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Joining two tanks (1 Viewer)

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jesusq

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I have a main 120 Gal and a side 55 Gal tank which I would like to connect together and share the same filtration system for less maintenance and saving on cost. On the 55 Gal, I’m thinking of putting slow breed fish such as sea horses, pipe fish or garden eals and possibly a few corals.

The two tanks are on separate rooms.

I was thinking of running two hose through the attic to exchange water between the two tanks since the large tank is more than capable.
I’m afraid of because of the different heights, that in case of a power failure that a continuous spill may take place. What would be the best method to hose two tanks?
 

inigomontoya

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Not sure how you would manage with the attic, but the best way to connect two tanks is using the sump as a common sump. In other words drain both tanks into the sump and return to both tanks from the sump. With that, you need a decent sized sump so that when the return(s) are turned off and the overflow drains you don't overflow the sump.

I contemplated this with my two large systems but decided not to since I was going to run them at fairly different conditions. Also, remember seahorse do better in a cooler tank so using the same (78-80 degree reef) water is not the preferred route.
 

reeftopia

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I run 5 large tanks off 1 sump. The key is that all returns be gravity fed to your sump. It would be a savings if your water feed be off 1 pump. Having said this if your tanks are in different rooms
your difficulty is much increased if not impossible.
 

Wbattles

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For the seahorses btw, they don't mind the higher water temp. Mine sit at 77 degrees and are happy. The only difference is that the salinity needs to be lower for them. My big coral tank runs at 1.026 but I like to keep the seahorses at 1.023-1.024 and that could be a problem for you.


You will need a hell of a pump to get water up into the attack and back down at a reasonable rate.
 

cacarnold3

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For the seahorses btw, they don't mind the higher water temp. Mine sit at 77 degrees and are happy. The only difference is that the salinity needs to be lower for them. My big coral tank runs at 1.026 but I like to keep the seahorses at 1.023-1.024 and that could be a problem for you.


You will need a hell of a pump to get water up into the attack and back down at a reasonable rate.

I disagree with the seahorse temp. You CAN keep them at 77 degrees but they will have a shorter lifespan. To keep sygnathids healthy, you need their tanks to be lower temp (as well as lower salinity) than most reef tanks are kept. The ideal temp for tropical seahorses is 72-74 degrees unless you only feed live food. The primary cause of death for sygnathids kept in aquariums is bacterial. These bacterial issues arise at higher temps. This is not to say that seahorses can't be kept at temps above 74. They will survive at higher temps if all other conditions are appropriate for them (at least for the short term). You just increase the chance of bacterial infection exponentially with the higher temps...especially if frozen foods are used because they spoil quicker as the temps rise.

In this hobby, we all like to try things that we are advised against in the hope of a different outcome. We should also be keeping the best interest of our livestock in mind as we set up and care for our mini ecosystems. I only stated the above because I hope to bring others the joy I get from raising these beautiful, mysterious fish long term. I'll get off my soapbox now...:)
 

inigomontoya

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See if there is an easier, more direct route than the attic- that would be impractical like David said. However, plumbing several tanks into the sump allows some neat options. That's what I did with my frag tank which allows me to have a 30g or so frag tank with the stability of nearly 400g of dosed and heavily skimmed water. You could add a mantis cube, a dwarf lionfish nano, etcetera- lots of options.
 
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