Plumbing from the depths.....

amonchak

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#1
For all you folks that have a sump in the basement and display upstairs what are the things that you wished you would have done the first time?

What do you use for your sump (stock tub, tank etc.)?

Did you go throught the floor or the wall?

Thanks.
 

Walter White

Reef Shark
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#3
As you know mine is far from done so my input counts for very little. I think in my research and planning I found the most frustrating part to be deciding on which return pumps to run. If there was some way to reduce the head pressure even a little by placing the sump and pump directly below the tank I would have done so.

However once its up and running im sure my story will change. How was that for unhelpful? :)
 

jagermeister

Blenny
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#4
I used 1.5" pvc flex pipe to go from the basement up to the display. You'll find that with larger diameter pipe, it doesn't really matter where you locate your sump as friction head loss in the pipe, pipe fittings, and appurtenances is a very small percentage compared to the elevation head loss.

I use a stock tank for the sump. I got mine from Murdoch's. The Costco next to Key's Island sells rubbermaid stock tanks, or at least they did as of a month ago.

My display is located against a kitchen wall. For the plumbing, I went through the wall and then through the floor under the stove. I did this because the display is sitting on hardwood flooring. Much easier to repair a wall than hardwood floor. The flex pvc was crucial for winding it through all this.

Hope this helps.
 

Boogie

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#5
jagermeister;103472 said:
I used 1.5" pvc flex pipe to go from the basement up to the display. You'll find that with larger diameter pipe, it doesn't really matter where you locate your sump as friction head loss in the pipe, pipe fittings, and appurtenances is a very small percentage compared to the elevation head loss.

I use a stock tank for the sump. I got mine from Murdoch's. The Costco next to Key's Island sells rubbermaid stock tanks, or at least they did as of a month ago.

My display is located against a kitchen wall. For the plumbing, I went through the wall and then through the floor under the stove. I did this because the display is sitting on hardwood flooring. Much easier to repair a wall than hardwood floor. The flex pvc was crucial for winding it through all this.

Hope this helps.
What size display? What size drain tubes?
 

Boogie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
One 1.5 drain and one 1.5 return? Do you do any maint on the lines at all? How long has it been set up...Sorry if I hijacked amonchak. =). Apx gph at tank? oh and sorry about all the questions jager. Would love to see a pic of the sump (and tank too) if you have one.
 

jagermeister

Blenny
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#8
I'm guessing I'm getting about 700-800 gph at the tank.

As to the 1.5" drain line my thoughts were:
- The flow to the drain is constricted by two 1" bulkheads. The flow area of two 1" bulkheads combined is smaller than the flow area of a single 1.5" pipe.
- The drain line is not pressure flow, it exhibits open channel flow. With the slopes involved going back to the basement, a 1.5" pipe has far more capacity then what is being delivered to the tank. For instance, at just a 10% slope, a 1.5" dia pvc pipe has a full flow capacity of 1800 gph.

This setup has been running for 18 months now. I haven't done any maintenance on the lines. In fact, just last week I took the pump off, opened it up and cleaned for the first time. There was just a little gunk in it.

I think the most important thing for the drain line is the introduction of air to the line. Air is introduced at the standpipes in the tank, and then I have two more locations where the pipe is open to the atmosphere in the basement through the use of pipe T's.

I'll try to take some pics today and post them.
 

amonchak

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#9
Good Info Thanks for all the responses!
 

dv3

Beluga
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#10
just one thought about going into the floor ...just cut a slit in the carpet and fold it instead of making a hole that way can just put a seam in it to fix it if you move or move your tank someday
 

jagermeister

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
Got some pics.

Under the stand, return and drain pipes going into wall


Drain pipe coming in from right hand side of picture, makes a 'Y' and then goes straight down. There's holes drilled in the cap of the stand pipe to allow air to enter. Guess I should clean up some of that salt creep.


Pic of the whole setup. A mess of pipes and electrical cords. You can follow the return pipe, it's the one out of the pump. Drain pipe enters from right hand side of picture. You can see a few stand pipes to allow air to enter the return.


This pic shows how I ran the return line all the way to the floor, made a large 'U' and brought it back up to go through the wall to the sump. My thought was to create a reservoir of water in the pipe to dissipate energy and reduce bubbles.


Pipe into the sump


Sump


Return line from sump going to pump.


I don't know if any of these pictures make sense or not. Kinda hard to tell what's going on and what's going where.

Let me know if you have questions.
 

Boogie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
Thank you very much for sharing. I'm still studying these pics so I'm sure some questions will come up in a minute. =)
 
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