will my idea work?

im not to sure where to put this post up, so ill put it here for now,
i need to see what people think of my idea for my set up? and if it will work? i am new to SW, so im learning alot at the mo, any help is appreciated,
i have a corner tank 40(uk)g which im going to drill for overflow, next to this i am going to have a 15g tank on my dresser cabinet, and under this is going to be my sump etc...

originally i was going to have a fish only main tank, and the 15g was going to be a 'fuge' with a few inverts in it, and was going to make a bit of a feature out of it, but now i have learnt that this is a bad idea,

so i now would like to keep the main as a FO, and would like to have the 15g as a small reef, and have a larger sump with the fuge and other stuff under there,
i would have the main tank draining into the sump and fuge with its own pump for return, and also have the reef draining onto the sump and fuge, with its own return pump also,
could this work? as i dont have much space, and intend on buying a very good oversized skimmer (aquac ev180) i already have a wetdry trickle filter, and am going to have a oversized fuge with decent sized return section to help with evaporation, plenty of live rock, and i also have a fluidised bed filter and canister filter if needed?
is this twin set up possible? it would be great if it is, as i can then keep some of my fav fish, and a beautiful reef, without the worry of things getting eaten!!
what i was thinking was, to get the tanks all set up, running, and stable, then, slowly add fish, and live rock to start with, then see how i get on with that for a few months, il probably keep fish in the 15g to start with too, then after some more time, if all is good and stable, possibly move all fish to main tank, and start to put a few inverts in the 15g, and slowly build that up,
any help and info would be great, everything is just in the air at the mo, nothing is set up and im still buying everything,
thanks guys,
jay

 

Make sure your sump can handle the amount of water if the power goes out. I would do this as a dry run by shutting off the power and let the tanks drain to the sump, I would make sure the sump doesn't get more then 3/4 full.. Also, make sure your return lines have a siphon break below the water line to the main tank and your small reef, without it they will do a great job of draining your tank of water.
I would get rid of the wet/dry if you are going to do live rock, the live rock will provide filtration.
Out of curiosity, why not just do a 40 gallon with a sump and setup a reef?

 

I run multiple tanks with a pair of sumps all connected together. Your idea will work.
Stylaster brought up a very good point in making sure your sump can handle all of the water during a power outage. My first attempt at setting up my sump system would overflow badly with a power outage. Drilling a hole just below the water line like he says will reduce your potential overflow. I would go with a larger than 15 gallon tank for the reef though if possible.

 

hi there, thanks for the advice, i did think my reserve sump will have to be quite big, i will probably still use the wet and dry, as iv only just got it, plus it has quite a lot of overflow potential the reason for doing two seperate tanks, is i have a corner unit, and some of the fish i want are not reef safe, plus iv gone out and bought a big dresser to hide my sump under, so a nice tank can go on top too! and i am so impressed with some of the reefs on here, i want one, i can start planning now, thanks, for the advice,

thanks for the help, i could probably run a slightly bigger tank on the dresser? what say 20-30g? i cant go too big though otherwise she will start to moan;D im just glad my plan will work, now i can set too it,
thanks again guys,, all the best

jay

 

Best of luck to ya! Im sure it will all work out fine. Heck i even had a crazy idea of taking an old hot tub and turning it into a look down reef tank, built in water jets and everything! hehe