Equipment Location

jspurr01

jspurr01

New Member
Greetings,
I am doing some advance planning for a new tank setup, appx 200 gal.
I would like to put as much of the mechanics and equipment in the basement (below the room with the display tank) as possible.
Can anyone recommend:
1) What could / shouldn't go in the basement?
2) Any particular products best suited for this setup?
3) Any special plumbing considerations for this type of setup?
4) Any convenience considerations for basement vs room locations for various equipment and controls?
Thanks in Advance.
 
ratrod

ratrod

Member
IMO, I would put as much stuff in the basement as you could. You'll have a little more head push as far as your pumps go. But the advantages are endless. The biggest I could see is that you will have much more room for everything even with the largest of aquariums there's never enough room. Another advantage is if you can do it put your ballasts for your MH down there as well it will really help with the excess heat and electrical conections.
 
shrmnator

shrmnator

Member
i helped a friend set his tank up with a basement sump.. drilled through the wood flooring and then through the plywood.. and then cut the heater ducts and converted them from rectangular to circular to give room for the pipes to come down.. plumbing was a sinch!! the only thing in his tank is inhabitants, live rock, and internal overflows.. everything else is in the basement (calc reactor, ro/di, heater, sump, makeshift fuge, skimmer, phos reactor)... inside the tank stand u see lots of room for nets, the reefkeeper2, some power strips, stuff like that.. Go as big as u can in the basement.. possibly even buying a small pool liner and building a wooden tank to use as your huge sump.. I plan to build a 2000 gallon sump when i move into a house.. not to mention i will build a wooden frag tank and plan to look for a reflective liner for that, so light will actually bounce off the liner and light the bottoms of the corals!! The possibilities in the basement are endless!! though it does leave less room for an adopted orphan child or a pool table, the rewards are GREAT! you will get a more stable temperature (especially during the hot summer).. my friends house was well over 90 degrees this summer (he refuses to run A/C).. but the sump in the basement kept the tank at around 80!! Cant beat a natural chiller..
When I plumbed his tank, I used 1 1/2" PVC for both the drain and return lines coming from the basement to minimize head pressure.. Dropped the return line down from 1 1/2" PVC to two separate 3/4" PVC lines inside the stand, as close to the bottom of the tank as we could.. He has a great setup!
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by jspurr01
Can anyone recommend:
1) What could / shouldn't go in the basement?
I suggest an oversized sump. Heaters, skimmer can go in the sump. Don't try to have all of your waterflow go through the sump. A closed loop can provide the majority of the circulation.
2) Any particular products best suited for this setup?
Iwaki MD100RLT is an excellent pump for basement sumps.
3) Any special plumbing considerations for this type of setup?
The water from the overflows will be full of microbubbles. You'll want to eliminate these bubbles before they get back to the pump. Situate the pump so there are as few elbows as possible on the return. Each elbow reduces waterflow a lot. Place True Union couples and a valve before and after the pump for easy maintenance.
4) Any convenience considerations for basement vs room locations for various equipment and controls?
Thanks in Advance.
I have a basement sump and it's great. I'll be happy to give advice.
 
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