Basement Sump?

[REEFFREAK77]

Thinking of putting my sump in the basement looking for any positive/ negative feed back.
Want to get all the hassle out of the livingroom.

 

[Anonymous]

Having a sump in the basement is great! I like it because you have room to go big. I have a 100g rubbermaid stock tank as my sump, plus a 60 gallon refugium, and another small tank plumbed into the mix for growing out small fish like baby bangai.

Rather than cut a hole in the floor, we cut a hole in the heating ductwork and ran flexible tubing through and out a heating vent that was right where we wanted our tank to go.

The remote sump really helps keep the tank cool. I have bunch of VHO and PC crammed over my main tank (155g) and two 175 watt MH over my fuge, but don't use a single fan.


Basement sumps are just great. You have more room to work and you can keep all your meters, heaters, Ca reactor, top off system, anything you want out of sight of the main tank. I could go on and on about how preferable basement sump are. I think the only downside is that you have to pump water farther than if the sump was just under your tank, so a more powerful pump is in order.

 

[REEFFREAK77]

What type of GPH should I have for a return pump. I have a Mag 12 now but it is only going from under the tank would that work form the basement or is that going to be undersized.

 

[Anonymous]

Its going to be undersized. You can just attach it to a 15 foot long pipe and run it up the stairs or something to find out. The pump needs to be able to deal with head pressure.

 

[Anonymous]

What return pump does Laura and PitPat use?

 

[Anonymous]

A GenXMak4, and it seems a bit underpowered I think, but I also have a closed loop for added flow in the tank.

My return pump is something I would like to upgrade one day.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a honkin big sequence pond pump, way overpowered but if you have enough drains in you tank it would be perfect.

 

[liquid]

Good article:

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/ba ... sumps.html

Shane

 

[vair]

I have a basement sump and like it, only moved it about a month ago. I would suggest not having the big pump flow through the sump. Use a big pump for random flow on some sort of wave maker. The fish room is great way easier then dealing with a tank in your living room or dinning room like I had it set up.

Good luck.

Dave