Setting Sump/Refugium in Basement

[Lorraine Vavra]

OK, all day and for the past 3 months I have been drooling over the idea of a big tank (140-200gal). My question is, since I live in a house where I can reinforce floors from the basement (so that I could have a lot of weight on the LR floor) and also have a sump/refugium right below in the basement, is it preferrasble to put a sump down in the (clean dry useable) basement so that I don't have the noise of pumps and protein skimmer etc etc upstairs in my LR ...or....is the pump I would need to push the water back up to Floor 1 too big to find? I have sent for the Julian Sprung Reef Books to find out how to build this system but I am too eager and want to know now. Any advice from you Experienced Reef People? Also, does anyone ever use 1 big sump for 2 display tanks or is that too dangerous because of the risk of disease. Any help on where to go on internet for design is appreciated also. Thanks, you people are great!!!
LorV

 

[Arch01]

Lots of people are using basement sumps. Here is a good example of one. One of the big advantages is that you can use a larger sump and any size skimmer you want. Plus spills aren't as big of a problem. I can't wait to have more space than I have under my tank for equipment.
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NCIS Forum

 

[Anonymous]

Certainly you can place the sump in the basement. That is what I am eventually going to do with mine (as soon as I remove the old oil tank sitting in that corner)

The biggest consideration when doing this is to find a pump that is rated for the GPH you want at the head you will have.

For instance if the Return pump will be sitting 8 feet below your main tank (which is pretty normal) you need to find a pump that will pump xxx gallons per hour at 8 feet.

Most of the sites that sell pumps include charts of head loss on their sites


Good luck and post some pictures as you build it, I would love to see it.

 

[Lorraine Vavra]

Thank you for the encouragement. Any info on good strong pumps? I suppose that will be in the books that I ordered though.
LorV

 

[coastal]

also you must take into consideration the amount of free water by that I mean when the power goes off you sump must be able to handle the back flow off water (feed and drain lines) so make a large sump . Ther are alot of external pumps on the market . seqence high head with saltwater seals comes to mind

 

[Anonymous]

I have an Iwaki. They are a bit expensive.

 

[Anonymous]

I use a pair of Iwaki pumps plugged into seperate circuits (in case one dies or a GFCI trips). For head pressure over 7 or 8 feet I recommend the RLT version (pressure rated), the RLXT is not pressure rated.

 

[Lorraine Vavra]

Thanks to everyone, this is great info. How about the idea of one sump for 2 tanks that are smaller than a 200....say 2-120s....that way I could have more variety and in ytwo rooms and it would mean I could get just one skimmer and 1 fuge for both. Is that crazy? I have a lot to learn!!!
Then maybe seahorses in one and fish/coral in another???? I know I am all over the place but this is the way I decide what to do. ou all are great with the knowledge sharing.
LorV

 

[hobokenreefer]

Does anyone have experience with this setup. I'm considering this configuration and would love to hear feedback from someone in the know.

 

[Anonymous]

There are two options:

1 - Have one tank drain into the second tank. The second tank drains to the sump. The Sump pumps water back to the first tank. This has a higher probability for failure.

2 - Each tank drains seperatly to the same sump. Either two pumps, one for each tank, or one large pump with a 'T' and valves pumps water to both tanks.

The sump needs to be larger than normal and have a lot of space for the plumbing of two seperate tank to drain into in times of a power failure.

I use the first method.