2 Ten Gallon tanks as a sump and Ref?

I am new to the hobby and have researched for hours the sump refugium systems. I have a 40 gallon cube tank reef ready. I was wondering if I could connect two 10 gallon glass aquariums together some how so I could put the skimmer, return pump, heaters etc in one, and connect another ten gallon tank (somehow) for the refugium? Is this possible or is it overkill? I can't afford the expensive sumps out there right now. Thank you for any help (I am a visual learner so pictures help me greatly.
Lee

 

sounds like a great idea to me, running it properly is what you have to figure out. this is how i run my set up, instead od two 10gs i have a 40g sump and 20g fuge, and my dt is a 55g on other side of wall.

 

Yeah, it will work just fine. Just make sure that the tank that your overflow goes into is on a slightly higher level than the second 10gal, that way a simple siphon overflow tube will carry water on from the first 10gal to the second 10gal.

 

Thank you both! Would you put the "mechanical" sump fist, and then running it to the fuge or what? If the fuge is second do I put the return pump in a seperated compartment at the end of it all to push it back up?

 

I would put the fuge first that way you can put the return pump in the "mechanical" tank as you call it.

 

or you can do a 20 gal split with the return in the middle.

 

I would love to do the 20g split. I am not sure it would fit under the tank. Also, I am confused on how I would get water to both sides and then have them flow into the middle for the return. Would I split the one overflow into two, having a ball valve on the fuge side to control the rate at which the water comes into it?

 

You got it! just T off from you overflow. Have it drain to one side with your skimmer, heater and such and use a ball valve to control the flow to the fuge side. I did the same thing. Here is a pic right after I set mine up a few months ago.

 

that is an awsome pic! So from this I see two leads from your overflow. Is that your return pump in the middle wrapped in the white stuff? Is that a 20g. tank? Thank you very much!!! This picture will help me tremendously! Any other pics I would love to see

 

you can do a T-split, or what I did was just run the drain to the skimmer side, and use a small pump to move water to the refugium side. That was I didnt have to keep tweaking a ball valve