Advice...

[Poet2dagger27689]

situation.........

I have a 55 gallon tank that has the essentials of fish and corals...I have a problem with nitrates so I was in the process of putting an empty 10 gallon next to it so I can put some macro algea and live rock with some mangrove. I was going to use the 10 gallon as a refugium and pump the water from the 55 to the 10 then back to the 55. I need to figure out how to transfer the water without over flowing either tank and not spending too much money. I was planning on just using a ball joint to control the water flow from natrual gravity for the water transfer to the 10 and then a small pump to go back to the 55 with a ball joint on that. to just make sure, and while Im away I want to make sure either of them wont over flow. can you recommend all the supplies I would need to accomplish this? Or any extra ideas?

[hobogato]

you will need an overflow box to drain the water from the higher tank to the lower one.

[Instar]

It sounds like you are planning to siphon drain it? Gravity doesn't quit when the power goes out so all of your big tank would end up in the 10 if thats the case? hobogato said it first, you have to use an overflow box on the higher tank. Cheap in this case would mean disaster when you are not looking.

[cpreefguy]

When youre trying to put a system together, you cant let money become an obstacle, best way is to save up until you have anough to do it right. If not, you will run in to problems later and end up spending more money/time trying to fix it. JMO

[seamonkey2]

since you're planning to put mangroves there, drill 2 or 3 holes, you'll be glad when the other 2 still draining if 1 gets clogged by a leave.

Jose

[Poet2dagger27689]

Thanks guys..What if I just used two pumps one to push out the water closer to the middle of my upper 55 gallon down to my 10 and another pump to push it back up. Then use the balljoints or the restircters built in. Then I can use a water shut off for when I am away and somtihng goes wrong....How does that sound?

[safeuerwehr]

i figured out something valuable in this hobby..."you pay now or you pay later"...so going the cheaper way out is not always the answer...plan ahead now to avoid problems later that will cost you more to fix.....

[hammondegge]

with an overflow you will never have to worry if all the water that you pump from one tank is going back to that tank. with two pumps running if the balance of flow is off by a teaspoon then one tank will eventually overflow. i dont think that you could ever get those flows balanced.

[cpreefguy]

^What he said, overflow is pretty much the only way to go.
If you just do what Joshua suggested, it will probably end up being just as expensive as a pump...

[Bill S]

The ONLY way to do this is an overflow. Don't cut corners - it ain't worth it.

[RZA2222]

You could drill the 10gal and place it higher than you main tank. Then pump water from the main tank to the 10gal, and it would then overflow back to you main tank. It would cause microbubbles, and you main tank level would fluctuate based on evaporation, so this might not be the best deal. the best way is with an overflow from your main tank. try Lifereef.com if you dont want to drill your tank, they make a flawless hang-on-back overflow that will never loose siphon. It is reletivaly expensive but it is definately worth the piece of mind knowing you wont have 55 gallons of water on your floor when you get home!

[cpreefguy]

I bought a lifereef overflow for my tank, a little pricey, but I have thousands invested in livestock, so its a small price to pay when you think about it