Basement sump pros & cons?

[38bill]

Great looking setup jason2459. My basement is almost 10degrees cooler than the rest of my house. I'm hoping this works to my advantage.

I run a 215G with a basement sump. I love it. The display is basically completely silent. Only a very small hum from the Tunze 6045's. And its so nice to be able to service everything without crawling under the tank.

The bad: In the winter my basement is cool enough it takes more to heat the tank.

The good: Summer time high water temps are not even a concern.

PS: I run a external Pan World 150ps (same as a BlueLine 55HD).

 

[sammy77]

Outstanding info guys, thank you. I need to determine which size pump I need. How much flow does a 220gal need?

 

[jason2459]

Flow rate is a tough subject. Some like a lot, some like moderate, and some like a little. There's reason for each one. Do you plan on in tank circulation pumps or a closed loop? How do you plan to use your sump or sumps. Yes you can now have multiple sumps in a nice sized basement room.

I have a single basic sump with intake Skimmer area. Baffles setup to have surface flow over the middle section causing a nice cryptic zone below. Then finally my return section. So, I don't want a lot of flow and the 700GPH fit nicely and also allows my Skimmer to keep up with the intake section. A lot of people though like higher flow rates and they'll have to give why.

 

[milkman55]

Outstanding info guys, thank you. I need to determine which size pump I need. How much flow does a 220gal need?

Good rule of thumb is 8 to 10X your tank volume, so about 2,000 GPH in your case is close enough. I run 200 gals across three tanks from a 75 gal sump in my basement, about 15 ft vertical to the top of the upstairs 120 gal display tank. The other two tanks are a 40 breeder and 45 gal cube in the basement, but all on the same system. Put a gate valve right above the pump and you can dial back the flow if needed. Just don't undersize because you can't create more flow if you undersize.

I use a Pan World 250PS which has great vertical head pressure and has ran flawlessly for about 2 1/2 years now non-stop. I keep a second 250PS as a backup since the return is probably the most critical part of your system. I also can feed a couple of reactors with the manifold off the return pump.

Basement sump is the only way to go. Once you overflow something in your living area, you will be in hot water with the family. Basement and the floor drain remedy all those issues and give me lots of work area. I literally do nothing upstairs except feed the tank.

 

[jason2459]

I would plan for at least 1.5" piping and it can scale to what ever your needs end up being.

 

[matgvr]

personally id cut a piece out of the dry wall and run the pipes inside the walls, if the tank is up against the wall of course. then i wouldn't be pulling up hardwood or carpet and it would make an easier fix down the road when i moved or sold the house. If you used a barracuda hammerhead and used roughly 14' of head pressure you would end up with about 4000 gph split into 4 returns in your display which would cut costs on circulating pumps in your tank. You could T off the return into the other side of your sump making a refugium

 

[jason2459]

I wouldn't think that would be a good idea on a load wall. Especially with multiple 3+ 1.5" pipes.

 

[salty55]

my con with basement sumps: getting everything set up for one, then remembering that I live in the south and NO houses around here have basements!:lol:

 

[jason2459]

That's when you take over the room behind the tank as your fish room. Or if its an outside wall I've seen at least one person build and attached shed to the house where the fish tank was and made that the fish room.

 

[jason2459]

Another con is you'll have more room to collect junk. And feel more free to make a mess with out worry. Don't ever let the wife in after you get it setup...

 

[matgvr]

considering all pluming is run down walls it shoulder be a problem. The pips are run down the wall next to the 2 by 6 and drilled threw the odd bracing.upstair kitchen and bathroom plumbing and inline vacuum hosing as well is done this way .

 

[sammy77]

Flow rate is a tough subject. Some like a lot, some like moderate, and some like a little. There's reason for each one. Do you plan on in tank circulation pumps or a closed loop? How do you plan to use your sump or sumps. Yes you can now have multiple sumps in a nice sized basement room.

I have a single basic sump with intake Skimmer area. Baffles setup to have surface flow over the middle section causing a nice cryptic zone below. Then finally my return section. So, I don't want a lot of flow and the 700GPH fit nicely and also allows my Skimmer to keep up with the intake section. A lot of people though like higher flow rates and they'll have to give why.

This being my first time running a sump, I am only gonna use my 75gal as a sump. I need to keep it as simple as possible, so not sure on the closed loop or powerheads for in tank circulation.

 

[sammy77]

Good rule of thumb is 8 to 10X your tank volume, so about 2,000 GPH in your case is close enough. I run 200 gals across three tanks from a 75 gal sump in my basement, about 15 ft vertical to the top of the upstairs 120 gal display tank. The other two tanks are a 40 breeder and 45 gal cube in the basement, but all on the same system. Put a gate valve right above the pump and you can dial back the flow if needed. Just don't undersize because you can't create more flow if you undersize.

I use a Pan World 250PS which has great vertical head pressure and has ran flawlessly for about 2 1/2 years now non-stop. I keep a second 250PS as a backup since the return is probably the most critical part of your system. I also can feed a couple of reactors with the manifold off the return pump.

Basement sump is the only way to go. Once you overflow something in your living area, you will be in hot water with the family. Basement and the floor drain remedy all those issues and give me lots of work area. I literally do nothing upstairs except feed the tank.

Thank you. I'm going to end up with a 10'-12' run for the pump. Is the 250PS too much?

 

[sammy77]

Another con is you'll have more room to collect junk. And feel more free to make a mess with out worry. Don't ever let the wife in after you get it setup...

Oh....she's thrilled about the idea...

We bought the house 8 months ago, I've torn walls down, moved the layout of rooms, re did electric in more than half of the house, plumbing, a driveway, ripped trees out, re-did my deck, new furnace & AC. I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. All this, when I promised her I was only gonna paint the house!!:lolspin:

 

[sammy77]

personally id cut a piece out of the dry wall and run the pipes inside the walls, if the tank is up against the wall of course. then i wouldn't be pulling up hardwood or carpet and it would make an easier fix down the road when i moved or sold the house. If you used a barracuda hammerhead and used roughly 14' of head pressure you would end up with about 4000 gph split into 4 returns in your display which would cut costs on circulating pumps in your tank. You could T off the return into the other side of your sump making a refugium

I'll have to go thru the floor because the wall that the tank is going against is a stone wall. The floor is hard wood and shouldn't be tough to deal with. I just moved in so hopefully I'm here for a long time.

 

[sammy77]

+1 on alot of these points, especially the beer frisge...what an ingenius idea :bum:

I switched back to a under the tank sump to save power from heating, which was the only negative of a basement sump. Water changes STINK on the first floor, i resort to starting a siphon with my garden hose out a window and running in 100 mph before it breaks spihon and pees all over the floor. Space is the best of basement sumps. Cons are basement room used up, and possible more heating or cooling, but they are freezing winters here, so it is unsusal.

I have built small enclosed fish rooms and love them........

Holy crap, that's a hilarious water change! lol

 

[madlarkin]

For my current setup going with a basement sump is a no brainer. We have no central AC, but the basement tends to stay WAY cooler then the rest of the house. The 150XT means I have limited space under the stand, but going downstairs opened up room to use a large stock tank, dedicated fuge/mangroves, quarantine and easy water changes.

 

[MarkGP]

The only con I have with the 100 gal basement sump on my 125 is heating it in the winter. My basement is barely 60 in the winter so I need 1000 watts of heat to keep my temp up. The added electric isn't horrible but it does go up about $60 in the winter because of this. The water changes are so much easier and the lack of noise upstairs where the tank is divine. I run a gen-x pcx40 and it gives me around 700 gph with the head loss.