DB9181
New member
Finally deciding to take the plunge and plumb my sump into the basement. I'm getting tired of carrying buckets of SW up the stairs and WCs being a pain/time consuming thus sometimes putting them off. Also, having my frag tank on a separate system has caused issues in the past, plus everytime I move a frag between tanks I need to completely re-acclimate it... Thus, the basement system was born.
Here is a very rough sketch:
The system will be comprised of two separate stands, both built to hold 40Bs - The right stand will be for my current sump (40B) approximately 2' tall giving me easy access to all parts of the sump, etc. To the left of it will be my current 20L frag tank - That stand will be built the same size, to accommodate a 40B should I want to upgrade frag tanks. Its stand will be 3' tall so that I can use gravity to run its drain to the main sump. There will be shelves below each stand to hold my 15T top-off tank, as well as a 20L QT, and room for supplies. Just about everything will be hard plumbed, two 1.5'' drains and one 3/4" return (which Ts off once it reaches the 120g DT.
Originally I was going to use Gate Valves on all the lines, but realized the design of those restricts flow so I will be using Ball Valves - Need to look for some good quality ones as the standard Ball Valves from Home Depot are typically hard to close all the way and the handles are prone to snapping off.
From what I've researched, 40B Tanks are not tempered so my thought is drilling a hold/drain in the bottom of the middle chamber (not on side as shown in diagram) for WCs as this is where most of the debris will accumulate - this drain should naturally siphon most of the crap out and run the drain line to the house in-ground sump hole.
Eventually I plan on plumbing my 65g RODI holding tank and brute garbage can (SW Mixing) together for even more automation. These lines will drain the sump, fill my Top off tank, as well as re-fill the sump with the turn of various valves.
The biggest issue will be running all the hard lines to/from the DT above. I will drill through my floor carefully so that I can cover the holes with a false air return once I sell the house. Unfortunately that section of the house was an addition so I can't run the PVC straight to the Sump as it is cement walls. I will bring the plumbing through the 'crawl space window' (that I already shattered and had to pull out) which is currently covered by Cardboard. Brackets will be used to secure the plumbing to the ceiling/wall so they don't sway or put pressure on the bulkheads of the tank.
Poor representation of plumbing:
My other issue is that I will need to upgrade my return pump - I was previously using a Eheim-1262 when the sump was below my DT in the stand but this will not be enough to pump from the basement. I do have a Mag12 but will the distance and split returns I still need a bigger pump. Here are the rough head loss specs - PVC lengths are estimated on the higher end...
Thus I am in search of a larger pump, preferably used/local - I am looking for suggestions as well.
For now I have purchased the lumber for the stands and 60' worth of PVC to start dry-fitting the plumbing. Once I move the sump I want to to be a quick transition and have everything pretty much pre-set up so there is not a lot of down time without a sump on the DT.
The Frag Tank will be have a CC-120 unit over it ... Tank will be running on a RKL for now with thoughts of switching over to APEX in the future.
Here is a very rough sketch:
The system will be comprised of two separate stands, both built to hold 40Bs - The right stand will be for my current sump (40B) approximately 2' tall giving me easy access to all parts of the sump, etc. To the left of it will be my current 20L frag tank - That stand will be built the same size, to accommodate a 40B should I want to upgrade frag tanks. Its stand will be 3' tall so that I can use gravity to run its drain to the main sump. There will be shelves below each stand to hold my 15T top-off tank, as well as a 20L QT, and room for supplies. Just about everything will be hard plumbed, two 1.5'' drains and one 3/4" return (which Ts off once it reaches the 120g DT.
Originally I was going to use Gate Valves on all the lines, but realized the design of those restricts flow so I will be using Ball Valves - Need to look for some good quality ones as the standard Ball Valves from Home Depot are typically hard to close all the way and the handles are prone to snapping off.
From what I've researched, 40B Tanks are not tempered so my thought is drilling a hold/drain in the bottom of the middle chamber (not on side as shown in diagram) for WCs as this is where most of the debris will accumulate - this drain should naturally siphon most of the crap out and run the drain line to the house in-ground sump hole.
Eventually I plan on plumbing my 65g RODI holding tank and brute garbage can (SW Mixing) together for even more automation. These lines will drain the sump, fill my Top off tank, as well as re-fill the sump with the turn of various valves.
The biggest issue will be running all the hard lines to/from the DT above. I will drill through my floor carefully so that I can cover the holes with a false air return once I sell the house. Unfortunately that section of the house was an addition so I can't run the PVC straight to the Sump as it is cement walls. I will bring the plumbing through the 'crawl space window' (that I already shattered and had to pull out) which is currently covered by Cardboard. Brackets will be used to secure the plumbing to the ceiling/wall so they don't sway or put pressure on the bulkheads of the tank.
Poor representation of plumbing:
My other issue is that I will need to upgrade my return pump - I was previously using a Eheim-1262 when the sump was below my DT in the stand but this will not be enough to pump from the basement. I do have a Mag12 but will the distance and split returns I still need a bigger pump. Here are the rough head loss specs - PVC lengths are estimated on the higher end...
Thus I am in search of a larger pump, preferably used/local - I am looking for suggestions as well.
For now I have purchased the lumber for the stands and 60' worth of PVC to start dry-fitting the plumbing. Once I move the sump I want to to be a quick transition and have everything pretty much pre-set up so there is not a lot of down time without a sump on the DT.
The Frag Tank will be have a CC-120 unit over it ... Tank will be running on a RKL for now with thoughts of switching over to APEX in the future.
