Basement sump and refugium viability?

[sven]

trying to get back into the reef hobby. Moved to a much smaller house and don't have tons of room on the main floor, but still want to have a decent volume of saltwater to make it work well. Only think I have room for about an 80 gallon display tank, but want to put a large sump and refugium down in the basement where I have nothing but room. Sump and refugium would be about 8-12 feet directly below the display tank. Any suggestions on pumps or any problems I may encounter? Ideas?

 

[kfisc]

How about the possibility of just having everything in the basement? There are many pump options of the kind you're thinking about, but I can say the advantages of a basement tank are also many, including freedom from worrying about spills on floorboards and somewhat lower electricity cost due to not having to run a much more powerful pump. You might have the ability to build as big a tank as you like down there, and evaporation may be less in a somewhat more humid basement. You can also vent humid air through a basement window on a more sightly basis than an upstair tank, if needed.

 

[Timfish]

Keep in mind you don't need high flow through a sump/refugium, just a couple turnover;s an hour is good. A lower flow rate will also reduce the noise generated by water falling a greater distance.

 

[sven]

Thank you both. The idea of a basement tank has been heavily considered for the exact reasons you mentioned, along with the ability to do whatever the heck I want down there without spousal complaint. If the tank goes through an ugly stage, it's not in the living room so to speak. It also frees up the ability to add a bunch of peripheral equipment that would be impossible upstairs in the living area. However, I am now challenged by some ridiculous genetic disease that is taking away my muscles and the nerves that control them. Stairs are a real challenge for me, but on the other hand, a fantastic reef in the basement would serve as a great incentive to go up and down them. Which would be good, but not sure how much longer I'll be able to do that.

 

[reefing102]

Could get you one of those Stair Lifts and chalk it up to a reefing expense. It looks like some of the cheaper ones start out at no more than the cost of full Neptune system. Not trying to joke around with any disability, just a genuine thought.

 

[Uncle99]

trying to get back into the reef hobby. Moved to a much smaller house and don't have tons of room on the main floor, but still want to have a decent volume of saltwater to make it work well. Only think I have room for about an 80 gallon display tank, but want to put a large sump and refugium down in the basement where I have nothing but room. Sump and refugium would be about 8-12 feet directly below the display tank. Any suggestions on pumps or any problems I may encounter? Ideas?

You will need a 15,000 or 20000 lph DC controllable pump.
This will give you plenty of push at 50% and room to add a UV and Frag/Refugium at any time.
I push 18 feet from the basement sump to the display in this photo.
You must have gate valves on overflows for fine tuning.
Not pretty but very functional.
I only feed and clean glass upstairs to a 160g.

 

[hart24601]

I run a 150g Rubbermaid as my basement sump for display upstairs. I use a sicce sdc 7.0 return for my IM 150ext and love it. Downstairs sump was the best thing I have done in the hobby, on cinder blocks so no more bending over to service the tank.


I am not downstairs often so a tank down there is a waste. I actually sold two custom made tanks I had downstairs because I wasn’t down there enough to appreciate them.