Multiple tank filter

Phastanscottsage

Hey so I am looking at building a cabinet type set up for freshwater. I want to put say 4 - 20 gal tanks and a 50 or 60 gal tank all in one cabinet. I was wondering if anyone has a filtration system set up to filter multiple tanks so I don't need to purchase individual filters for each... I have been thinking about using a sump tank... but I am not sure. any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Arkamaic

I'd say go with a sump... probably going to be your easiest route for one filter for all the tanks.. maybe the only route??

Mikaila31

for a stump to work on all the tanks, won't the waterline need to be level on all the tanks as well. If you have a difference in the water line, I would think gravity would make one tank empty while another fills and possibly overflows.

Phastanscottsage

Yeah I was thinking that was the only way I could think of setting it up. I just want a couple tanks to breed/grow food for my big freshwater tank and my roommates saltwater tank without needing to use every plug in the house for filtering. Thanks so much for your input.. if anyone has any other ideas that would be really helpful

Phastanscottsage

Hmm.. Im not sure on that I guess I need to do some more research on it.. but if you look at petcos tanks they are all on different shelves...they may have seperate filters for each level... Im pretty new to the fish world and have only used canister and hanging filters.

SinCrisis

im pretty sure that petco and other pet stores use a setup that has multiple pumps and regulators. I think the system would probably have to be purchased.

Phastanscottsage

Thanks Im going to go talk to the different smaller fish stores in my area and see if they will show me their filtering systems see how they work. I appreciate the input I was assuming they used sump tanks...

Tyyrlym

I would really recommend against connecting all these tanks. If anything goes south in one it will be passed on to them all. If you want to economize on filtration costs you might look into using air powered sponge filters. A single large pump could drive the filters in each tank without the risk of cross contamination.

SinCrisis

i tried that air pump solution once for multiple betta tanks. It works well at first but eventually, at least for me, the air would favor one side because of water level or clogging or whatever factors and i ended up spending lots of time trying to balance the air flow so that each of the 3 tanks got the right amount of bubbles to push water. It works but it can be a pain. But Tyyrlym is right about cross contamination, one tank will hurt all tanks. However, you could add a UV sterilizer to the main filter to reduce the chances of spreading infections. Also a quarentine tank should probably be set up with a seperate filter for cases where one fish gets sick and you want to avoid getting the entire system sick.

Phastanscottsage

I didn't think about cross contamination until I decided to start a brackish tank ha ha... so I guess I am going to be stuck filtering each tank individually... I was looking to save a little money but I will be picking up a second job to support my new hobby. aquariums are quite addicting