Plumbing a Frag Tank

[Hungriee]

I'm in the planning phase for my upcoming frag tank. I plan on plumbing the frag tank to my main display's sump and will either have it drilled or have a built in overflow to my sump. My sump is a 20g Long Tank which has a skimmer chamber, a fuge and a return. I'm running a Eheim 1260 which returns all the water to my display and will have a manifold which will have some of the water plumbed to the frag tank.

If I plan on having it drilled or an overflow, how high does the frag tank have to be above the sump?

The frag tank will be placed about 3 to 3.5 ft away from the sump. If I plan on running some soft tubing horizontally to the sump, will it slow down the speed of water draining to the sump. I'm planning on having the frag tank about one foot above the rim of my 20g sump which measures 12" higher than the sump. Since the frag tank is also 12" high, which will make the bulkhead be about only 10" high from the rim of the sump, will this be enough height for it to drain properly since its about 3 ft away and the tubing will be place slightly horizontal. The tubing will be on a slight tilt so the water will drain to the sump, but is it fast enough?

I'm scared to have a flood, if it doesnt drain and the pump returns faster than it drains.

 

[Keith P]

A few options if you are really scared; you could use a separate pump w/ a float switch, a second (emergency) drain, way oversize the drain, or do it the way you listed and pray

 

[Killerdrgn]

maybe a quick diagram may help to explain what you mean better.

 

[tosiek]

size the drain bigger than the return to the frag tank and it should work without flooding as long as the frag tank is higher than the sump. Just size the return pump into the frag tank a little smaller than the drain and make up for circulation with another pump. For a small 15-20g frag tank you don;t need much to keep things happy. An the 1 foot drop over 3 feet won't hurt your drainage capabilities.

If your running 3/4 return go 1" drain, ect. I have mine running off a maxijet pump off 2ft of piping to the frag tank. Gives me enough to constantly change water out of the tank and i run another circulating pump in the frag tank for the flow required for the coral. I used spaflex 1/2" and 3/4" for return/drain and DIY'ed the connection between the flex and the maxijet pump. You could probably use vinyl tubing for the return/drain, just make sure you secure the crap out of the connections so they don't pop off easily.

Make sure when you place the return pump and drain for the frag tank that your not rescooping up the water that was just in the frag tank, so place the return pump before the drain in the sump. If your sump has 2 chambers, make sure the return pump is in chamber 1 (preferably after any skimmer or carbon), while the drain is in the last chamber ect.

 

[Hungriee]

thx tosiek, your logic is helpful.

do you think a 1" drain but a 1/2" return soft tube is too little? I can supplement the flow w/ an additional nano powerhead if necessary. I dont plan on keeping sps in the frag tank, mostly LPS + zoas.

 

[autoponicz]

from what i read....seems like the plan is good to go...
as long as the bulkhead in the frag tank is higher than the sump..it will drain.....(i would do 1" bulkhead just to have a oversize drain)....plumbing it to the skimmer chamber with a ball valve to regulate flow...and your manifold(with ball valve) will feed it...its very simple...enjoy

 

[Hungriee]

hope all goes well. thx autoponicz for the manifold help