3 tanks, 1 sump. non submersible pump after fuge Q's

[Modern-Revolution]

Hey guys. i'm setting up a new system consisting of 3 30 gallon display tanks and a 55 gallon sump.
now i have a spare mag 7 pump that i could use if it would be strong enough to flow to 3 tanks, not sure though. i also got my hands on this used little giant non submersible pump. i'm really not familiar with these types of pumps at all but thought it might work well with a refugium for a couple reasons.

I'm thinking that by using this i could save space in my sump by not adding a return chamber after fuge allowing for a larger fuge. also, i wouldn't have to worry about pump starving for water as evaporation would be through the entire fuge not just a small return chamber and would obviously go down much slower.
i haven't seen this before and i searched around for similar builds and couldn't find any. so this makes me think that for some reason this doesn't work well. seems like a great idea to me though. what are your thoughts?

now the only problem i foresee with this is the potential for macro algaes to get caught in the intake. or for sand to get sucked up and blown out through the displays sinse i'm using very fine sugar-sized aragamax and doing a 5" dsb. so with those issues in mind i am thinking of making a small glass box around the intake bulkhead with egg crate as a recessed top to the box so i can put a square of filter floss in to catch chaeto strands and any sand that might get blown around by whatever little creatures end up in there. would this restrict the flow of the pump too much? i believe it's rated for 1000 or 1100 gph.

thanks for your input guys

 

[NyteGTI]

It's gonna be tough for you to run an external pump on a 55 gal. most 55 gallons cannot be drilled except for the bottom glass.

 

[govertical19]

Not sure, but I thought you could drill the side and not the bottom. I drilled my 72 &, 75 gallon side panels. But a 55 maybe different. I have a reflo dart and I love it. You can always slow flow down with ball valves. If you choose to go that way.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[NyteGTI]

ahh yea the sides, not bottom. nvm then haha

 

[downbeach]

I've had a few 55's over the years, and all have been tempered glass, side, and bottom. So, you might want to check before you try to drill. Here is a method you could use:

http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?9542-How-to-tell-if-glass-is-tempered

 

[Modern-Revolution]

awesome link. thanks. i couldn't find my glasses but i guess my phone is polarized. so if i just took a pic of the lap top. so i guess this glass isn't tempered so i can drill through it right?

 

[redfishbluefish]

awesome link. thanks. i couldn't find my glasses but i guess my phone is polarized. so if i just took a pic of the lap top. so i guess this glass isn't tempered so i can drill through it right?

Not sure what you are showing, but you need two polarized sources…..one in your computer screen or telephone and one in a film or pair of sunglasses. You put your computer/telephone on one side of the glass while on the other side is a polarized film or pair of polarized sunglasses. Your best to have a white screen up on the computer/phone. You turn your head and or the computer until the screen turns black. If it’s solid black, it’s not tempered. If it has streaks of white or is blotchy, it’s tempered. Best to look at a tempered “positive” so that you know what to look for.