# Right on!!



## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

The wife approved a basement sump in a small room that we have right under where the DT is on the main floor!

So I'm thinking of putting a 30g Long sump downstairs up at a higher level (around 5 feet off the ground) to help with head height and also to have room underneath to store stuff like an RO/DI and my WC stuff!

I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to have a system where I can turn a few dials and do a 15G WC without buckets!

Also the great thing about this is that I can put a small 10g frag tank attached to the sump for a frag tank. This will make the tank look that much better!

I'm also going to be sealing up most of the sump to cut down on evaporation and I have a few ideas on how to do it.

Any suggestions on quiet pumps? I'm usually an internal guy since they're usually much more quiet but I'd be willing to do a external if I found the right one.


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## joel.c (Sep 11, 2012)

Sweet!

Good luck on the sump relocate. I am using a waveline DC pump and can't hear it at 80% power, and barely hear it at full power. 

As for water changes, nothing beats simple and quick! Makes maintenance a breeze.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

altcharacter said:


> The wife approved a basement sump in a small room that we have right under where the DT is on the main floor!
> 
> So I'm thinking of putting a 30g Long sump downstairs
> 
> ...


Seriously Alt??? I mean, really? If you are approved to do a basement sump and frag tank then you gotta be looking larger for everything! You could go 125 or 150 main tank with a 50 sump and a 75 frag tank, then when you do the water change it makes it worth while to have it plumbed in cause you could turn a few dials and change 50 gallons instead of 15! I mean really. All that work for a 15 gallon water change?
I see total system upgrade time!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Awesome - I can't wait for the day that I live in a space larger than a large box.

Next thing we'll be hearing from you is that you're expanding and opening a shop downstairs too


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## joel.c (Sep 11, 2012)

ameekplec... you can totally go big in a box! check out my thread on how to properly reef is 75 square feet! DREAM BIG!!!


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

Congrats on the expansion! 

I run a classic 75g as a sump in my basement, I lose a lot of water due to evaporation. Following along to see your plans on sealing your sump.


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## kwsjimmy (Jan 5, 2015)

*upgrades*

+1 on crayons suggestion.
Excuse to go bigger upstairs


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

joel.c said:


> ameekplec... you can totally go big in a box! check out my thread on how to properly reef is 75 square feet! DREAM BIG!!!


lol - I had ~250 gallons total volume (main DT is 100g+30 sump) throughout our tiny 600 sqft condo. any more and my SO would have made me sleep in one of the tanks. I'm jealous of anyone who can get a dedicated tank room - and if you live in a condo downtown with a dedicated tank room, well, you're probably two or three tax brackets above me lol.


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## Flexin5 (Nov 12, 2011)

nice! i wish i could do that...but tank is already in the basement lol


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## joel.c (Sep 11, 2012)

...you could be the first to a sump above the tank, LOL. Would love to see that plumbed.


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## DrBlueThumb (Feb 18, 2012)

congrats on the sump and frag tank.


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## PaulF757 (Dec 9, 2013)

I'm with Crayon, go big or go home is my modo. My first tank is a 180, so there you go.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

We aren't really interested in making the DT any bigger really. If anything I'll upgrade to a 48x19x20 which would give us roughly 80g in the DT. What I'm really concerned about is the sump and adding stuff to it. My skimmer is great but I would like a larger one and I want to add a reactor as well. Lastly I'm looking to add either a calcium reactor or possibly dosing system so I would love a small dedicated fish room for that. 

The space I'm working with is just a small 4x4 storage area that we have in the basement right under the tank. 

The idea is to put a 30g sump/fuge around 5 feet off the ground to save on head height and then under that put two 10g tanks. One for R/O water for top offs and the other 10g for fresh SW to do WC's. Somewhere there will be a small frag tank but don't know where yet.

As time goes by I'll take some pics of the area and try to come up with a game plan


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## joel.c (Sep 11, 2012)

hey alt,

I would put the frag tank under the DT in that space, that way when people come for frags they don't have to go to the basement.

Stack the sump on top of the fuge in a 2x4 custom stand with a couple of feet between for the light. The fuge can be run by a small pump, maybe a 1200 with an overflow type of idea from the sump. 

Not sure if that makes sense, but in my mind its awesome.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Totally understand where you're coming from on this one Joel but there are a few reasons why I am doing what I'm doing.

1) My wife would rather have people come in the side door and head downstairs to get frags.
2) I would rather run a 48" long tank and not worry about having to add pumps to "hopefully" work. Imagine if the bottom pump didn't work and ended up getting stagnant or even overflowing...not a good idea.

Keeping it simple!
Thanks for the input though


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> We aren't really interested in making the DT any bigger really.


we did not ask if you are interested or not . We hope you will do it right from the beginning, as you always suggest to others.
Get standard 75G and you will be able to use your current 36" lights ( I think I have hanging kit for these).
It is not big difference in maintained, but you will see huger difference by having 48" tank

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

If I go with a 48" I'll be going LED supplemented with 2-4 T5's that would be 36". The idea would be to hang them but I do have a place to hang them from already if we decide to go that route. I'm thinking either reef-brites or possibly the EcoXotic lights. I was going to try to keep the whole unit looking sleek


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