return pump

I will be setting up my sump soon. I plan on having a main tank and a frag tank. I have a nice tall aluminum stand that all three will fit into Nicly. this is where me question comes as far as a return pump could I just get a high flow return pump and split the PVC with a y adapter. I planned on putting this above the head so the flow would sry somewhat equal to both tanks. is this a bad idea because I don't want to buy two return pumps if I can avoid it.

thanks

 

That should work or you if the one tank is higher you could just have the overflow from the top tank drain in to the middle. Than that tank could overflow back to your sump.

 

Dont waste your time looking anywhere local for a PVC wye. If you do decide to go this route, order one a head of time online instead of wasting a day and a half tank of gas like I did a few months ago.

~Will.

 

I second the return only to the top tank the gravity feed into the next tank then into the sump. If you go the split route you can use two tees instead of a y but i'd recommend that you include enough valves to control flow in either or noth directions and unions to be able to disconnect the return lines easily. I'm not sure that i'd go the split route unless you have drilled tanks. If an overflow stops i'd we worried about overflowing one of the tanks. Having enough overflows volume in each tank to cover the full volume of the pump would probably be a good idea. With overflows it might be tough to get both tanks started.

 

If you do decide to put in a Y between your two DT's be sure to install a ball valve between the Y and each DT. This will allow you to tune flow to each tank individually and also cut off flow for maintenance or feeding to each tank individually.

 

Also if the tanks are not level than you will want to make sure you have good anti siphon breaks!

 

If one tank is higher than the other I say don't split the return, it will be more trouble than it's worth if you can take the easy route and just gravity feed from one to the other. It will also save on electricity costs with a smaller pump and save on adding that extra heat to the tank.

Make sure that you will actually be able to plumb one tank into the other for gravity feed though (I would suggesting sketching it out at least roughly), depending on where the tanks are drilled and how you are going to do the returns/drains on each one it might end up being easier to wye them.

If you do decide to wye you will definitely want valves on each return section, I would recommend a gate valve and a ball valve on each actually, that way you can use the gate for tuning the amount of flow to each tank and then use the ball valve just as a quick shutoff or for isolating one tank without messing up your tuning. Also make sure that the drain plumbing from each tank is capable of handling the return pump's entire flow amount in case you decide to isolate one tank you can just flip the ball valve and you don't have to adjust anything else.

Also, just seconding ensuring your sump is big enough to handle all of the back siphoning from both tanks no matter how you set it up, keep in mind any water in any overflow areas especially if it's drilled on the bottom of the tank so you can remove any standpipes in the overflow and have all that water drain down without having to remove water from the sump first.

If you want you can check out my build thread, I recently setup a similar system although my system is not vertical, my return is split and it's working great so far.