Display Tank and Fish Room on the Same Level in the House

[Hogan]

Has anyone had experience with a fish room and display tank located on the same level but not next to each other? Would you have to have 2 pumps dialed in exactly the same to make it work? What’s the best way to do that? I want to have the display tank in the living room, but then have the fish room in a different room on the same level. But, the fish room would have a couple of other rooms between it and the living room, so there is no shared wall between the main take and the fish room. So, the plumbing would either have to go up into the ceiling and over and down, or down into the floor and over and up. I wouldn't be able to gravity flow the overflow into the sump.

 

[blaxsun]

I seem to recall seeing a similar post not that long ago?

You really only need one pump in the fish room (or a pair of pumps if you're configuring everything for redundancy). Just make sure you calculate the horizontal length, vertical length and 45 and 90 degree turns when calculating flow rates.

 

[Crustaceon]

Routing through the floor would be a better option. The only thing that's going to matter is having the sump at a lower height than the display. It'll still drain perfectly fine if you can achieve a full siphon. The lower height the better.

 

[jepuskar]

Routing through the floor would be a better option. The only thing that's going to matter is having the sump at a lower height than the display. It'll still drain perfectly fine if you can achieve a full siphon. The lower height the better.

OP said " I wouldn't be able to gravity flow the overflow into the sump."

 

[Waters]

I am not sure I would ever trust using a pump to both pull and pump to a DT. Too many variables that could end in disaster. All it takes is for one pump to get "dirty" faster than the other to where it pumps at different speeds. I guess you could program Apex to shut down in the event of a total pump failure but there would be a lot of risks. I did something similar with the sump sitting directly on the ground and having a very gradual decline from the DT plumbing to the sump but based on your description that won't be possible. Maybe I am just not understanding what you are trying to do.......

 

[Crustaceon]

OP said " I wouldn't be able to gravity flow the overflow into the sump."

You can actually have the drain fall below the level of the sump, come back up and over the rim of the sump and drain so long as you have a full siphon and sump is at a lower level than the display. You can try this with a bucket next water change if you don't believe me.

 

[TokenReefer]

Could just run a pipe from the bulkhead through the wall dumping into the sump...

 

[FishTruck]

Like Crustacean said... you can go under the floor and back up... so long as the sump is below the overflow. You might need a way to occasionally access the lowest part of the plumbing to check it for debris and clear it. My frag tanks drain into my sump this way. I have an access hatch and use a shop vac to check it for debris once per year.

There is also a reef shop near me that runs it's plumbing this way.

 

[Crustaceon]

Could just run a pipe from the bulkhead through the wall dumping into the sump...

It sounds like he has additional rooms between where the display and sump would be, which would requiring either going over, under or around those rooms.

 

[Crustaceon]

Like Crustacean said... you can go under the floor and back up... so long as the sump is below the overflow. You might need a way to occasionally access the lowest part of the plumbing to check it for debris and clear it. My frag tanks drain into my sump this way. I have an access hatch and use a shop vac to check it for debris once per year.

There is also a reef shop near me that runs it's plumbing this way.

I had a LFS that was set up this way for decades before closing. They had removeable walkways to inspect the pvc. You'd want unions and ball valves to grant the ability to remove sections of piping for periodic maintenance.