Tanks with Cellars

[coker98]

Hey guys!!

I'm pretty sure I may be moving to the New England area and the houses out there have cellars.

Im in Las Vegas right now and the concept of a cellar is foreign.

With that said, is there anything special that I need to do in order to set up my tank in the first floor living area?

Should I locate the sump to the cellar or should it be fine underneath the tank like it is now?

I was in an apartment in college on the second floor with a medium sized tank and I just kept it along the wall and it did fine but it was a 90 gallon with a half full 29 gallon sump.

My current tank is 187 gallons with a 75 gallon sump that will also be half full. So roughly were talking about 3000 pounds.

Any input is appreciated as I would like to have a plan when I move on how to set the behemoth (to me) up.

Thank you.

 

[Breadman03]

You will need to make sure that the floor can support the tank. General advice is to place the tank along a load bearing wall, perpendicular to the floor joists. However, not all houses are built equal, so you may or may not need to reinforce the floor.

I have been interested in setting up a basement sump and have considered the following:
Pros: greater room for equipment and maintenance, easy expansion, can run large/multiple refugium.

Cons: tanks seem to need more heaters, will need larger pumps, resulting in higher operating costs.

If I ever have the opportunity to build a house, I want to have a fish room directly behind my tank so that I can keep the tank as energy efficient as possible.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I'm assuming a cellar is similar to a basement? I guess it depends what the room is set up for, sometimes it's used as a cold room where you have your furnace/boiler/etc and is uninsulated, in which case I would stay away using it for your sump.

If you're worried about load bearing, as the previous poster said, which way the floor joists are running, you should be fine. Assuming you don't buy a home built in the colonial days

 

[mnavick]

What the above have mentioned about verifying the floor can handle the weight.
When building my house I designed a tank around a load bearing wall and added a dummy wall to make it enclosed.
My 150g DT is on the main living floor with all my drains/return all going into a basement room that houses a 90g Sump and 55g Fuge.
In the summer (especially this last one) my tank never went above 83 degrees and I run a triple 250w DE Metal halide. Basement sump/fuges help keep DT cool
In the winter there is a spare bedroom, full bathroom and wash room so I do keep the heat at 63 degrees. My 2 sump heaters do kick on in the depths of winter but most part tank pulls heat from DT and stays around 79 degrees. Big factor with that is there is a wood stove 20' away
Biggest concern you need to worry about is getting the excess humidty out of the basement in the summer months. Using a de-humidifier works great, BUT will heat up the area immensely. Secondly, if there was a leak or overflowed tank/rodi storage (as we have all done, lol) make sure you have means of diverting said water so nothing gets destroyed.
10+yrs and I have seen no ill effects on a any living area nor copper piping (fish room has oil burner and water tank) in the basement, even with a couple two three woopsies!

 

[coker98]

The other con I see with running a basement sump is having to run between tanks in an emergency.

Can anyone chime is with this? Plumbing issues? Etc.

 

[mnavick]

Hence why I have 4-1.5" lines, really only need two.
But yes, sometimes something might go awry and I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off (and a dozen towels). And has only happened maybe three times (knock on wood).

 

[coker98]

Thats what I might want to avoid.

So as of right now, I like the idea of having the sump in the cellar because I am not restricted for my equipment or add on capabilities. But the length of the run of potential issues is more.

It seems that with more modern houses, the weight wouldnt be an issue with a little re-enforcement and setting the tank against a load bearing wall and perpendicular to the floor joists.

Does this sound right?

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

on the first page or two on my thread, Lunatic Fringe I have some posts on this very subject...I have the tank on the second floor and build a sump room below the tank on the first floor....there are a few things to consider....but glad I did it.

 

[coker98]

on the first page or two on my thread, Lunatic Fringe I have some posts on this very subject...I have the tank on the second floor and build a sump room below the tank on the first floor....there are a few things to consider....but glad I did it.

Can you post a link for ease of access?

I am very interested in this process.

I did like the fact that the cellar temp is for the most part stable.

My uncle thought it was funny though that I kept calling it the "killbox".

When he asked why, I explained that we very rarely have basements in Las Vegas and that in every movie or show I have seen, someone had been gruesomely murdered and is buried in the cellar.

His response was classic.

"Just dont buy a house with a stacked stone (colonial age) cellar. The floors were dirt and there is most likely someone buried in the cellar."

That really put my mind at ease.

 

[Breadman03]

It seems that with more modern houses, the weight wouldnt be an issue with a little re-enforcement and setting the tank against a load bearing wall and perpendicular to the floor joists.

Does this sound right?

There was a saying in the olden days, "When in doubt, build it stout." The lumber was thicker (e.g.: actually 2"x4") and was typically hard wood as opposed to today's typical soft wood. Today's houses are engineered.

Basically, each house will be on a case by case basis. Your tank is large, but not a massive behemoth, so I think that you should plan on reinforcing the floor, but that it shouldn't be a problem doing so. It might be a good investment to have an engineer look at any properties your interested in before you make an offer.

My house, built in the 1880's, is quite strong, but the walls are all short or have windows on them, making it difficult to find a good place for a tank.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2276828

 

[arnoldrew]

Is cellar just a regional word for basement or is it different?

 

[dave.m]

Cellar infers some sort of subterranean storage area, whereas basement refers to the structure of the building. A cellar does not necessarily need a building over top of it.

Dave.M