would this work ????

stevieduk

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Hi , Im going to have two 4foot tanks side by side so it looks like a 8 foot tank and Im transfering all the rock coral and fish from my other 3 tanks into these two so its all a bit neater.
all the coral and my big grouper is going in one and the rock and fish in the other , ( the grouper would eat some of the fish if it was one tank, before anyone asks.)
now i want the feed to my sump from the left tank and the return into my right tank, but before i start drilling holes in the end of each tank to try and connect them together, i was wondering if a specially made overflow box would work with a one inch difference in water levels between the two tanks.
I can make it but thought I would ask if it was a feasible idea before I did
 

ReeferBob

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This is going to be tough. How close are they going to be? Drilling is the best way to go but if they are too close, you won't be able to do that easily unless it is through the back. Through the back you could go with a bulkhead going into a 90 on each system connected via a hard pipe and a compression fitting. Flow might not be enough with just a 1" drop so may need to run multiple lines. I would not do an overflow with siphon over the back drains it is just too problematic. You will also need to be very careful to account for all flood scenarios and make sure you are protected. Also think about - what happens to one tank affects the other. So it might be a better idea just to keep them separate.
 
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stevieduk

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ok thankyou for the advice. the ends of the tanks would actually be touching so it looked like a 8 foot tank.
you know , as silly as it may sound , I hadnt even thought out have two tanks to one sump. Makes it very easy dosnt it
 
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stevieduk

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if you used a overflow box to connect the two tanks together you would need the water level in one tank to be lower than the other to make the syphon effect work
 

RJinPV

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If you use siphons then the water drop is going to be proportional to the square inches of siphon piping cross section you have. IOW, three 1" diameter siphons will have 1/3 the drop in water hieght between the tanks than just one siphon. I hate siphons because if they fail you will have water on the floor. Having multiple siphons will help reduce the chance one clogs and stops. You'll have to put a backup overflow pipe in the tank with the pump return to be safe.

What about drilling holes in the back of each tank and connecting them below the water line with ball valves in case you want to make them separate at some point?
 

Ibra9

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I think when coralline algae starts growing on the glass between 2 tanks, it's gonna be tough to clean, but it's possible to do that. If you don't clean coralline algae, it will look like 2 separately tanks. However, I like your idea:D
 

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I think that using one sump and two pumps will make things much easier.

+1^
You can even just use 1 big enough adjustable dc pump and split it to go to each tank. My 125 has 2 overflows and I'm using 1 Jebao DC pump to run both. Less heat:D
 
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