100-150Gal rubbermaid sump?

luvreefs23 · 02-19-2008, 05:20 PM

I was thinking of getting a 100-150 gallon rubbermaid sump from work (get them for cost) and putting it in the basement as a sump for my 90 gallon tank. I was just gonna drill the holes thru the floor and use the basement directly below the tank as space for all my filtration. I wanna incorporate a kalkwasser reactor, uv sterilzer, calcium reactor, skimmer, phosban reactors and prolly a few other items im forgetting but u get the picture. Anyone think this is a good idea? Sure wouldnt have to worry about space constraints. How would i filter out the bubbles and keep them from returning to the main tank in a setup like this?

Thanks

Otty · 02-19-2008, 06:21 PM

That would be a great idea because you would not be limited on space. I take my water from the OF to the sump then run a pipe all the way to the bottom of the sump then I make a U and increase the size of the pipe to release pressure and then take the pipe up to the surface of the water. This way the bubbles will be at the top of the water and very seldom will run back to the bottom where you could have you outlets from the sump to the display tank.
Tangster filled me in on that trick and it works great. Especially increasing the size of the tube (1" to 1 1/2"...etc) to release pressure in the water so when it comes out it not as loud and doesn't splash around.

gazog · 02-19-2008, 06:34 PM

I know about a half a dozen people who have setups pretty close to that and I am going to do the same with mine. If you live anywhere near a Menard's they have the 100 gallon stock tank for about 60 bucks.

luvreefs23 · 02-19-2008, 06:49 PM

Thanks for heads up on the 100 gallon stock tank but where i work i can get the rubbermaid containers at cost. 60 bux for a brand new 100 gallon and 75 bux for the 150 gallon. Otty, thanks for the tip ion the u-shape idea for eliminating bubbles...sounds like a good way to go.

ReefSparky · 02-19-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otty

. . I take my water from the OF to the sump then run a pipe all the way to the bottom of the sump then I make a U and increase the size of the pipe to release pressure and then take the pipe up to the surface of the water. This way the bubbles will be at the top of the water and very seldom will run back to the bottom where you could have you outlets from the sump to the display tank.
Tangster filled me in on that trick and it works great. Especially increasing the size of the tube (1" to 1 1/2"...etc) to release pressure in the water so when it comes out it not as loud and doesn't splash around.

WOW! That's friggin' ingenious!! So you're saying that your OF from the tank winds up looking kinda like a trap under a sink, right? Except that the "upward" part of the trap extends all the way to the top of the water level in the sump. . . . I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years. Sounds like a sure thing to keep bubbles out of the equasion. Don't even need baffles on the intake side of the sump, huh?

Thanks Otty!! If I ever have enough distance (like from a main floor down to a basement) to create that kind of gravity feed, I'll do it that way! Karma to you for spreading a GREAT IDEA!!!

lunatik_69 · 02-19-2008, 06:59 PM

My only concern( correct me if Im wrong) is, wouldnt the drain be like a black hole(gravity) going down to the basement and "crashing" into the sump? Sounds messy and noisey?

Otty · 02-19-2008, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunatik_69

My only concern( correct me if Im wrong) is, wouldnt the drain be like a black hole(gravity) going down to the basement and "crashing" into the sump? Sounds messy and noisey?

Your corrected....

I come out of my OF with Durso Standpipes and then go to the sump in the U shape. Tangster know his stuff when it comes to DIY stuff for the tank he was the one with the ideal. I just line my sump with LR to add more filtration instead of baffles.

ReefSparky · 02-19-2008, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunatik_69

My only concern( correct me if Im wrong) is, wouldnt the drain be like a black hole(gravity) going down to the basement and "crashing" into the sump? Sounds messy and noisey?

I don't think so, Luna. The way I understand this, is it's a very long pipe, with a "J" on the end, except the ascending part of the J becomes wider, so the water doesn't "sqirt" out. It probably just rises to the top with very little pressure at all, since the pipe at the "J" part gets wider. This sounds like a fantastic idea.

You'd just need enough travel distance so the water can overcome gravity at the base of the J. Using this model in a sump just below a tank in a stand probably wouldn't work, but if you travel from the main floor of a house down to a basement, the weight of the water column would overcome the widened "J" and flow slowly out the top if tweaked right.

Is that the general idea, Otty?

Otty · 02-19-2008, 07:17 PM

this is a quick pic to explain it. Once you are at the bottom you increase the size then run the pipe back up to the surface of the water.

ReefSparky · 02-19-2008, 07:41 PM

I don't know if at the top of the outlet on this "J" there is any rush or violent "water fountain" effect. But if there was, perhaps as an improvement, have the top part of the ascending widened tube end directly beneath eggcrate that holds a few inches of LR. It might not be necessary, but it would prevent any water gushing above the surface of the fuge's water level.