plumbing question

[krusty_krab]

Hey All-

I have pics of my setup area, and I will draw in my ideas, but I do need this info kind ASAP. Let me know what you think...

I have procured a large "mechanical" room nearby where I want to set up a reef tank, in a new home I am buying that is under construction. ITs about an 8x10 room, has a water heater and some sewage plumbing in it. PLenty of room for a fish room. yay!

Anyhow, I want to put my sump in that room. Sump level will be below tank level, BUT, the plumbing to get from tank to sump will have to go lower than everything by a foot or two. Is that okay? I guess if power goes out, I dont have to worry about overflow... Even though my fish room will have a floor drain.

Very, very excited about this project. I will post pics/crude plans later. For now, I got a drain, sink for fish room, hose bib for RO, and seperate 100A 20 circuit breaker box going in. WIll find out about fans/ducting for venting soon. I think that should cover the logistics...

Directly underneath that part of the house is a large crawlspace that I can put a chiller in, pumps too. I think my closed loop pump will go there. I like quiet, I think it goes nicely with watching the tank if all you can hear is the water flowing.

TIA for any/all advice on this. I will post more design stuff later.

KK

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

Anyhow, I want to put my sump in that room. Sump level will be below tank level, BUT, the plumbing to get from tank to sump will have to go lower than everything by a foot or two. Is that okay?

hi.
Yes.

 

[Len]

A second "yes"

I'd be more comfortable with my conclusion if you could post some pics/diagrams of what you're planning.

 

[krusty_krab]

Len - thanks for the caveat.

And I know, I havent the experience designing large scale systems to describe things better. I will punch up my pix tonight, doodle on them a bit as per what I have planned, see what everyone thinks.

Is there a quick how to on posting pics? Does RDO host any (I assume not) and if not, is there a good freebie hoster out there?

Will start the full blown plan tonight...

KK

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
There are file attachment capability when you post or reply, and you can link pic via URL too.

 

[krusty_krab]

Some clarity-

The drawing is oversimplified as I needed to do this in a short period of time, I havent used Visio (lol) in awhile and am slow at it, and I just havent decided on alot of the details.

For instance, the chiller is going to be under the house(I think), but I am not sure I want it on the closed loop as the velocity of water flow may be in excess of what is wise for that device. I have never owned a chiller before, and just plain dont know enough.

Where I have the sump, it is safe to assume that accomodating it will be a big fat skimmer and calcium reactor, and all that sort of thing. There is a drain in the floor there for H2O changes, as well as a feed for an RO unit, and a sink for gettin dirty. And clean, I guess.

I am more concerned about the drops in plumbing, and pump placement right now. If I need to plumb up through the walls, its no big deal, there is water line and sewer lines running around up there now too, however, now is the time to do it up.

I will add my electrical later- I have a 100Amp 20 circuit breaker box going in the fish room, 2 dedicated circuits going to the tank area for the lighting. I think the only thing under the tank stand will be ballasts and timers.

Have a look see, comment as you will, insult my newbie design attempts, its all good... :lol:

KK

 

[DustinDorton]

If your drain line is going to first drop below the level of the sump, there are two things I would suggest.
1. Put a vent pipe on the drain line. Just add in a tee and stick a piece of pipe in that will rise up and be above the tank height. You can have it anywhere in the line between the tank and the sump. It will help prevent an air-lock in the line, real important if the return is below water in the sump.
2. Put a cleanout fitting on the line. Overtime you might get some settling in the bottom part of the line (this is a much bigger problem with large drains, like 4"). I would add in a valve, or a real DWV clean out fitting so that you can get all the crud out of the line. the cleanout should go at the lowest point in the line.