Basement Sumps

[Chago09]

I am just curious as to how you guys set these up??? pics would be really really appreciated.

What kind of pump do you need??? how did you get through the floor??? how did you convince your wife to let you drill a 1" hole through your floor?? LOL

[rbursek]

I went thru the cold air return duck work, it was right there, Mag 18 for 8ft head, Mags are good at head and still get good flow. No wife so I do not need permission! LOL, Yes I heard a 50ish wife tell her husband he had to buy Lee and not Levi Jeans, he wanted Levi's I am glad I do not have one, ****, you can not even buy the pants you want? I quess we knows who wears them in that home!!

[JoeMomma]

I just drilled through the floor and ran pvc across the basement ceiling and into a dedicated room.

I use a Hammerhead as my return pump because I need about 15' of head. Its still provides waaaaaay too much flow for my drains.

I live alone so no worries about the wife getting mad. The holes in the floor don't bother me either because if I ever get out of the hobby (unlikely) I'll just ceramic tile over them.

[dsn112]

My wife wouldn't let me!

[Sk8r]

Easy to do: you need 2 holes, which can go right through the carpet, which can be concealed by the carpet if the hoses should be pulled, and which can be plugged from underneath when you sell the house.

Try this reasoning on the spousal-unit. If you have your basement sump, there will be no water spillage on the upstairs carpet, no gear sitting around the tank, any accidents go down the basement drain, and the living room will no longer sound like Niagara Falls. Most of the noise will be in the basement. All the stuff that's pretty will be in the living room.

Tell the spousal unit you'll hire a plumber to do the installation: it will amuse the plumber, who will take a while to comprehend this is NOT connected to any water source, and assure the spouse it will be done right the first time.

[coryjones]

And if she still says no send he to the mall and do it anyways. She is not going to take it out. lol If i ever had a wife or gf that wouldnt let me do what i want don't think it would work. I think i would go through the wall and down through the seal plate if i had hard wood or something but i do hvac work everyday and drill holes all over and fishing wires and duct so doesn't bother me. You can patch drywall or plaster easy

[coryjones]

My whole setup is in the wall in the basment but looking for a house so will probble end up doing the sump in the basment setup.

[Chago09]

ya that all makes sense, but it will probably be easier if I just buy her something nice first then just do it while shes out. Then play the "oohhh I thought you knew I was gonna drill the floor when I told you I was setting up a reef" LOL then she will be ****ed for a few days, maybe a week, maybe a month. But she will get over it. Nothing a little porn can't take care of for a month hahahah


Joe Momma I noticed you have a 120 gallon on your main floor. I am planning on putting a 90 gallon with a 30 gallon sump on my main floor.

Do I need to worry about weight issues here???

[dsn112]

Well, my wife said no, and I don't blame her because drilling holes in hardwood floors of a house less than a year old that cost us over 300k, doesn't make sense. If my situation was different I could have done it.

[coryjones]

This is one resone you always keep extra foolring

[JoeMomma]

Chago09, I was worried about the weight issue but I am against an exterior wall which has more support. I remember posting a thread about this but now I can't find it.

It all depends on where your putting your tank and whats supporting it from underneath.

[asm481]

As others said, a couple 45's and through the wall ya go. No hole in the flooring. One of my tanks replaced a heat vent and one runs through a cold air return. A 120 with MH's replaced the heat vent just fine.

[rbursek]

JoeM.
Weight should not be an issue, better if the tank sits perpendicular to the floor joist.

[rbursek]

Vynal tubing works better the PVC and more gradual bends then elbows, so less flow reduction.

[rbursek]

Oh by the way, that is why I do not have a wife anymore, I worked, payed the bills, and she wanted to tell me what I could and could not do. The last straw after 19 years when I bought a boat, "my father never had a boat" no he golfed at an exclusive private country club every weekend, as he said can't be in 2 different places, he was cool, she was a controller!

[The Floodinator]

I'm another with no wife who can do as I please. I have 4 holes drilled (2 tanks) with a Hammerhead doing return work for both tanks.
The basement does get cold in the winter. I have over 1000 watts of heat going and still a tough time keeping warm.
I must say though, the benefits out weigh all the negatives.

[Bandsaw]

Moving the equipment and accompanying noise to the basement was the best move my wife and I did. My wife was a little apprehensive about drilling holes, but once the noise was gone, it was move than worth it.

Now with the equipment down stairs, the things you can do are endless.

I used flex hose for my setup. Little expensive, but oh so easy and very little in the way of sharp bends.

Here are some pictures of my basement;

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/bandsaw/Water%20and%20Equipment%20Room/07-10-07-WaterRoom3.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/bandsaw/Water%20and%20Equipment%20Room/P8140125.jpg

[asm481]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11968538#post11968538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Floodinator
I'm another with no wife who can do as I please. I have 4 holes drilled (2 tanks) with a Hammerhead doing return work for both tanks.
The basement does get cold in the winter. I have over 1000 watts of heat going and still a tough time keeping warm.
I must say though, the benefits out weigh all the negatives.

Do as I did, wrap your sump and refuge with 1 inch foam. I pressed a piece underneath and covered most all the way around taping it to the tank. Come summer I will pull the insulation and let the basement help with cooling.

[sjm817]

My wife is awesome and was all for the basement sump. Pretty much eliminates tank maintenance such as water changes done in the living space.

I cut a rectangular hole in the floor the same size as a heating register. If the tank was ever removed, I can just drop one in to fill the hole.

[Aquarist007]

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4528.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4520.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4519.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4527.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4524.jpg

[Aquarist007]

when I started my intention was just to bring down the ballasts because of heating problems in the room above but we drilled a four inch hole through the floor just in case
In the first picture the water is coming from the tank in the pvc to the back. It is t'ed and after the t two ball values control the flow
to the left goes to the refugium and to the right the sump

the second and third picture give an overview
In the third picture note what remains of a trickle filter with bioballs--replace with a micron filter sock.
The water passes from left to right--the skimmer pump is too the right and the entry from the fuge is the far left--this makes sure copopods ect get returned to the tank without being skimmed

the next picture of the refugium show how it has its own separate controlled feed from the tank. it all relies on gravity so there are no pumps needed

the last picture is of a mag3600 pump. It is very noise and i will replace once it has gone. Notice the piece of tubing we had to put in the solid pvc. this deadened the noise upstairs that was travelling up the pvc.
You really only need 5-10 times the flow through the sump or match the output of your skimmer so the mag3600 is overkill and it uses way more power then other pumps (370 watts per hour)

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11969356#post11969356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bandsaw
Moving the equipment and accompanying noise to the basement was the best move my wife and I did. My wife was a little apprehensive about drilling holes, but once the noise was gone, it was move than worth it.

Now with the equipment down stairs, the things you can do are endless.

I used flex hose for my setup. Little expensive, but oh so easy and very little in the way of sharp bends.

Here are some pictures of my basement;

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/bandsaw/Water%20and%20Equipment%20Room/07-10-07-WaterRoom3.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/bandsaw/Water%20and%20Equipment%20Room/P8140125.jpg

greetings bandsaw from one ex RE member to another:smokin:

very nice setup---are you running deepsand beds also besides the refugium??