anyone have fuge etc in basement? (Squidd?)

[tompenz]

I was thinking of drilling through the floor under the stand and having all my goodies on shelves in the basement. You know fuge heater etc. down there to keep from crawling around on the floor evertime maintanence is needed. Would this work? What kind of MAJOR pump would be needed to get water back up to the 1st floor? It would be nice to do water changes down there and if there ever was a water problem (leak) it would probably be down there. Do you think it is possible? The wife is all for having it down there and away from her carpet. We also think it would reduce the noise factor possibly. Thanks!

 

[squidd]

I put mine in the basement when I built my 54 Corner Reef...For all the reasons you mention above, plus there just isn't enough room for much of anything under a corner tank...
Benefits are I could do a larger sump fuge..(bigger than MT), I could layout the S/F with as much square footage as needed rather than go tall to get volume...I can work at "waist level" rather than on my belly...(ever try to siphon out an under tank sump...?? ) And the surrounding area becomes the "fish room" for all the chemicals, supplements, tools, extra equipment, etc...
I can tie in Frag tanks, Grow out tanks, reactors and their peripheral equipment, even a chiller (not that I need one) and noise and mess is not in living space...
Pumps are not too big a problem depending on where you locate the tank to sump room...Many will push good volume to 30' if needed..
Mines not too bad, with the sump directly below Tank, sump at waist level and a relatively low basement ceiling, I only push 9' head (11' with line restriction) and get decent return flow to my tank...
Depending on tank size and "Goal Flow" requirements (combined with supplemental flow devices) your probably looking at an external pump, so you'll need to factor that into sump design...

 

[tompenz]

Cool, i think it would be the best way to go. Being a fellow Wisconsinite, maybe it is a Wisconsin thing. Yeah, Wisconsin, no chillers needed here! If you have any pics of your setup, it would be greatly appreciated. I think I am going with the 92 corner bowfront. Directly below it in the basement is the storage room (Heated). By the way Racine resident here and thanks for the info! Wisconsin, land of high taxes and crappy weather!

 

[tompenz]

Oh, now I see the pic, Thanks!

 

[pfitz44]

Squidd... Whats the line on the left for??

 

[steelgluer]

Originally Posted by tompenz
Wisconsin, land of high taxes and crappy weather!
LOL We dont own our properties WE THE PEOPLE rent them yearly.

 

[tompenz]

Good question, if you have time can you explain the system a little , how it works. thanks, Tom

 

[tompenz]

I was even thinking then of setting up my R/O unit in the basement and connecting it to that sink so i wouldnt have to carry water more than 3 feet for changes.Whatta ya think?

 

[pfitz44]

Originally Posted by tompenz
I was even thinking then of setting up my R/O unit in the basement and connecting it to that sink so i wouldnt have to carry water more than 3 feet for changes.Whatta ya think?
If your gonna set it up near the fuge, put a floating lvl switch on it. It will fill it when it needs it, and shut off when its at the proper level..
Just an idea...

 

[tompenz]

And a great idea it is. Seems like all the great ideas cost more money huh? oh well, do it 1st class or not at all right? Thanks for the great idea.

 

[squidd]

That was an older pic... it's been up and running and not quite as clean now...
Some of the plumbing has changed and evolved as time and needs arose...
Now with ATO, duel feed (from MT), MH over Fuge, Frag tank , and electronic probes...
And my secrete underground lab is still a mess...

 

[creative]

Looks like you have done a nice job Squidd. I plumbed mine to my basement as well. My main problem is I had to go through 25' of crawl space to get there. Luckly my basement is low ceiling so I only have abot 9' head pressure. I use a sequence hammerhead for a return pump. I love doing waterchanges in the basement and not making a mess in the living room. It was alot of work for me I even had to hire a little guy to get through the crawl space for me. But all in all I wouldn't do it any other way again.

 

[mpls man]

Originally Posted by Squidd
That was an older pic... it's been up and running and not quite as clean now...
Some of the plumbing has changed and evolved as time and needs arose...
Now with ATO, duel feed (from MT), MH over Fuge, Frag tank , and electronic probes...
And my secrete underground lab is still a mess...

squidd, when you do your water changes from the basement do you do any syphoning from the sand bed in the tank? i would love to do it that way as well but i clean the sand when i do a water change, i'm in the process of going to a 110rr and switching to a 40gal sump but unsure as to go into the basement. btw what is the size of your sump?.

 

[squidd]

squidd, when you do your water changes from the basement do you do any syphoning from the sand bed in the tank? i would love to do it that way as well but i clean the sand when i do a water change,
Reef is Bare Bottom, so I skip all that...

i'm in the process of going to a 110rr and switching to a 40gal sump but unsure as to go into the basement. btw what is the size of your sump?.
MT is 54 corner and sump/ fuge is 66.66 gal(DIY) Fuge area accounts for 34 gal. of that...

 

[mpls man]

ok, so my next ? , is it worth it to go in the basement for the sump in my situation in cleaning the sand, is it easyer to clean the sand and change the water at the same time from under the tank, or should i not clean the sand and just do a water change from the basement.
thanks Squidd

 

[squidd]

I have set a Magnum 350 canister up as a "Shop Vac" for SW..
Filled with filter floss, I can suck out any crud from the bottom of any tank, sump, fuge, etc...(my big tank still has sump under stand)...
With the sponge over center chamber and a little floss on bottom to keep sand out of impeller it can and will pull 20# or sand from the floor if needed...as well as crabs, shells, frag chunks etc...
By returning "filtered" water to tank I can vac to my hearts content with out worrying about replacement water...
Filling center chamber with carbon, I can set it up as a short term "polishing" filter...being mobile means I can go tank to tank...(only one machine covers a multitude of opperations)...
Water changes from either tank is a "separate" operation from my cleaning procedure, (but I'll do whatever cleaning I can while siphoning)

 

[mpls man]

Squidd,
another question on your sump.
i just got done making a new sump/refugium for my 110, it will be a 40 gal total with about a 20 gal fuge, my question is i have the water come down from the main tank then split with 1 of the drains T ing off to the fuge with a ball valve, my question is i have the skimmer in the same area as the return pump area, will the skimmer still skim most of the water before it goes back to the tank, the pump will be external.
sorry for the pic the wrong way, hope you can still see what i mean.
thanks.

 

[mpls man]

Squidd,
i have a question on the sump/fuge i just made.
i have the water from the DT coming down the 2 overflows, with a T from each drain and ball valve on both,1 side goes through a filter sock and the other side is valved to the fuge, with the return and euro-reef skimmer in center, my question is will the skimmer still skimm all the water going to the same area as the return.
thanks.

 

[squidd]

No, it'l only skim the water that goes to it, but eventualy it all goes to it...
If you ran "all" the water to the skimmer chamber first..about 1/2 would "bypass" it anyway...(flow faster than skimmer can pick up)
When setting up split sump /fuge, skimmer pump gph should be factored into return pump sizing as well as fuge volume...
Idealy, skimmer gets 1.5X skimmer pump gph flowing past and fuge gets 10x fuge volume flowing thru...all goes to return chamber to Mt and makes another loop ..hopefully 20X or more an hour..

 

[mpls man]

Squidd, so in my plans, the tank has 2 800gph overflows, but i'm going to use 1 of them for a closed loop, so i'm planning on at least 700-800 gph for a pump size for the 1 side, with out going over. the pump for my skimmer is 350 gph, with a fuge of aprox 28gal, it measures at 17L X 12W X 14H, this again is a 40 gal tank.
is there any other figures i should take into consideration.?
thanks for all your help.