3 tier setup, DT to sump to basement sump and back...

Hsolano

New member
I wanted to explore the possibility of having my DT drain into my sump, and have that connected to a basement plastic tub in the basement. The rise from the basement would only be about 4 feet. and 3 feet from sump to DT

I was thinking putting the top off in the basement, with the Kalk reactor and some ugly live rock. Basement has AC and Heat all year.

Any recommendations, advice or ideas?

Thanks!
 
i would skip the sump in the middle all together and just go right to tub in basement if u are going to do that, simplifies the setup.
 
Yes but I want the fuge, skimmer, and a place to put controller pumps. Tub wouldn't look nice for that.
 
Make sure you have enough volume in the basement sump or tub to drain the 10 feet or more of plumbing, not including the back syphon from your return. If you use a check valve on the line going back up, I'd compensate for the back syphon just in case the check valve fails.
 
So basically you want your DT to drain into a sump, then have the sump drain into a tub in the basement, where it will then have a pump push it back into the sump, and then back into the DT?

Or does it go DT > Sump > Tub > DT?

That just seems like a lot of plumbing to do, and what real benefit will you get? You're better off having the DT drain into the basement. Then you can have it split off into a fuge which could then drain into your sump, and then have your skimmer, reactors, etc all down there. Then one main pump to push it all back into the DT. If you have the room for everything in the basement, why put half of it upstairs? This way all maintenance will be handled downstairs in an open room instead of inside the tank, under the tank, and downstairs.
 
I'm with everyone as well. There's no benefit to having two sumps, and definitely adds risk with more pumps to fail. Besides, why take up all that space under the tank that can be used for other things. I wish I didn't have to have my sump under my tank!
 
I did this for a couple years... And ended up rusting out everything metal in my basement because of the salt in the air. If you are going to do this I would recommend making sure that the tanks in the basement are covered.
 
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