anyone have sump/equipment in basement?

[gaubow]

I am having a house built and was wondering about keeping all of the sump and other equipment in the basement and simply running the return pump back upstairs into the living room.

This will give me alot more room and possibly a "fish room" and of course should keep the upstairs where the tank is alot more quiet.

I was just wondering if this is crazy and how many people may do this and what some of the cons may be. I think that I may have the pros all figured out!

 

[BoomerD]

Wow, what a crazy idea! Where the heck did you get that? WOW!! Talk about out in left field... :smirk:
Actually, MANY people do this. I have no doubt they will chime in here with some good advice on how best to make it work.

 

[gaubow]

Good, I look forward to some advice since I am now in the planning stages. (and budgeting stage!)

 

[ReefLady]

Yep - we do.

180g in livingroom, plumbed to basement directly below (100g sump, 70g 'fuge, 40g prop tank).

Pros:

No noise
All the mess (water changes, etc.) are in the unfinished basement.
Plenty of room
Place to put all the equipment
Tank stays cooler in the summer


Cons:

Cost of purchasing/running a decent, high-head return pump. If I were starting from scratch, I'd definitely have drilled for a closed loop, and have used a smaller return pump.

Cost of keeping tank heated -- we live in New Hampshire, and for the most part, the basement is unheated. We do have a woodstove in the basement the we use on the colder days, but wood is expensive too. Bottom line --- 5 x 350w heaters running pretty much 24/7 in the winter.

IMO, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I don't deal with noisy tanks well at all, and can't even imagine somehow cramming a sump, skimmer, ca reactor, Nilsen reactor, heaters, etc -- all under our tank stand.

More on our basement sump setup here: >sump page<

HTH,

 

[ReefLady]

Can you imagine fitting this underneath the tank cabinet? LOL ....

-- That pic doesn't include the refugium or the prop. tank. ;-)

 

[gaubow]

what more could I want for an answer? thanks a ton.

 

[Witfull]

thats why our Teri is the "high priestess of Reefing!"

 

[joe@inreef]

I keep all of my filteration equiptment in my basement. However, I dont have the heating issues that Terri has, I only run 1 350 watt heater in my sump. However,my basement gets about 95 degrees in the summer, as I am in Florida. I have to use a 1/2 HP chiller. The only drawback for sump in the basement is the high head for the pumps. I use an Iwaki 100, Little Giant 4QSC and a Gen-X PCX 100. These pumps are in addition to the skimmer pump and a few power heads. I also feel that the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[gaubow]

how many holes did you cut into the floor upstairs? Is there a hole for each of the returns, and then one for the overflow?

I have a 90 gallon with on corner overflow... it has two holes in the bottom originally one for the return and one for the overflow. I am going to make them both for overflow into the basement and then bring the returns back up over the back. (I think, anyway!)
t

 

[joe@inreef]

Actually, I cut one large hole, as I have 3 1" returns and 3 1" overflows, plus a few extra pipes. I cut a 5" by 5" hole, then foamed over everything, once my pipes were in place.
One more thing..... consider putting check valves on your return lines, especially, if you have return lines low in the tank. I sell some good clear 1" and 3/4" union check valves..... they are pretty cheap, dont remember how much at the moment.....

 

[gaubow]

What does the check valve do again?

 

[Pro_builder]

Check Valve- if the electric goes off or the pump quits the water won't siphon back to your Sump and drain the main tank.

 

[gaubow]

still trying to convince the wife that after a building a brand new, expensive house, that it actually makes sense to cut a hole in the brand new floor and carpet!

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[JB NY]

Ditto what Teri wrote.

My heaters stay on more during the winter, but not 24/7. Also makes the tank easier to cool in the summer. The larger pump isn't that big of a deal. My Sequence 6000 only cost me about $100 more than an ampmaster 3000.

But having all the equipment in the basement is just soooo much easier than under the tank. There is no worries about fitting things under a stand and you can really do anything you like.

I drilled 4 holes in the floor, one for a 1 1/2" pipe for the return two for 1" returns and another hole to ruin any power cords I might need.

Here is a picture of a section of my basement setup. Main tank is one floor up.

 

[ReefLady]

The larger pump isn't that big of a deal. My Sequence 6000 only cost me about $100 more than an ampmaster 3000.

Agreed - It's not as much the initial cost of the pump that I was referring to, as the electricity cost to run it. But, between that, the heaters, and the lights, who knows? Electricity here is pretty high.

Here is a picture of a section of my basement setup. Main tank is one floor up.

Ack! Such neatness. ;-)

JB - have you received/tested those new lights yet?

 

[JB NY]

Originally posted by ReefLady
Agreed - It's not as much the initial cost of the pump that I was referring to, as the electricity cost to run it. But, between that, the heaters, and the lights, who knows? Electricity here is pretty high.

I'm on Long Island, crazy high electric here too. My sequence pulls only 300 watts, so it not that bad.

Ack! Such neatness. ;-)

My attempt to create some order in the chaos that is normally the basement.

JB - have you received/tested those new lights yet?

I posted to the thread this morning. I received them but other than turning them on to make sure they work, I haven't done anything with them. I had a super busy weekend and Monday. Hoping to get a good feel for them in the next day or so.