Ideas on creating an energy efficient basement sump for a 180g reef tank

[Mark]

Hi all,

I'm about to move to a house with a basement. I'm very excited at the idea of moving all my filtration out of the stand and into the unfinished space below the tank. The one important factor for me is energy efficiency.

Currently my tank consists of a 180g reef illuminated with 500-watts of T5's. The stand contains a 40g breeder tank as a sump. The return is an eheim 1262, the skimmer is an ATB medium using an airstar(askoll) pump. Extra flow in the tank is provided by 4 tunze streams. Calcium is managed by a Geo Reactor running on an eheim as well. As you can tell by my equipment choices, my reef is designed to be pretty efficient.

Moving to a basement sump configuration poses some obstacles for me. The two common obstacles I see in basement sumps is a) a need for a higher wattage pressure-rated pump, and b) a need to control humidity.

I want to keep the return pump at below 200-watts. I'm perfectly content with a tank turnover rate of 3x/hour through the sump. So I need about 6-700gph coming out of the return nozzles in the tank. The head pressure should equal about 12-15 feet. Noise is another factor. The sump is in a room adjacent to a finished area of the basement. I don't want to hear a pump humming away through the drywall and closed door. I also want it to be low maintenance. What pumps do you all recommend? I like the reeflo models, but I worry about seal issues. I'd hate for the seal to wear out, while I'm on vacation. I like the Iwaki's, but they use a lot of juice and can be noisy. I wish askoll pumps could handle head pressure. :(

As for humidity, I'm hoping to keep the sump size reasonable, and covered with a lid. This should keep humidity low. I know basements afford the opportunity to go with larger sumps, but I don't want to go bigger than I need. I'm leaning towards something the size of a 75-gallon, with my old 40-gallon sump acting as a refugium. Is it feasible to control humidity issues with lids? I really don't want to require a de-humidifyer. They are massive energy hogs. I'll try to install an exhaust fan if possible.

My current plan is to divert one of the tank drains to the 40-gallon refugium, which will end up draining into the sump. That way, I don't need an extra pump for the separate refugium. I plan to use the same ATB skimmer.

I'm just trying to figure out a way to deal with the return water and the humidity in an energy conscious manners. I'm also interested to hear ideas for other tricks to simplify and reduce costs.

[nyvp]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Pan_World_100PX_Magnetic_Water_Pump_Up_to_1000_Gallons_Per_Hour_External_Water_Pumps-Pan_World-JW1123-FIWPEPZT-JW1143-vi.html

[sjm817]

Mark, I run a 180G with 600W of T5s and a basement sump in northern VA. I run a 75G sump and a 65G fuge. Your plan of a 75/40G sounds fine. I have about 10' vertical head. Humidity has never been an issue at all for me.

I have run 2 return pumps on this setup. Until fairly recently I was running a Gen-X Mak4. It is an inexpensive pump with good flow and handles head well. Actual measured wattage usage was 110W. I had part of the flow diverted to feed the fuge. The only complaint was the pump was very noisy, but not really an issue in a basement return.

Im an effort to make the system more energy efficient, I changed the pump for a Poseidon PS4, otherwise known as a Velocity T4. My 600W of heaters were on a lot during the Winter months and a fair bit in the Summer as well. The 110W of heat from the Mak4 was sent to the air since it is an air cooled pump. The T4 is a water cooled pump, so my idea was to use that as a constant heat source. So far, it has helped. My heaters never kick in this time of year and I would think they will run much less come Winter. The T4 doesn't have as much flow as the Mak4 and uses more power (125W). Not as efficient for water flow, but a "free" heater. It is also dead silent (not quiet, silent). Instead of running the fuge from a T in the return, I put in a small Maxijet 1800 utility pump to run the fuge and the GAC/GFO reactors to get a bit better flow to the display.

For the fuge, as mentioned, I run it with a feed from the return section of the sump. I dont like drain fed fuges. You wind up with far too much detritus in there and it turns into a nutrient mess. Feeding off the return still gives it plenty of food without the excess muck.

How much actual vertical lift from sump to display will there be? My sump setup sits on a bench, not on the floor which has several advantages.

[Mark]

Scott, thanks for the detailed response. You bring up a very good point about mucking up the fuge with detritus. I'm looking at about 10 feet of vertical lift. I'm going to put the tank on a stand, like you suggested.

I like the link to the Pan World 100PX. 120 watts is a nice low wattage!

[Pyrrhus]

To help with your humidity issues you could use an exhaust fan on a humidostat to automatically vent when the humidity hits a set %, of course, this method probably works a lot better in Phx, AZ than Atlanta, GA, but it has worked fairly well for me.

If you have lids made for your sump dont have them made from acrylic, it will warp, polycarbonate is a good plastic material and of course glass works well if you dont need any complicated cuts or hole patterns in the lids. Just keep in mind that preventing evaporation will trap additional heat in your system, this may or may not be a good thing.

I agree with Scott on the pump choice, the Titanium pumps would probably work rather well in your situation, particularly if you need to use heaters or cooling isnt an issue otherwise.

[James77]

My biggest energy cost when I had my basement sump was heating. So, I also did as Scott did, and ran a Velocity T4, which got me about 600 GPH. They are warm pumps, so the watts you use will at least also help warm the water.

They are also dead silent. I had run a Reeflo Tarpon, and it was quiet, but I could hear it anywhere in the basement. You live in the South, so i don't know if heating will be an issue or not for you. I also insulated the back and sides of the sump, as well as the piping drains and returns.

[Mark]

I don't think heat will be an issue. The majority of the basement is finished and climate controlled. The unfinished area is about the size of a bedroom. Since it is both adjacent to and below areas that are climate controlled, I think the temp should be fine. I could be wrong though. The additional volume and slightly cooler temps in the basement could cause the heater to crank on more often. What do you guys think? With my current configuration, my tank runs at 78 degrees.

As for lids, I learned the hard way that acrylic does warp. :( I'm going to look into polycarbonate.

[Saltcity]

You will not get the 6-700 gph at the return nozzles with THAT Pan World pump...

Here's one.. avg. watts. 170...
http://www.marinedepot.com/Dolphin_4000_3000_Amp_Master_External_Pump_2000_Gallons_Per_Hour_Higher_External_Water_Pumps-Dolphin_Aquarium_Pet-DP3227-FIWPEPOH-DP4030-vi.html

Here's the flow rate on the above pump....

http://www.dolphinpumps.com/html/Products/AmpMaster/WorldSeries/DualPerformance/images/40003000curve.jpg

[RokleM]

Agree on the Panworld brand, and you can branch off the return to run your GEO or any other media type reactors you have. I have four pumps, and I've been very happy with them. They aren't perfectly silent, but you probably won't be hearing them through a wall very easily either.

The 150ps is a hoss too. Don't go TOO small that you'll be unhappy. If anything I'd slightly bigger than you need, and ball valve the flow down. 150ps flow chart (they have all of them on the site):
http://www.panworldamericas.com/PS/60Hz/A3400017.pdf

I run mine off the frag tank pump, but you get the point...

http://mad-skillz.com/aquarium/12.05.2008-02.jpg