Help with wet/dry

[jonelle78]

Hi. I have two 125 gal fish only tanks. I am trying to run them together with one filter. I have a pro clear 300 series wet/dry. I am feeling very retarded because I am unsure of where the pump on the return line goes. Does it go in the tank or does it go into the sump/filter? My directions only show me how to get water into the blasted thing, not how to get water out of it. I have read all over these posts waiting for someone to ask this question. lol. Thanks for any help

 

[FilthyMcNasty]

Return pump goes in the sump - its "returning" water to the tank.

Typically, you have a siphon running from your tank to your filter, and return line running from your filter to your tank. If you are trying to run two tanks with one filter, this could get complicated - you'll need to split both lines, maybe risking wet carpet problems if the fill/return rates vary between tanks, or siphon out of one tank, return line to second tank, and some way to pass water from the second tank to the first. Could you be a little more specific as to how you're trying to work this? I'm trying to visualize a reliable set-up like this, and failing.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi jonelle and :welcome:

Running two tanks on one large wet/dry filter should be no problem.

Usually, the return pump is either plumbed to the wet/dry externally, or a submersible pump is placed in it.

Check out this image and envision your wet/dry unit where the sump is shown. The return pump shown is external, but a submersible could also be used provided it's placed inside the sump / wet/dry.
http://www.inlandreef.com/Images/DIY/Plumbing/plumbing.gif

One pump can be used to feed both tanks - just split the line coming out of the return pump and send one to each tank. It would be best to put a valve on each line to give you some way to adjust flow to each tank.

Similarly, the drain lines from both tanks must be plumbed back to the same wet/dry.

HTH

 

[jonelle78]

thanks for your help. I was thinking of getting another pump for the return, but then thought I may end up drying out the sump. I have the pro clear aquatics wet/dry with a dual inlet, so I have one for each tank. I am using the cap 5000 as the return pump. I will look for a splitter or something to use the one pump. I like that idea better than the 2 pumps.

 

[ChrisRD]

Using two return pumps in your wet/dry would be fine too. Generally you want to take the capacity of your overflows into consideration when picking a return pump(s). It's not an exact science though - you can always use a valve on the outlet side of the pump to restrict the flow if it's a bit too much. In fact, regardless of pump capacity, it's a good idea to incoporate unions and valves in your plumbing scheme to facilitate removal for future pump maintenance or replacement.

 

[jonelle78]

I will let you know how it all works out. This is my current setup. I am going to repaint the white panels and put in some better looking decorations. Thank you so much for your help.