Advantage of basement sump for reef tank.

[jlneng]

Hi All,
After upgrading my aquarium lighting from PC to Metal Halide, my 125G reef tank with 40G basement sump suffered about a 4 °F daily temperature swing. With the PC lighting I only had about a 2 °F swing.

To resolve this, I took a 10' piece of 1/4" stainless steel tubing and wound it around a piece of 4" pipe making a coil. After running poly tubing to and from the coil, I placed the coil in my sump pump crock in the basement where the water is always about 55°F. I used an Aqua Lifter pump to suck sea water out of my tank sump piped to the coil and emptying back in the tank sump. The flow is very slow, about 2 cups per minute but the water is chilled from 78° to 68°F. My heater in the sump will probably run a little more but my tank temperature is staying even at 78° +/- 1° day and night. I use my computer and an Allen Bradley PLC to track temperature, and control my tank parameters; MH lighting, powerheads, pumps, pH monitor, Calcium Reactor, LED Moon lighting, and red LED night viewing. This was really simple to do and I think it will provide enough cooling to avoid buying a chiller and paying more $$ to the Electric company! Next thing I will try is only running the cooling loop while the Metal Halides are on.....

 

[mr_X]

interesting. i was thinking of buying a small refrigerator(like one that holds a keg), making a hole in the top, running some sort of hose through it into a container of RV antifreeze(it's non toxic)in a coiling fashion, and then back out the same hole back to the tank.
silicone caulk the hole, and there's my chiller.
i think people have tried this, except for the "chilled fluid" container, which will conduct alot more cold faster.
i'd also be alot better off finding some metal piping or something that will conduct temperatures better then perhapse plastic tubing.
but then you have the chance of the metal bleeding something into the water......
do you fear this with the stainless steel?

 

[jlneng]

Used 316L Stainless, no problems with that type!

 

[Anonymous]

The issue with a DIY chiller by using a keg frig is that the compressor is not big enough to do much to a tank unless it is very small, like 20 gal or so. But yeah, SS316L should be alright, at least for a short term.

jlneng, the amount of cooling you can get with cold water is amazing. This is why sometimes geothermo can be very helpful. I am thinking about using the RO input to cool my tank, so that the RO filter can run better, while keeping my tank cool in the summer. However, it is very involved due to the feedback control mechanism that I want to implement, so it is still in the planning stage after 5 years.

 

[jlneng]

Thanks for the hint...I am going to run a coil for my RO/DI source water through my sump to warm it up a little, thus increasing membrane output, and cooling off tank. Now that it is winter in Wisconsin, I have no problems with excess heat.

 

[Mpls reefer]

Hi All,
After upgrading my aquarium lighting from PC to Metal Halide, my 125G reef tank with 40G basement sump suffered about a 4 °F daily temperature swing. With the PC lighting I only had about a 2 °F swing.

To resolve this, I took a 10' piece of 1/4" stainless steel tubing and wound it around a piece of 4" pipe making a coil. After running poly tubing to and from the coil, I placed the coil in my sump pump crock in the basement where the water is always about 55°F. I used an Aqua Lifter pump to suck sea water out of my tank sump piped to the coil and emptying back in the tank sump. The flow is very slow, about 2 cups per minute but the water is chilled from 78° to 68°F. My heater in the sump will probably run a little more but my tank temperature is staying even at 78° +/- 1° day and night. I use my computer and an Allen Bradley PLC to track temperature, and control my tank parameters; MH lighting, powerheads, pumps, pH monitor, Calcium Reactor, LED Moon lighting, and red LED night viewing. This was really simple to do and I think it will provide enough cooling to avoid buying a chiller and paying more $$ to the Electric company! Next thing I will try is only running the cooling loop while the Metal Halides are on.....

 

[Mpls reefer]

i was wondering what advantages you've had from having the sump in the basement, i'm going to have my new sump in the basement , 55 gal sump with a 30 gal refuge.
thanks

 

[JKDMan]

or u can buy a chiller hehe.
plus metal will corrode in saltwater eventually