Refugium in basement- anyone done it?

javajoe

javajoe

Member
I have a 55 gallon reef tank.
I just bought another 55 gallon used tank for use as a refugium.
My plan is to keep it in the basement right under the main tank.
Has anyone done this and can you give me some tips, DIY plans etc?
I am not knowledgable at all on pluming, and could use some pointers.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Hey Joe,
Is the 55 drilled? is it acrylic by chance? Does your tank already have a sump?
Maybe some time you could swing by Warsaw and I'll show you my basement setup.
Guy
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by tjkohler
Yeah, Bang Guy has the ultimate 900 gallon basement sump. I think he should get a big Queen Conch! :)
Meet Snorkel :) The largest of a dozen Queens ;)
 
javajoe

javajoe

Member

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Hey Joe,
Is the 55 drilled? is it acrylic by chance? Does your tank already have a sump?
Maybe some time you could swing by Warsaw and I'll show you my basement setup.
Guy
I dont have a sump yet, and teh tank is glass.
I figured i'd use a in teh tank overflow to get the water out.
as for stopping by and seeing your setup- that would be great--
i have off work starting saturday for a whole week... i'll talk to my wife and maybe we, oer just I can make it up there....
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
OK, then basically I'd suggest using the 55 as a sump/refugium (S/R). That way you can move heaters, skimmer, etc downstairs and not have to hide them in your display tank.
A standard setup is to have a couple/few baffles in the S/R. The water will come from your overflow and empty into the first chamber of the S/R. This will quiet the turbulence caused by the big drop to the basement. then the water will flow through the refugium part of the S/R and drop over another Baffle that marks the Sump portion. A submersible pump will push the water back up to your display tank.
The higher off the floor the S/R is the less head pressure. You probably want it sitting on a stand or strong table :)
I ask about the tank being drilled because submersible pumps put out quite a bit of heat in high pressure situations. You may need a fan blowing on the refugium to cool the water in mid-summer.
Let me know if you can make it out this weekend.
guynwarsaw@yahoo.com
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
I got a 55 in the basement, and a 100 in the living room right above it.
Bang guy has some good tips. I use a mag drive 950 for my return. It only gives me about 400 GPH so you may want something alitte bigger. The pumps themselves are reliable for restarting in poweroutagges. They also can take a fair amout of head. The 950 is rated at 14 feet. And the next size, I think is the 1200, can take 20 feet or so.
I put a couple of ball valves in the sump/refug to adjust for the slow water movment in the refug.
I made 2/3 of the 55 my refug and the other 1/3 my sump.
The water dumps right in this section and also it houses my pump.
My overflow pipe tees off in the basement. One goes to the sump, the other to the refug. Ballvalves to adjust it. It works pretty good.
HTH good luck.
 
fish head

fish head

Member
One thing I need to add to the design. I will utilize the return head pressue (from top floor to sump) and feed a line to my calcium reactor. With the water falling 10 feet, I would guess there would be enough pressure to run my skimmer and reactor, That saves electricity consumption.
We were kidding around, and I said I would install a water fall mill wheel in the basement to harness the wasted energy. I think I could at least eliminate a powerhead or two in the sump.
 
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