a 10. You need to make a small siphon tube. I am using a lift tube from a powerfilter. I was able to buy one at my LFS for a few bucks. They also have the advantage of coming with a strainer so fish and inverts can't get sucked up in the life tube. Place the tube underwater in your big tank and turn it around until all of the air is out of it. Then place you hand over the shorter end to keep the water from coming out and place the short end into the refugium tank while keeping the long end in the main tank. When you let go the tube should still be full of water. With this in place the surface of the water in both tanks will stay at the exact same level. Then all you have to do is get a small water pump and some tubing and pump the water from the refugium back into the main tank. For every drop of water pumped into the main tank the same amount will be sucked into the refugium. If the power shuts off nothing will really happen except for the fact that the water will stop moving.
I return the water to the other end of the tank so I get better circulation from one end of the tank to the other. I got several large suction cups with hooks from the dollar store that are stuck on the outside back of my tank. I used wire ties to secure the vinal tubing to the hooks. I run the return hose into another powerfilter lift tube so that the water comes into the tank toward the bottom. My skimmer hold this inplace by mashing it into the side of the tank. By sucking water from the bottom and returning it to the bottom on the other side I get good circulation across the bottom of my tank which I think is helpful.
The only problem with this setup is that both tanks must be at the exact same height or one will overflow the other.

 

[up north hermit]

Oh thank you (kiss-kiss-kiss)!!!
Great ideas Wally, thank you so much.
IF one tank is higher (slightly) than the other, would you then have to figure out which pump (GPH) to use for the flow to be correct to keep the levels the same??
Am I thinking right? Or, just make sure the tanks are at the exact same height to avoid any problems?
(BTW, I have several of those lift tubes from power filters in my supply store. I have had every filter ever made I think. Those parts sure come in handy! )
Thanks again!
Hermit
P.S. The refugium tank would be 3/4" higher than the main/display tank.
[ November 25, 2001: Message edited by: Up North Hermit ]

 

[wally]

The 3/4" won't matter at all if it were several inches then it would. Just besure that the water levels are the same before you turn on the pump.

 

[wally]

I just thought of something that you might want to consider. Since your refugium is a bit higher than your main tank make sure that the siphon tube sticks down into the water far enough. If its just barely in the water you do run the risk of the end coming out of the water and breaking the siphon wich would be a bad thing since the water from your 30 would still be pumping into your main tank causing a major overflow.
You may need to make the "U" tube out of pvc pipe just to be sure. You can get everything you need at Home Depot for about 2 bucks. Also some filter tubes have couplers on them so you can make the tube reach deeper into tanks if you have several tubes try and get a coupler to fit on the other end. You should have no problems.

 

[smileyman]

Do you have a sump on the 40gal? If you do, then all you would have to do is split the return line so it feeds to both tanks and then have your refugium drain back to the sump. That way it won't matter where or how high your refugium is. Just an idea!