For those whose sumps are on a lower floor from DT

frogdog

Relentless Question-Asker
Do you worry about leaks if the water has to travel up and down 10'?

Is it a pain not to able to see the DT when you're working down below?

What about if the sump is not directly under the DT but some horizontal feet away? Is that workable?
 
Leaks are no more or less a problem, but you have to oversize your return pump to compensate for the head pressure loss from the elevation change and the added fittings and pipe length. I'm not sure why you need to see the DT when working on the sump.
 
Leaks are no more or less a problem, but you have to oversize your return pump to compensate for the head pressure loss from the elevation change and the added fittings and pipe length. I'm not sure why you need to see the DT when working on the sump.

Thank you, thegrun

When you turn on and off your pump, don't you want to see if it's working properly with returning water to the tank?

Would you have an emergency pump shut-off upstairs?

Wouldn't a pump that size pull an enormous amount of amps?
 
If your pump is working water will start draining back down to your sump shortly after turning on the pump.
A good controller will allow you to access and control your equipment from both locations ( Ilike the Apex neptune system).
Yes, you will have to get a bigger pump and it will use more electricity to overcome the added pipe length and elevation. A wild guess is you would use 25% more power for your return pump, but we would need a lot more infromation to give an accurate number.
 
Not just the electric use is higher also the initial cost of pump will be much higher as well and always have a replacement of a return pump handy so cost goes twice high.just my 2 cents.
 
You also need to oversize your final sump chamber to handle the additional water.

For those with a tight space in the display area you can work wonders by using a large basement room for the filtration stuff.

There are some great external pumps that are efficient just a bit more pricey for the initial purchase. Look into head loss charts as well as some pumps perform better than others at different heights of pressure.

Adding a lightswitch to turn off the pump is a quick $30 fix if you don't have a $600 dollar controller.
 
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A friend upstairs with a cellphone is sometimes a good thing. Pounding on the wall works.
I have about a 15 foot run involving a jog. But I love having the sump below: all sorts of room to work with. To fill, add to the sump and pulse the pump upstairs, or have that friend with the cellphone tell you how it's going up there. Water change? draw from the dt and add to the sump.
 
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