basement sumps? - Page 2

jmkarcz · #26 08/09/2007, 10:18 PM

I might point out that the sump on that lower picture is an acrylic tank from them, no complaints...

I just wanted to save you the heart ache...

I also want to save you the cleanup bill after that siphon breaks...

sell the 55, buy a 75, or even a couple 30's and chamberize...

You'll be happier on vacation knowing that you have not left the task of keeping it running to... my mother - in - law.... for example....

I'm not wild about that air hose thing going on in those pics... spend 50-100 dollars and do it right, and not cob it together for 45 and pay 500$ in damages later when it overflows....

Just my experience talking....not my .02

JK

customcolor · #27 08/09/2007, 10:26 PM

if you build it right it shouldnt fail. u could also do power outage tests too. just unplug the pump-wait till water stops flowing-plug pump back in and see what happens.

MSU Fan · #28 08/09/2007, 10:26 PM

I have some thinking to do on this...thanks for the help guys. I am sure I will be back on tomorrow for more help.

I'm going to pick up that pump - as soon as I figured out which one I wanted, I found it on Craigslist locally for cheap - I think it was meant to be

Stigmatic · #29 08/10/2007, 07:17 AM

If you need ideas or wants to see a basement sump setup, I am in Oshkosh and your welcome to come take a look.

BryanJ · #30 08/10/2007, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MSU Fan
Bryan, what is that table top your tank is sitting on made of?

It is a desktop from a cubicle. 1 1/2" density fiber board.

MSU Fan · #31 08/10/2007, 02:28 PM

so, another question - between the stock tank and the return pump I should have a ball valve and union to allow me to unhook the pump from the stock tank without flooding the floor. Would a true union work for this?

True Union

I'm just wondering since this seems to be the best of both fittings in a nice compact setup.

I am also unclear on one other point. I think, generally, most people comment that a 1" PVC pipe can move 600gph. Would it be fair to assume that means with gravity? And that, with a pump, you can move more water through that size pipe and not sacrifice anything? Then my question is: what is the maximum that you can move in a pipe given a certain size? Is there a formula or calculator? I think I just need to understand this for a lot of plumbing unknowns to start becoming clearer.

jandlms · #32 08/10/2007, 04:36 PM

I purchased a small (15 gal) tank from them wioth no problems. They will deliver them anywhere you want. The tank was and is used as a terrarium so I don't know about how well they hold water.

customcolor · #33 08/10/2007, 05:33 PM

yes u can PUSH more water through a 1" with a pump but u will loose gph do to friction loss and restriction, but you will get speed out of it. just think about the drain and the return on your tank. the drain is larger thatn the return. gravity can only do so much so we make up for it by making the drain large enough to do as much as we need. Did that make any sence?

MSU Fan · #34 08/10/2007, 05:45 PM

yeah, that makes sense...I am guess I am just wondering how to figure out the limit to water flow in a pipe.

customcolor · #35 08/10/2007, 06:14 PM

how much do u want to put through? is it for the return or the drain?

MSU Fan · #36 08/10/2007, 07:25 PM

well, it's not really for anything. It's just for me to know. I just feel that I am playing with things, albeit, probably accurately and correctly to a degree, that I don't understand.

customcolor · #37 08/10/2007, 07:51 PM

i know what u mean.

customcolor · #38 08/11/2007, 10:49 AM

try this http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/drain.php it will giv u a good idea

MSU Fan · #39 08/14/2007, 09:34 AM

that's very helpful - thanks Dave.

Anyway, Holly and I are officially candidates for Darwin Awards at this point. All this talk about the 55g not being drillable, and we need to find a new tank to be our fuge, man we dropped the ball.

We have in our basement this sump (CPR Aquatic CR3000 Wet/Dry Filter, which has not been set up yet. It is acrylic, and although it is designed to be a Wet/Dry, I think that I can convert this to a fuge/grow out tank.

It is altogether ~47g, so given a little head space it is probably 35g or so. This should satisfy our needs for a fuge...somehow

I think that I will need to plug the current bulkheads somehow, and redrill some holes higher on the walls to control the movement of water. Right now, both sections are connected via 1" bulkhead only 2" up from the bottom. I am thinking that i need to raise that up to make that section so that it will fill with water, and not be the "wet/dry" it was designed to be. The exit bulkhead from the fuge section is the same way as far as height. I may also need to add a baffle into that section...

kiowascout · #40 08/14/2007, 05:35 PM

could yo uget away with putting a standpipe in one side of the bulkhead to force the water level higher?

MSU Fan · #41 08/14/2007, 05:37 PM

And this is why I posted this...yes, I definitely have the room for a standpipe, so I don't see why I couldn't do this.

editted content

MSU Fan · #42 08/18/2007, 10:31 AM

Ok, so fun news - we had found a guy locally that was selling a mak4. He said he would sell it to us, and then sold it to someone else - jerk. Anyway, now we don't a pump again - and we thought we'd put out the feeler. Anyone have a mak4 (equivalent) or slightly larger pump that they are looking to get rid of? We're more than willing to negotiate. Thanks!

BryanJ · #43 08/18/2007, 11:26 AM

I would buy a Sequence reeflo series pump it is a pressurized pump with a one inch return easily resized to 3/4 inch. I have a wahoo on my tank. I would suggest the tarpon for your tank as you can throttle it back and if you get a larger tank in can handle dual overflows.

jmkarcz · #44 08/18/2007, 06:31 PM

I have a Iwaukee rlt70xt? (pressure pump...) Paid like.... 380 for it... it's got less that 100 hours on it, and the harshest abuse it's seen was the dust from the shelf in my basement...

and I may have a mag24 that is also in the same boat, the 300 could not handle the waterflow, so I had to take it out till I could machine the overflow slots larger, then the guy who bought it did not want the pump. Also run less than 100 hours...

I was thinking of increasing the waterflow in the wall of 40's so, if your interested, don't dawdle.

J

MSU Fan · #45 09/04/2007, 03:49 PM

Sorry J, I didn't see your post. Sorry, even if it is still available, I already picked up a pump.

So - my update: Holly and I spent a good majority of the weekend in our basement cleaning it up for the sump. This required much work on our current holiday decoration setup. But we got the part of the basement that we needed to to be clean, and we set the stock tank and sump in place. The stock tank is a 100g from Fleet farm, and the sump is a CPR CS3000. I have the sump sitting on a series of 2x4s on Cinder Blocks. I am going to plumb in a durso standpipe to the bulkheads to maintain a water level, and use gutter guard to protect the durso from getting Chaeto in it.

We also bought some garbage cans and a perfectly sized 21g rubbermaid for top off.

I am going to make the cpr a fuge, and just house chaeto in it. Then I will be putting my LR and DSB in the stock tank, along with my skimmer (Octopus NW150).

I ended getting a good deal on a used Mak5, so I have that ready to go. I still have to buy a majority of the plumbing parts and tubing to actually plumb it.

I can't wait to get this system going - I'm so excited

customcolor · #46 09/04/2007, 08:25 PM

post some pics of the progress when u start doing it. i think we all wanna see

greenhut · #47 09/14/2007, 10:47 PM

Craig,

I am preparing a similar project, and was intrigued in your idea to run the plumbing through the air return. If this would work, it could save us from ripping out and replacing a bunch of drywall!

My biggest concern is the drain. If you use some sort of flexible pipe for the drain, I would expect the drain pipe to fluctuate in height as it traverses the horizontal run. My question is, will the drain work? If you ran a siphon it would of course work if the the exit was lower than the entrance. Without a siphon, dont you have to maintain a downward slope in the drain line? How do you exoect to do this in your air return?

jeff

MSU Fan · #48 09/15/2007, 09:01 AM

Fred, anytime you want to jump in on this (since you inspired me), you are more than welcome.

My thought is this - My overflow will cause the water to fall mostly vertically for 5 feet, where the hose will then lay on the bottom of the cold air return duct work. There would be little loss to the speed of the water in the hose at this point. If at any point the hose raises slightly, the speed/force of the water will be able to overcome so long as the hose doesn't continually rise.

I plan to use hangers to hold the hose level and keep the water moving once the hose exits the return duct (I may even put a tiny drop in the hose height just to help this along.

customcolor · #49 09/15/2007, 11:17 AM

as long as your tank is higher than the sump (which it will be) you whould have no problems with the water stoping to flow.

MSU Fan · #50 09/15/2007, 01:11 PM

I really gotta post some of the pics I have taken...sorry about the delay. It also just so happens that I am working this weekend, and the IT dept blocks photobucket...great