Sump in the Basement

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I have not been on for a while sorry it's been crazy at work and being a Dad. In any event I am planning a upgrade from my existing 120 to a deep dimensions 200 gallon Marineland tank. (no worries when the build starts I will create a thread)

In any event I was thinking about placing my sump in the basement with the tank being located on the first floor. Has anyone done this? Do you like it, hate it? Just trying to get some pros and cons. My thought was that if I did this I would make my existing 120 my sump..

Let me know what you think.

 

I wish I had a basement but to me the biggest disadvantage is the additional head and power requirements to lift the water up one floor. Pressure rated pumps require 3 or 4 times the power a flow rated pump does and along with the 24/7/365 power bills you get additional heat. Being in a cooler place like the basement though heat may not be an issue.

I have been on a power savings kick myself since January and by doing things like more efficient pumps, combining functions on one or two pumps, LED lighting and switching lighting to mostly off peak power times along with some changes to my home like a two speed pool pump, energy efficient T-8 electronic ballast lighting, CFL bulbs and running things like the dishwasher and washing machine/dryer off peak I have saved $557.52 over the same months last year and just slightly less from the year before.

Pumps, lights, heaters, chillers, all these things add up. The LED lighting alone is saving me $60 a month over the old MH/VHO combo I had.

 

Interesting perspective.. I have not thought about power consumption.. One of the only reasons I am considering it is that my tank is an in wall and with the new thank the majority of my fish room will be taken up. So am really just looking for more space. I might have to get creative.

 

My sump is in my garage which from teh garage floor to the top of the tank is 10'. I know my dart that runs my closed loop uses 1.5 amps all day long. the barracuda is a larger pump, but not a whole lot bigger motor. yes, there is the electricity factor, but for me, having all that room for my goodies is SO WORTH IT. I was cramped under my 75 gallon tank with a shorty stand. it sucked and severely limited my work space. now, I have plenty. plus, all you hear in the fish room is the trickle of water and the cooling fans.

 

I am a huge fan of remote sumps - it makes it so much easier to add stuff and maintain them. My current configuration is about 25 feet below the top of my tanks.

The only issue I had was that I was creating a suction in the drain pipe that would back it up for short periods of time and cause major gurgling. I fixed it by introducing a vent in the drain to allow more air in. Check out the link in my sig for the build thread. It shows all the stuff.

As for a pump, if you figure you're down 12' or so from the top of the tank, add in another 3' for pipe friction, elbows, etc. you should plan on 15'. A Reeflo Barracuda should do very nicely, pushing close to 2500 gph at that head height (so you'd have a little extra umph if you needed it). It uses about 240 watts. Not horrid.

 

I'm running a 180 and 125 FOWLR's from the basement with a Dart and have more than enough flow. If you need even more flow than that, I'd look at a Dart Gold for better power usage.

If you don't have to cram everything under your tank, you have to thing differently with a basement design. My feeling is that I'm only pumping the water uphill once, so I may as well use gravity to my advantage.

I just finished moving the reef sump to the basement and changed the design. The water flows first into a 20 long where the skimmer is housed. Then it flows into another 20 long where the chaeto will go, then into a 40 breeder for macro algae/final settling of debris. Those tanks are in a cube pattern to save space. The water then flows into a 100 gallon stock tank that holds the ATO and the return pump. The stock tank is plumbed directly to the floor drain for fast water changes. This gives me nearly 140 gallons of sump for a 125 gallon tank. ;D

 

Very cool. Thanks. I am thinking more and more about going with the remote sump in the basement. Does anyone use the BlueLine pumps? Think it is a Blue Line 70 that someone recommended I use.

 

The Blueline would be the way to go if you had to pump the water very high, otherwise a Dart is a better deal as it produces more flow with less power consumed. You have to look at the flow charts and compare the performance of each pump based on what your application will be.