DIY Sump question

i am thinking about just buying a new stand...one that will fit the 30 gallon tank i was planning on using the whole time...

 

Without hooking the 2 tanks together, It will be almost impossible to balance the flow, and you will probably overflow 1 of them. I have an add on fuge, very similar to what you are trying to do, but it would require drilling. You could also build 2 boxes out of acrylic. I built mine, it was not that hard. Here is a link to the thread, Hope it helps.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/step-step-pics-my-diy-fuge-57933.html
Here is a link to the thread I got the idea from.
DIY Refugium

 

wow, i am going to start on that asap. thank you so much. that seems to be so much easier than what i was trying to do. i know where i am going tomorrow after work ;D

 

Make sure you use 1/4" I used 3/8" and had to add a center brace later cause it started to bow. Also water test your boxes in the garage for a couple of days before you install them.

 

I'm working on the same type of setup i think you are going for. i also got the Top Fin tanks from pet smart. i am almost positive they are not tempered. I clipped the corner of one test fitting it into the stand and it cracked not shattered. i just got the drill bit/ bulkheads to attach the two tanks together this weekend. I'm going to drill them tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll let you know how it goes. i attached the design idea, only thing you really cant see is that i am going to run two 1 in PVC lines from the fuge to the sump (one in each corner). there are also 2 drain lines cause i am using the eshopps 1000 overflow box which has 2 drains.

 

I thought the same thing at first. On second glance I'm wondering if in theory it might just work?

Let's think about an extreme first. If the pump in sump A fails and the pump in sump B continues then ...

The water level will begin to rise in sump A, but stay constant in sump B. The water will stop going into A -- at some point who knows when of if too late -- when the water level is higher, and will go into B because there's less headspace. The water will be higher in A but at some level will stop rising because of the lower headspace, and pressure, in B.

To help achieve this, I would split the "T" symetrically, right in the middle, so pressure component from the falling drain water is even on both sides.

I'm not sure that I'm right at this point. I'm only brain-stem-storming out loud so far.

 

Are there 10 gallon aquariums, or 5 gallon, that can be drilled on the sides? Would be a far far simpler thing to connect a couple bulkheads with flexible tube to even the levels while still splitting the return and keeping a return pump in each sump (I kind of like the redundancy and the connection wouldn't have to work as hard to maintain an even level).

If only the tanks can be drilled?