amahler
Aquarium Advice Activist
I've been a bit annoyed with the noise levels of my Little Giant 2-MDQ-SC pump on my 90 gallon system and have been looking at alternatives. The Velocity/Poseidon looks nice and is apparently nearly silent, but I'm warned it will add heat to my water and I'm already hitting 77 naturally.
The more I've thought about it, the more I'm thinking of killing a few birds with one stone and getting a much larger, even noisier pump but moving all the under-tank bits down into my basement.
I'm predicting this move would be about six or eight feet down vertically (depending on how stuff is mounted since it's floor level here but could be higher than floor level in the basement) and maybe 15 feet horizontally (since I can't be directly underneath the tank the way my basement works). This is a circa 1920 house, so the basement is just a crawlspace under the living room but a full eight or more foot ceiling under the back half of the house (used to be where the coal was loaded and now where the gas boiler sits for the steam radiators).
I've done some basic pump calculations using some online tools and think I could up my GPH and meet the demands of pushing the water this far all in one pump purchase.
The second MAJOR aspect of this would be changing out my sump. I have an older 90 gallon glass tank from many years ago that is still watertight (or easily fixed if I find it is not for some reason). I was thinking I could turn this into a new sump. 90 gallons would make it equal the sump equal to my tank itself, so I'd be nearly doubling my water volume. My protein skimmer could move into the new sump. All the house plumbing originates in the basement, so I'd have water hookups for my RO gear, a sump pump exists in the floor for draining water and I'd gain the ability to do far messier water changes in the sump rather than risking disaster in the living room right now.
How would others approach this opportunity?
Is the old 90 gallon tank turned into a sump a good idea?
How would you use that kind of volume if making such a transition?
Right now I'm using a 125g rated wet/dry/sump called the Bio-Fil 1, so this would be a rather enormous relative increase in volume.
I'm already chucking the bio-balls a little each week and upping the LR. Would I put LS in the new sump? Make a refugium? Put some base LR in it?
Any hints, warnings or pointers on the process of moving filtration equipment so far from the tank? I was thinking I'd put a cut-off valve on each end as well as a power switch under the tank used for cycling the power on the pump from upstairs.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- Aaron
The more I've thought about it, the more I'm thinking of killing a few birds with one stone and getting a much larger, even noisier pump but moving all the under-tank bits down into my basement.
I'm predicting this move would be about six or eight feet down vertically (depending on how stuff is mounted since it's floor level here but could be higher than floor level in the basement) and maybe 15 feet horizontally (since I can't be directly underneath the tank the way my basement works). This is a circa 1920 house, so the basement is just a crawlspace under the living room but a full eight or more foot ceiling under the back half of the house (used to be where the coal was loaded and now where the gas boiler sits for the steam radiators).
I've done some basic pump calculations using some online tools and think I could up my GPH and meet the demands of pushing the water this far all in one pump purchase.
The second MAJOR aspect of this would be changing out my sump. I have an older 90 gallon glass tank from many years ago that is still watertight (or easily fixed if I find it is not for some reason). I was thinking I could turn this into a new sump. 90 gallons would make it equal the sump equal to my tank itself, so I'd be nearly doubling my water volume. My protein skimmer could move into the new sump. All the house plumbing originates in the basement, so I'd have water hookups for my RO gear, a sump pump exists in the floor for draining water and I'd gain the ability to do far messier water changes in the sump rather than risking disaster in the living room right now.
How would others approach this opportunity?
Is the old 90 gallon tank turned into a sump a good idea?
How would you use that kind of volume if making such a transition?
Right now I'm using a 125g rated wet/dry/sump called the Bio-Fil 1, so this would be a rather enormous relative increase in volume.
I'm already chucking the bio-balls a little each week and upping the LR. Would I put LS in the new sump? Make a refugium? Put some base LR in it?
Any hints, warnings or pointers on the process of moving filtration equipment so far from the tank? I was thinking I'd put a cut-off valve on each end as well as a power switch under the tank used for cycling the power on the pump from upstairs.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- Aaron
