help with sump/pump size!

[wannareef]

i have a 220 rr with soft corals in it, working on a basement sump.what size sump does everyone think i should go with? i have a 31" door into the basement i see rubbermaid has a 300 gallon poly tank does anyone know how tall it is? what size pump should i get i have 13'9" from the basement floor to the top of the tank i want to run about 1800gph to 2000gph to the tank. thanks matt

[know-it-all]

wish I could help
I have no idea though

[salt-rookie]

I have a 20H sump, and one overflow with a 1" drian in the bottom and I use a Mag 12......THe Durso vent size can be your KEY component. THe smaller the more siphon. I ended up putting a needle valve on the hole in the top of my Durso to adjust the vent size. Works VERY well!

[salt-rookie]

Try a Mag 18.

[JennM]

Hi Matt, hope you and Mary are well.

The Rubbermaid 300 g is large and round - almost like a kiddie pool. Take a look at the 150 g - it's more space-efficient and taller.


If you can elevate it a bit off the floor, that will help a bit too with how 'much' pump you'll need to pump it back.

I like Sequence pumps, I have a few of them in service in basement sump applications - I take it the tank is on the main floor and you're going up from the basement, yes?

Mag drives aren't strong enough - while they are fine pumps, you're best with something bigger and external to move water from the basement to the main floor.

You'll need to calculate how many feet up (head) you're going. Don't forget that 90-degree corners (elbows) count for about one foot. You're better off using 2 x 45 degree elbows to make that turn (if necessary) it's not as harsh and doesn't drag the pressure down as much.

Once you figure out how many feet of head you've got, then you can figure out the GPH of the pump you'll need. Don't forget to plumb in a check valve into your return, because there's a lot of plumbing between the pump and your tank, and if the power shuts off, all that water is coming back down into the sump (check valve prevents back-siphon too in this event). While the sump should have ample room in it even with a 150-g, I always recommend a check valve like this one:



Hope this helps.

Jenn

[know-it-all]

I was thinking an Amp Master would be a better choice for the return

and you could always have (2) of the 150 gal tubs

[wannareef]

thanks everyone for the advice, jenn would it be better to use 2 or 3 of the 150's or 4 just for pure volume? isnt bigger better? hey we left canton in december, we live in pennsylvania now i got promoted run an office now for my company

[Geoff]

on my 125g i have a 50g sump and it is barely big enough. i run it not even half full. if i did than it would overflow when the power went off. my main problem is that i have over 45' worth of plumbing. my quick calculations in volume put that at around 16g of water in the pipes!!!

if you can fit the 300g go for it, but the 150 should be fine. if you go on the rubbermaid site they have all of the dimensions for all of their aggricultural products.

as far as pumps go. i would look at the Iwaki's. i would stick with high head pressure rated pumps. much easier to judge max flow. Sequence and Ampmasters really do not like head pressure.

i have a Mak PCX-70 running as my return now. i am guessing i am about 1000gph right now.

G~

[scuba namena]

bigger is better but remember the cost of water canges

[wannareef]

i have an ro/di its not that much $ in water changes

[wannareef]

Bought a 150 rubbermaid! Just in case anyone else wants to know it is 25" tall, fit through the door no problem. Now Im thinking I might use the old 65 stand and get a tank for it and make it into a refugium, but thats a totally different thread.

[JennM]

We did something similar to that - tank w/refugium and rubbermaid sump beneath.

A bit bigger though Customer has a 200g reef and 685-g saltwater pond (indoors). We used old 240-g acrylic tank and 300g rubbermaid sump beneath.

It kicks hiney.

Jenn

[Doug1]

Definatly look at a pressure rated pump. Are you going to have a closed loop for circulation or will the return pump be handling that as well? Personally I dont like a huge amount of velocity thru a sump, definatly not more volume than the skimmer will process theoretically on a single pass
I am not a big fan of check valves either, its one more possible fail point but I can see Jenns point on a 2 story system. I would place a ball valve above the check valve and a union or flex hose that can easily be turned off for cleaning the valve, you will want to clean it occasionally