Daves 75g basement build in thread.

[iseeweed]

Hey cj7(bye the way, what year is your jeep?) Thanks for the info.
I am sick of looking at rock and moving stuff around!! I started on the sump today. It will be very basic, 3 chamber with a bubble trap before the return pump.
I was doing some measuring today, and I think my current tank may fit nice under the 75. It is 22 inches tall and 12.5 inches wide. It is already drilled. Do you think this would make a good refugium? I plan on a deep sand bed and will grow cheato algea. Just not sure what kind of light a tank that deep would need, or if that tank would be ok for what I'm trying to do.

 

[iseeweed]

Sump hopefully done, will check for leaks tomm.

 

[bleedingthought]

Turn your volute around on the return pump so you don't have to have an elbow right there.

 

[trido]

Turn your volute around on the return pump so you don't have to have an elbow right there.

Dont you mean to say? "Stand the pump up".

I agree with BT though. The fewer elbows you use the more flow gets back to the tank. Also, I would recommend putting a union ball valve at the pump for maintanance as well as the ability to choke it back if you need to.

 

[iseeweed]

Got it guys, I have a straight fitting, but got the wrong size. I will stand it up I am also installing ball valves on both sides.
Today I got the sump in place, and am testing the chambers for leaks. Hopefully I will get some of the plumbing done.
The sump stand is a kitchen cabinet I found on the Lowes clearout table for $12!

 

[Ben1]

nice sump stand, I like it! Are you planning on a fuge? If so you might be able to build a rack to hold one above the sump.

 

[trido]

nice sump stand, I like it! Are you planning on a fuge? If so you might be able to build a rack to hold one above the sump.

It is a nice sump stand. Better yet on the fuge, put it above the tank so ALL of the pods that make it out of the tank get into the display by gravity rather than past an impellar.

 

[iseeweed]

Great idea trido, I am going to move the sump over a little to the right so I have room to biuld a stand making the fuge higher than the tank. I really appreciate the advice!!

 

[camaroracer214]

imo, the sump looks a little small. my concern with it is if the power goes out, will there be enough room to fill up without overflowing?

 

[iseeweed]

Only one way to find out..

 

[Anonymous]

1983

 

[bleedingthought]

Turn your volute around on the return pump so you don't have to have an elbow right there.

Dont you mean to say? "Stand the pump up".

I agree with BT though. The fewer elbows you use the more flow gets back to the tank. Also, I would recommend putting a union ball valve at the pump for maintanance as well as the ability to choke it back if you need to.

The pump can sit any way you want. I'd actually leave it like it is since that looks to be the wide side that it's sitting on. The volute on mag pumps can usually be turned to water position you want.

 

[iseeweed]

Good idea, I actually got everything plumbed up last night and started filling the tank. I have me r/o unit pumping right into the tank. I will probably take a day or 2 wee will see.

Question--How much water will return if the pump stops working? I have a drain close by, so when I test it I will have a pump ready to pump back into the drain. Just wondering, It seems like a lot of people with a 55-90g tank are using a 20g sump so I'm hopeing someone will know.

 

[bleedingthought]

Good idea, I actually got everything plumbed up last night and started filling the tank. I have me r/o unit pumping right into the tank. I will probably take a day or 2 wee will see.

Question--How much water will return if the pump stops working? I have a drain close by, so when I test it I will have a pump ready to pump back into the drain. Just wondering, It seems like a lot of people with a 55-90g tank are using a 20g sump so I'm hopeing someone will know.

Depends on where the siphon (usually your return pipe) is. The lower, the more water will drain.

 

[Ben1]

Mine drains only till the overflow teeth are above the water. Its not much. I have a hold drilled in my return right where it elbows into the tank so the siphon breaks if the pump stops. If your return is a few inchs under water and there is no hold it will back siphon when the power cuts out.

FWIW Ive use 20L for sump on a ot of tank up to 75 gal but it was more a space limitation and if I had the space I would have used something larger like a 40 breeeder.

 

[Katfsh]

I have a aga 90 gal and I did some math on mine and figure that I will have about five extra gallons im my sump when the power goes out, I have a 20 gal tank for my sump and my baffles are 8 inches high so If my tank is level with the baffles it will still be able to hold the extra five gallons.
katfsh

 

[iseeweed]

Thanks Katfish, The water line in the sump is 8.5 inches so I should be fine. By the end of the day my tank should be full so I can do some testing.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a hole drilled in the return too, so that when the power stops or the pump is of the siphon breaks.

It fills with crud and algae.

9/10 times the tank drains till the lock-line return starts to suck air. Better safe than sorry on the sump size. Never forget Murphy when setting up a tank.

 

[iseeweed]

Up and running!! The "dry" rock took a few days to get right(lots of carbon)

 

[iseeweed]

Got the tank started...finally! My plan is to let the tank cycle for a long time. I only have 60w of t-5's running right now(just to see whats going on). Above the tank are 2-250w DE 14k(hamilton bulbs) pendants ready to burn, but not for a while.
The next stage in the basement project is to build a bar in front of the tank, so I probably won't be posting any pics for a while.