Basement Sump Questions

[Brandon.Helvie]

Well still in the long process of accumulating supplies for the set up. I have however decided that I will be placing my Eshopps R-200 sump in my basement and pumping up to the first floor to the display tank. Based this decision due to the ease of water changes as my Brutes and RO/DI are downstairs and and won't have to haul water. More importantly if there is ever an overflow and water goes everywhere it will be in my basement, could care less if the concrete gets wet compared to hard wood floors upstairs. So here's a few questions. (DT 72 gal bowfront)

1) Is my forced air wood stove going to cause havoc with my water parameters? I also store a large quantity of wood, 6-10 cord, in my basement during the winter time. I'm aware ill have a ton of evaporation that I will take care of with an ATO. Curious as if there is anything else to look out for.

2) When plumbing from my sump to the display tank should I run my PVC directly straight up or should i angle it?

I do have some rather large, 4-5 inch, wolf spiders and other insects in my basement in the summer. Thought I could add a screen top to the sump in a creative way to keep them out of the sump.

[Northside Reef]

OK first off ya made me google Wolf Spiders Scary stuff there lol. Find the source and kill it with fire man.

Ok sump in the basement a couple of things you need to make sure of here. One that water that evaporates needs to go someplace or mold is going to be an issue. I tied a fan into my dryer vent and piped it outside controlled by a humidistat. Second make sure your sump can handle the back flow if you lose power. You can use a check valve to help here but those things are notorious for failing so the sump needs to be able to hold all of the back flow or it needs to be plumbed over to the house drain if it reaches a certain level. The problem there though is if it does over flow and the power returns your ATO is going to replace your lost salt water with fresh water and you're going to have a dip in your tanks salinity. So best to make sure the sump can handle it.

Plumbing, the big thing here is head pressure the more pipe the more head pressure so the most direct route does two things. Less head pressure, less water in the pipe to back flow back down.

for the return redundancy is your friend. If one pipe plugs (algae or something else) you still have the water returning to the basement. Try to get good solid drops here. Slow slopping return lines drain slower then a nice steep drop.

Hope that helps.

[stingythingy45]

Originally Posted by Brandon.Helvie

1) Is my forced air wood stove going to cause havoc with my water parameters? I also store a large quantity of wood, 6-10 cord, in my basement during the winter time. I'm aware ill have a ton of evaporation that I will take care of with an ATO. Curious as if there is anything else to look out for.

2) When plumbing from my sump to the display tank should I run my PVC directly straight up or should i angle it?

I do have some rather large, 4-5 inch, wolf spiders and other insects in my basement in the summer. Thought I could add a screen top to the sump in a creative way to keep them out of the sump.

1.)I burn wood all winter and 90% of my heat is from a basement wood stove.
My basement sump(70 gallon stock tank)is in a seperate walled off room from the main room with the wood stove.
I go through almost 20 gallons of water a week in top off.I use a 30 gallon Brute trash can with a autotopoff switch to control an aqualifter pump for toping off the sump.

2.)On the return it's best not to have 90 deg. corners.It really can cut back you water flow on the return.I used some 45 deg. pvc fittings,then later changed to flex pvc used for hot tubs on the return corners.
On the overflow it's not that big of a deal.
I like having a 3 ft. striaght horizontal section to help slow the water before it enters my sump.In my case the water enters my skimer as it's a recirc. style skimmer.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you might want a few pitures of my set up.I also intigrated a 20L refugium off a T on the return that flows back to the sump.

[MrClam]

If you have 5'' spiders living in your basement you should move. Take nothing with you as they could be hiding in it. Just abandon the house and set up a tank elsewhere.

Seriously tho how do you sleep with the predator living in the basement?

[Brandon.Helvie]

They keep to themselves for the most part and only have bad 2 upstairs in my living area. They are incredibly smart creatures and fun to watch at a distance. They die in the winter so it's not a problem at the moment. Maybe leave the tank uncovered and throw a mantis shrimp in the fuge, that should take care of them if they fall in. Kidding.

I knew I'd be evaporating water like mad. Plan framing and rocking three walls for a seperate fish space. From the sump (on a table) to the dt tAnk upstairs it should be roughly 9 foot.