Help with remote sump ideas

[vessxpress1]

In my previous experience with keeping a tank I fought bryopsis, bubble algae and every type of hair algae there is. It was also a sumpless fugeless setup with a hob skimmer and a TLF reactor running rowaphos. For my next tank I want to do it right. I want all the bells and whistles for nutrient export and all equipment located remotely. Luckily the spot i want to put the tank has an old shower in basement below it where i could have a large sump and have all the equipment conveniently located. But i dont have experience with planning this. If you had this area available to you would you use it and plumb to the basement? And in what order would you have things? Like sump with filter bag skimmer, into a fuge, media compartments live rock, uv filter? Auto topoff? Im just not sure how to organize it and what i should and shouldnt get.

 

[scattered]

What size tank are you looking at? What did you use for water in the past?

In my experience the more you do upfront the less problems down the road. (says the guy who still feeds too much).

 

[lolgranny]

Help with remote sump ideas

Figure out your tank size and where you're going to put it. Is the tank large enough where you have to worry about the spot you place it? Will you need to have a engineer come and make sure you're ok with the load?

A remote sump is basically the same as having it under the tank aside from the fact it's through a wall / floor. You'll just need to figure out what size return pump you'll need depending on the head pressure you have.

I don't use I've sterilizers, some do so that's up to you. I also prefer not having rock in my sump as it just collects detritus. Have a drain section, fuge section and skimmer section along with your return pump. Doing this all depends on the space you have to work with.

My tank for instance is a 400g display and I have another 300g between my sump and frag tank which is sat 50' across the house in my garage. I have a drain, skimmer feed / frag tank feed, fuge, open section and the return. It's a 10' x2' sump. I use filter socks which I change out every 4 days and I use carbon occasionally in a bag. I have gfo which is used when my po4 gets higher then I'd like. I also have a calcium reactor. I do not dose anything.

A ato is a must


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[vessxpress1]

I always used RO/DI in old tank. I dosed quite a bit. I did use an auto top off on my last tank and agree that I wouldn't have a tank without one. I'm leaning towards a 90 gal or 120.

Underneath where tank would go is an old shower that we don't use. There's 2x10 floor joists on 14 to 15 inch centers going across block walls. There's an extra supporting block wall that comes out for the shower there. It's boxed in pretty well and it is the corner of the room. I don't think weight will be a problem for this size tank. I thought about making a stand or table of some sort to put in the shower at a comfortable height and to reduce the head pressure for the return pump.

 

[billdogg]

A stand for the basement sump is a great idea, not only because you can reduce the head pressure but also to make any work you need to do in it that much easier. Use the biggest sump you can fit in the area you have. I use a 100g rubbermaid stock tank for my 60g frag tank. It holds all the rock needed for biological filtration plus a little extra so that there are always pieces I'm able to swap out to the DT when needed. Because I do not rely on a ATO, the level in the sump can change a little, so I made a acrylic box with sides at the correct height for my skimmer so that it stays at a constant level.

I think that you will be thanking yourself for setting up your system with a remote sump. It keeps the majority of the mess out of sight and just makes sense, especially for larger systems.

Good Luck and keep us posted!

 

[tkeracer619]

You will likely want to use a full siphon style overflow setup. Herbie or Bean Animal.

 

[pisanoal]

You will likely want to use a full siphon style overflow setup. Herbie or Bean Animal.

Yes indeed. One of the main benefits of a remote sump that I like is no or very little noise at the actual display tank. Going with one of these setups will allow a silent overflow.