Josh's 150g Basement Sump Build

[Josh]

Hey Reefers!

Been fairly quiet on my end for a bit while I was finishing up some renovations. I have been collecting equipment for this build for over 2 years now. I am excited to get this bad boy going. Special thanks to @Big_Als_London @shamous113 @reefdiver @BIGSHOW and the numerous others who have given solid advice.

Tank : 60x24x24 centre overflow
Sump : 110g long with custom baffles
Skimmer : Lifereef SVS30
Return : Jebao DCP 20000
Lights : 48" 6 bulb dimmable ATI with 1 reefbrite xho and 1 reefbrite tech
Wavemakers : Tunze Wavebox, Jebao CP40 controlled by apex
Refugium Light : Blackbox plant grow LED
Doser : Kamoer 4 port
BRS dual reactor fed from pump manifold
Bashea pellet reactor
Apex reef controller

Tank will have two 1.5" drains as well as two 3/4" emergency backups. Originally it was designed for 2 drains dual 3/4" return. I decided to run over the top return due to the amount of flow i was going to be having.

Return is a 1.5" line from the pump manifolded for the reactors as well as a line for draining water on water changes. Return line has an apex speed sensor for safety as well as dialing the system in.

@shamous113 built a heavy duty stand for the tank and i would suggest anyone wanting a really well built stand to possibly give him a message. I was worried about weight on the floor so I built a load bearing wall under the tank and doubled up the supports. I can jump beside the tank and I only get a small ripple. Very happy with how this turned out.

 

[Josh]

 

[Josh]

Tell me.... How many of your wives would have let you drill 6 holes in your brand new flooring? I am thankful to have such a supportive woman. She loves to help me clean rocks and get involved with the hobby and this has made it so much more enjoyable sharing this with her.

 

[Josh]

She's officially passed the leak test. I am having issues tuning the overflow however. I am finding it a bit noisey upstairs. Current flow is 850 gpm and the sound of the water overflowing into the overflow is loud. Any suggestions?

How high do you guys run your standpipes in the overflow? Do you keep the trickle drain fairly close the overflow height to reduce the pour over niagara falls effect?

This is my first tank that uses t5 lighting, other tanks have all been LED. Any suggestions on how to stage my lights? Both reefbrites will be run through a dual channel apex controlled dimming module. With dimmable t5 I have the option to run the system in full ramp up. How many hours would you guys suggest running the reefbrites and t5's? I have a seneye with par meter that i can check my lighting levels afterwards.

What GPM should i be aiming for on my return? I had read 5-10 turnover rate and aimed for the higher side of that. However at only 850 GPM the water is moving pretty quick. Should i stick around here and up it slowly if i find flow slow? Middle section of sump will be refugium.

 

[Matt1997]

GPM or GPH? If you have 850 gpm going through the system that would sound like Niagara Falls. If you want it quiet, run a bean animal style drain system.

 

[Matt1997]

I would aim for around 1000 gph in a 150 gallon

 

[Josh]

Yeah definitely meant GPH lol.

1000 gph shouldn't be hard to achieve, I have the pump dialed back a fair bit. 20000litre/hour is crazy capacity.

Its not the the actual style of drain thats causing the noise its the distance of drop and flowrate causing the noise. I think i just need to raise the height of my trickle which SHOULD lower the drop of the water into the overflow and lower the noise I would think.

 

[gowyn]

Hi Josh

I also have a basement sump and in London. My tank is a similar volume.

I opted for a lower flow rate through the tank, about 450GPH. This is based on BRS' latest findings. I maintain high flow inside the tank with powerheads. My fuge is actually fed from a valve tee'd off the main return at a much lower flow rate.

I originally had a single 1.5" Durso but like you it was loud. For me it was easier to make it the trickle and switch the original trickle to the main drain. That and raising the trickle height to about 1" below the wier dramatically lowered the noise but more importantly the consistent flow rate through the tank.

Can't help with T5's, I'm partial to Kessils.

G

She's officially passed the leak test. I am having issues tuning the overflow however. I am finding it a bit noisey upstairs. Current flow is 850 gpm and the sound of the water overflowing into the overflow is loud. Any suggestions?

How high do you guys run your standpipes in the overflow? Do you keep the trickle drain fairly close the overflow height to reduce the pour over niagara falls effect?

This is my first tank that uses t5 lighting, other tanks have all been LED. Any suggestions on how to stage my lights? Both reefbrites will be run through a dual channel apex controlled dimming module. With dimmable t5 I have the option to run the system in full ramp up. How many hours would you guys suggest running the reefbrites and t5's? I have a seneye with par meter that i can check my lighting levels afterwards.

What GPM should i be aiming for on my return? I had read 5-10 turnover rate and aimed for the higher side of that. However at only 850 GPM the water is moving pretty quick. Should i stick around here and up it slowly if i find flow slow? Middle section of sump will be refugium.

 

[Josh]

Yah im really thinking the main issue is the trickle height, i kept calling it drop height which probably was confusing. Its closer to 4-5" until i make some small piping changes

@gowyn what return pump are you using?

 

[gowyn]

Yah im really thinking the main issue is the trickle height, i kept calling it drop height which probably was confusing. Its closer to 4-5" until i make some small piping changes

@gowyn what return pump are you using?

I’m using both a COR-15 and COR-20. Redundancy each feeds it’s own return line, the COR-20 also feeds manifold.

 

[reefdiver]

She's officially passed the leak test. I am having issues tuning the overflow however. I am finding it a bit noisey upstairs. Current flow is 850 gpm and the sound of the water overflowing into the overflow is loud. Any suggestions?

How high do you guys run your standpipes in the overflow? Do you keep the trickle drain fairly close the overflow height to reduce the pour over niagara falls effect?

This is my first tank that uses t5 lighting, other tanks have all been LED. Any suggestions on how to stage my lights? Both reefbrites will be run through a dual channel apex controlled dimming module. With dimmable t5 I have the option to run the system in full ramp up. How many hours would you guys suggest running the reefbrites and t5's? I have a seneye with par meter that i can check my lighting levels afterwards.

What GPM should i be aiming for on my return? I had read 5-10 turnover rate and aimed for the higher side of that. However at only 850 GPM the water is moving pretty quick. Should i stick around here and up it slowly if i find flow slow? Middle section of sump will be refugium.

Come visit if you get a chance
I have a couple suggestions


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[Copperkills]

Just in relation to flow rate through the system. Lots of debate on that, I have mine dialed right down to only 3x turnover an hour. Nice and quiet drain, lots of processing time in the sump. I did this after listening to a vid by BRS.

 

[Josh]

Just in relation to flow rate through the system. Lots of debate on that, I have mine dialed right down to only 3x turnover an hour. Nice and quiet drain, lots of processing time in the sump. I did this after listening to a vid by BRS.

Want to help me aquascape it? I have very little artistic talent.

 

[Copperkills]

Want to help me aquascape it? I have very little artistic talent.

I’d love to!

 

[Winks]

I’d love to!

Copperkills is a true artist when it comes to aquascaping. I'm VERY happy with the aquascape he did for me. Maybe he's in the wrong profession?

 

[Josh]

Nah we need him out on those streets, its ok to have 2 callings!

 

[Josh]

So i had some struggles as predicted by @gowyn, I had issues getting the overflow quiet. I ended up running my main drain as the 3/4 with the 2nd 3/4 as the throttled adjustment pipe. 1.5" trickle drain and the other 1.5" as an emergency drain. With the 2nd 3/4 throttled mostly close that means the one 3/4 drain is moving probably a good 600-700 gph which is pretty crazy. Either way im happy with how quiet it is now and also happy that i have 2 big 1.5" drains if anything ever happens. Going to test it overnight then drain it and start making the 200+ gallons of RO i need to make.

 

[gowyn]

So i had some struggles as predicted by @gowyn, I had issues getting the overflow quiet. I ended up running my main drain as the 3/4 with the 2nd 3/4 as the throttled adjustment pipe. 1.5" trickle drain and the other 1.5" as an emergency drain. With the 2nd 3/4 throttled mostly close that means the one 3/4 drain is moving probably a good 600-700 gph which is pretty crazy. Either way im happy with how quiet it is now and also happy that i have 2 big 1.5" drains if anything ever happens. Going to test it overnight then drain it and start making the 200+ gallons of RO i need to make.

Nice

With two 1.5” emergency lines you will never have any overflow problems

 

[Josh]

 

[Josh]

Been doing a gentle cycle for about a week now. I added some bacteria kickstarter to the tank last night. I have 1 piece of liverock from 1 of my smaller tanks in the sump and the overall volume is close to 250g. Is it ok to add 2 clownfish and a starry blenny to the tank now? With my frag tank letting go im in an odd position right now and it would help alot to get those 3 moved. Normally i would do a full ammonia cycle take my time however the situation has changed a bit on me. You would think with that large amount of water volume that 3 fish shouldnt bother it much. Tonight im going to do a small addition of pure ammonia and see how the tank reacts, if its all gone in the morning then i think im confident adding fish.