fish room

[anthonys51]

hi guys.
thinking about adding a fish room to my basement. room will have 2 80 gallon frag tanks a 57 gallon refug and a sump with protein skimmer. the main tank will be 180 gallons.

my question is what is the best skimmer for this type system. also what gph pump would i need. the tank would be about 15-20 feet away from the sump to the right of the sump .

any advice would be helpful

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey there - sounds like a great project! I'm planning a new build in my new house similar to yours, at least in gallon-age - I'm looking at the Super Reef Octopus 6000 external - and they make an in-sump version as well. There are lots of other options, but in my research that is the best for me at least - low wattage pump, and less costly over all than some of the higher-priced models (Bubble King, MRC, etc.). And it doesn't come with a silly adjustable DC pump - which I think is a waste on a skimmer. Regarding the pump - I assume you mean return pump? I'm a fan of the new DC return pumps (Vectra, Waveline, etc.) - just cause the adjust-ability is nice, as is the low wattage - but if I were going normal AC I'd go with an Iwaki - just size accordingly (there are some good head loss calculators out there). For return, you really only need 3-5x turnover per hour...

 

[anthonys51]

So I would need a head lost calculator to figure out gph need to pump water 15 feet upwards


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[nereefpat]

So I would need a head lost calculator to figure out gph need to pump water 15 feet upwards


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Head pressure is only calculated by vertical distance. Your first post seems like most of the sustains horizontal

 

[anthonys51]

Head pressure is only calculated by vertical distance. Your first post seems like most of the sustains horizontal

To be honest I am pretty new to this. Not reef ing but building plumbing stuff like that. But basically pipe will go 8 feet up then 90 degree angle then 15 feet up on a slight angle then 90 elbow up to tank 5 feet. Wanted to see basically if this design was possible and if so what size pump .


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[Entacmaea]

Here you go:

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

Basically it is a combination of horizontal, vertical, and fittings (elbows, etc.) that will help you calculate what you need. 15-20ft is quite a bit, so you will need to oversize your pump and/or get a pump which is better with head pressure (DC pumps are not the greatest). Look at the Iwaki RLT pumps, which are rates for pressure/high head applications. 70 RLT might work. I'm sure there are lots of other pumps people can suggest too.

 

[anthonys51]

Just measured it it's a distant of 12 feet. Hopefully that's better than 20


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[Entacmaea]

Better... likely won't need the 70 then... a pressure rated pump like the Iwaki uses a lot of wattage, so you will be paying for those long runs in electricity - 300+ watts vs. ~100 watts for a DC pump. Calculate out for the Vectra M1 or L1 - they are very efficient. For some perspective, just ran the numbers on using the Iwaki vs. L1 at my local electricity rates, and there'd be $267/year in electricity savings with the Vectra...

 

[texdoc77]

hi guys.
thinking about adding a fish room to my basement. room will have 2 80 gallon frag tanks a 57 gallon refug and a sump with protein skimmer. the main tank will be 180 gallons.

my question is what is the best skimmer for this type system. also what gph pump would i need. the tank would be about 15-20 feet away from the sump to the right of the sump .

any advice would be helpful

Man I'm jealous you have a fish room in the basement. We don't have basements here in TX so I have a fish room off the garage. However, My sump is under the stand. I just do my AWC and ATO from there.

Also I gave you a bit of a hard time in another thread, nothing personal, honestly. I checked your account page and you are exactly one year and one day older than me. 7/3/77 here.

Happy reefing and good luck with your room, I will be following along if you post pix...

 

[anthonys51]

Man I'm jealous you have a fish room in the basement. We don't have basements here in TX so I have a fish room off the garage. However, My sump is under the stand. I just do my AWC and ATO from there.



Also I gave you a bit of a hard time in another thread, nothing personal, honestly. I checked your account page and you are exactly one year and one day older than me. 7/3/77 here.



Happy reefing and good luck with your room, I will be following along if you post pix...

Lol. Hey it's all good. Us New Yorkers sometimes get a little crazy lol. Will keep you posted


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[anthonys51]

Better... likely won't need the 70 then... a pressure rated pump like the Iwaki uses a lot of wattage, so you will be paying for those long runs in electricity - 300+ watts vs. ~100 watts for a DC pump. Calculate out for the Vectra M1 or L1 - they are very efficient. For some perspective, just ran the numbers on using the Iwaki vs. L1 at my local electricity rates, and there'd be $267/year in electricity savings with the Vectra...

Wow is it really that much more damn


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[Entacmaea]

Yeah, but I'm in CA - electricity is expensive here... it adds up though... something to consider for remote installations...

 

[anthonys51]

Might be stupid question but how do get the cost per year. Like 80 wAtts is that pre year


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[Entacmaea]

Not a stupid question - you just need to know your killowatt per hour price (KwH) from your utility - multiply that by the consumption of the pump. So, if your pump is 100 watts, and your KwH (kilowatt/hour = 1000 watts) is say $0.10 - multiply it out. 100 watt pump running for 24 hours is 2400 watts, which equals 2.4 Kwh, which equals $0.24 per 24 hours. So thats $0.24 x 365 days per year, and you get $87.60. There are some other factors like tiered electricity rates and other charges that might change that number, but you can get pretty good estimates this way. You can do this for any piece of equipment you have - and at least for me in planning my 280 gallon and fish room, I have a spread sheet where the pumps and lights especially are all entered, so I know what I am getting myself into in terms of monthly electricity costs. It really brings into focus tank efficiency - and choices like using LED lights vs. MH, or an efficient pump. For instance, that Iwaki pump is 336 watts, whereas the Vectra is 130 watts at full power...

 

[Wilrok_1]

Good luck wishing you the best , keep us updated .

 

[anthonys51]

Not a stupid question - you just need to know your killowatt per hour price (KwH) from your utility - multiply that by the consumption of the pump. So, if your pump is 100 watts, and your KwH (kilowatt/hour = 1000 watts) is say $0.10 - multiply it out. 100 watt pump running for 24 hours is 2400 watts, which equals 2.4 Kwh, which equals $0.24 per 24 hours. So thats $0.24 x 365 days per year, and you get $87.60. There are some other factors like tiered electricity rates and other charges that might change that number, but you can get pretty good estimates this way. You can do this for any piece of equipment you have - and at least for me in planning my 280 gallon and fish room, I have a spread sheet where the pumps and lights especially are all entered, so I know what I am getting myself into in terms of monthly electricity costs. It really brings into focus tank efficiency - and choices like using LED lights vs. MH, or an efficient pump. For instance, that Iwaki pump is 336 watts, whereas the Vectra is 130 watts at full power...

thanks that was easy to understand