richms Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 I have always wanted to have a tank in the bedroom upstairs, but dont like the idea of having to do waterchanges etc in the bedroom. What I was thinking after reading chimera's thread with his sump room (in its entirity!) is using the tank downstairs as a sump for the upstairs one, or else sharing a sump downstairs for both the downstairs and upstairs tanks. This would leave me with only having to use a drain when doing a gravel vac upstairs, which I can run at the same time in the wall as I run the overflow and return lines from the tank. Other then needing a pump that can generate a reasonable flow at 3m odd of head, is there any glaringly obvious reason not to do this that I am overlooking (besides the shared infection risk etc) quite keen on it as it will minimise noise in the bedroom since there will be no pumps, possibly just a heater but even thats potentially redundant with one in downstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Sounds like a great idea. Heater can stay in the main system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 i had about 7 tanks in my room all around the 2ft mark i had no problems with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 What I was thinking after reading chimera's thread with his sump room (in its entirity!) is using the tank downstairs as a sump for the upstairs one, or else sharing a sump downstairs for both the downstairs and upstairs tanks that certainly is the definition of painful! i re-read it one day to see what i went through - amazing how much i had learnt Other then needing a pump that can generate a reasonable flow at 3m odd of head, is there any glaringly obvious reason not to do this that I am overlooking (besides the shared infection risk etc) none whatsoever! brilliant idea make sure the pump is a well respected and reliable brand (eheim, iwaki) also just make sure you use pressure piping for return piping (overflow doesnt matter so much) pressure piping more expensive but worth it for the added strength. also consider adding a backup for the overflow incase one outlet gets blocked (im about to do this to mine soon) like this: always go bigger for your piping than you anticipate, you can always 'throttle' it back if needed with ball valves. lastly dont underestimate the cost of plumbing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 I think I agree with whoever said it before. I don't think that setup will work very well, chim. At the very least it will let a lot of air in making it difficult to tune by adjusting the airflow. And it will let a lot of noise from the water out. I think you're better off running a whole seperate tube down to the sump. It would be empty and dry most of the time and your durso wouldn't be interfered with. It should only cost you a couple extra feet of piping...Which the elimination of the T join might pay for anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Oh and of course, that's assuming you don't simply put the pump in a chamber that doesn't hold enough water to overflow the main tank if the return blocks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 well its still on the plan for next year. i know what you're saying about water noise reverberating up and out the backup pipe but im not so sure it will be that loud. i'll try it out and then i'll know for sure. if it works well then cool, if not i'll go the separate pipe route Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted December 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 If I run a second overflow it will be a drain rather then back to the other tank, if its got to that level somethings gone terribly wrong. Plus thats my drain for doing gravel vacs, would just put a barbed fitting on it to push the end of the gravel vac onto. Would just have a 600mm tank in the bedroom so doesnt need massive flow, few 100 litres/hour if that if I put a heater in it I figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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