75 Gallon Setup with Basement Sump

[ZJGMoparman]

My hole saw for the returns arrived today. I was able to get both holes drilled. Tomorrow I may run to the hardware store to get enough PVC to plumb the internal part of my overflow and a simple drain to my sump so I can hook everything up for a leak test.

 

[Maxx]

I hate the repeat trips to the hardware store for just one more plumbing piece.....but I enjoy figuring out my plumbing design.

It's a love hate thing....

 

[ZJGMoparman]

This weekend I was able to finish sanding, priming and painting the doors and drawer fronts. They turned out very nice.

I also installed the crown molding and base trim on 3 sides of the stand.

I was going to set the aquarium up in the basement to leak test it with the overflow and returns functioning, but I realized my stand warped. I think this happened when clamping the faceframe and side panels in place to attach them to the structural frame. Doing this cause me to get a low spot on top where the tank sits. I wasn't comfortable trying to shim the tank or shimming a piece of plywood between the tank. I decided it would be best to pour a marine grade epoxy on top and let it self-level. I leveled the stand in the basement, then taped the back edge to keep the epoxy from flowing out. I poured about 1/16"-1/8" layer of West Systems Epoxy resin. I think this will serve another purpose besides leveling the top. It will also seal the top in case any water were to drip down on the top of the stand.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

It has been quite a while since I have updated my progress in this build... mainly because there has been very little progress. I have been so busy with work, that I have had very little time to get anything finished on the tank.

Since my last update, I have hard plumbed the return lines together. I've also hard plumbed everything inside my overflow box. I painted the back glass of the tank black as well.

As far as the tank goes, it is almost ready to move upstairs. I hope to finish painting the stand this week or weekend. Once that is done, I will bring it upstairs and start working on the plumbing to the basement ... its progress, but very slow progress.

 

[dbowman5]

Today I was able to attach the face frame, side panels and rim around the top. Things are finally starting to shape up. The doors are assembled, but they need to be sanded. This week my goal is to sand the doors and install baseboard and crown molding around the stand.

My hole saw for the returns should be here Wednesday. If I can get the return lines drilled, I will put water in the tank and do a 2nd leak test after drilling.

i see i missed this thread until now, i also have a 75 with a basement sump. feel free to compare.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

This weekend I was able to finish painting the aquarium stand. I brought the stand and tank up to the garage and set it up to leak test one more time now that all of the plumbing is glued in place. I was also able to get the drawer slides and drawer boxes installed. This week I will get the doors and drawer fronts installed to complete the stand.

I'm having a little issue with my bean animal overflow. I'm not sure how high I should have the air line coming out of my secondary drain pipe. I've noticed if water gets to the top of the airline on initial startup, the overflow starts acting strange.

 

[dbowman5]

when i set mine up, i have an eshopps overflow with three drains,. the emergency is a straight pipe stand pipe the full siphon ii just put a strainer into the bulkhead at the bottom. the secondary is topped with two ninety's that have a hole drilled into the top of one. this allows air to enter so that it loses siphon. the full siphon valve is set so that the flow keeps the air hole exposed. when the pump starts the siphon takes a little to take off so the drain is slow. this allows the water to cover the air hole which turns the secondary into a full siphon that causes the flow to take off thus exposing the hole which breaks the siphon which slows the flow. this stabilizes after a couple of cycles. this may be what you are experiencing. i don't want to use an airline to prevent this as it acts as a safety if the full siphon plugs. if you are experiencing something different let me know

 

[ZJGMoparman]

I ended up taking the airline out and it seemed to work much better. The water level climbs over the hole when I first turn power on, but quickly drops back down once the siphon starts on the main drain.


I did move the aquarium and stand to its permanent home today. I am ready to start my plumbing through the wall, floor and down into the basement. I had originally planned to use all PVC for my plumbing. Now I'm thinking that vinyl tubing would be much easier and result in less head-loss from having to use 45s and 90s with rigid plumbing. This should not be an issue should it? I would have rigid at the tank, transition to vinyl to get close to the sump and then back to rigid to go into the sump. I was thinking about stepping up to the next larger size of vinyl since the inside diameter of the barbed fittings is smaller that the same size rigid.

 

[dbowman5]

I ended up taking the airline out and it seemed to work much better. The water level climbs over the hole when I first turn power on, but quickly drops back down once the siphon starts on the main drain.


I did move the aquarium and stand to its permanent home today. I am ready to start my plumbing through the wall, floor and down into the basement. I had originally planned to use all PVC for my plumbing. Now I'm thinking that vinyl tubing would be much easier and result in less head-loss from having to use 45s and 90s with rigid plumbing. This should not be an issue should it? I would have rigid at the tank, transition to vinyl to get close to the sump and then back to rigid to go into the sump. I was thinking about stepping up to the next larger size of vinyl since the inside diameter of the barbed fittings is smaller that the same size rigid.

from my limited experience you are probably on the right track with going up a size to prevent constriction. if you support the vinyl so that the weight does not hang from the tank you save line losses that you would get from elbows. your drain to the sump. how does it terminate at the sump? would you need hard pipe at that end? would you need hard pipe from the return pump? i use clear hose coming off of my pump going to pvc to reduce vibration, could you eliminate the pvc at that end and just use barb to barb couplings with the valve? let me know how it goes.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

Well I have moved the stand and tank to its permanent home. I went to home depot this weekend to pick up some 1"ID black vinyl tubing. Of course they do not sell it in my local store. Anyways, I ordered 50ft online and it should be here sometime later this week. Really, the plumbing is all that is left.

I installed the doors and drawer fronts tonight. They really make the stand look complete. I'm also happy with the large amount of storage space I will have below the tank since I wont have to house a sump in the stand.

 

[Kris 2020]

I have a basement sump. No regrets. All the noise and mess stay in the basement.

 

[NickC]

Love the stand! Looks great

 

[ZJGMoparman]

I'm to the point now where I need to get the sump built. I have a 40G breeder that I will be using. I've attached an image showing my proposed layout. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I know there are a ton of threads on sumps for a 40G breeder. I've tried to take information from several of these to develop my layout.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

The sump has been plumbed and I now have water in the tank. I've started the cycling process with dry rock.

Still need to hang the lights. I'll be building a decorative shelf and let the lights hang from the bottom of the shelf. I will be using two Viparspectras.

 

[ReefZ1lla84]

I run a mag 12 for my mixing station which I can also pump water from my basement to my 120 for water changes. It runs about 12’ vertical and has 2 90’s and connects to a hose and I get pretty decent flow I would say 3-400 gah at the distance. It does creat heat and is kinda loud but I have had it for over ten years. The magnetic drive and propellers are cheap to replace along with the housing. I currently run a dc pump for my return and it’s dead silent. It up to you.

Hey, I have halfway solved this. I did go ahead and purchase the Danner Mag-Drive 12. Since the sump will be in my basement, I'm not as worried about heat being put into the system. My basement stays about 65 degrees year round.

I will be drilling the tank. I'm looking at purchasing the overflow box in the link below. I will be using a bean animal overflow.

1200 gph LOW PROFILE Overflow Box with REMOVABLE WEIR

BRAND NEW SUPERIOR DESIGN! MODULAR MARINE'S 1200 gph LOW PROFILE OVERFLOW BOX Features:- 1200+ GPH capability - Entire skimmer box pulls off for easy cleaning! - Slimmest and shortest skimmer box on the market! - This design keeps water line hidden behind trim - Works with rimless, eurobrace...

modularmarine.com

I won't be drilling through my hardwood floors. I have access to framing for the wall from below. I will be drilling through the bottom plate on the wall and run my plumbing up through the wall.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

Tonight I did get the lights hung. The tank is really starting to come together. I'm almost a week into the cycling process. My next goal is to get the quarantine tank setup and ready to go.

My first fish will be a royal Gramma that is currently in my 12 gallon aquapod. I will move it over once the tank is finished cycling.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

It's been quite a while since I made a post about this build. The system has been up and running for about 8 weeks now. The tank has cycled.

I was temporarily running this system with an old 20 Gallon sump. I finally finished my 40g sump and got it swapped out this weekend. Below are some pictures of the 40G sump and plumbing.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

My stocking plans are as follows:

Already in the system:
1 Royal Gramma
1 Cleaner Shrimp
10 Astrea Snails
15 Cerith Snails
5 Trochus Snails
5 Nassarius Snails
10 Blue Leg Hermits

Currently in Quarentine:
2 Black Ice Clowns

Future Planned Species: (In order I plan to stock)
1 Bangai Cardinal
1 Yellow Corris Wrasse
1 Diamond Goby
1 Kole Tang
Bubble Tip Anemone (Once tank is very established)

Does this seem like a good stock level for a 75? I don't want to overstock, but would like to have plenty of diversity.

This will be a reef tank. I currently have some Zoas, Acans, Candy Cane, and Frogspawn. Once the tank gets more established, I do plan to start adding some SPS.

 

[CindyKz]

Nice build! I had a 75 gal, which I upgraded to my current 180 gal, and in the near future we plan to resurrect the 75 gal. When I had it set up before I had the sump under the tank, but this time we are going to plumb it into the existing basement sump (with the 180 gal DT and 30 gal frag tank).

I had a lot more fish than that in my 75 gal. I think you could get away with a couple more carefully selected smaller fish - maybe a flasher wrasse or some firefish or something. I'm not familiar with "Black Ice" clowns so IDK if they are very aggressive.

I also have a Modular Marine overflow and love it.

 

[ZJGMoparman]

Nice build! I had a 75 gal, which I upgraded to my current 180 gal, and in the near future we plan to resurrect the 75 gal. When I had it set up before I had the sump under the tank, but this time we are going to plumb it into the existing basement sump (with the 180 gal DT and 30 gal frag tank).

I had a lot more fish than that in my 75 gal. I think you could get away with a couple more carefully selected smaller fish - maybe a flasher wrasse or some firefish or something. I'm not familiar with "Black Ice" clowns so IDK if they are very aggressive.

I also have a Modular Marine overflow and love it.

I would really love to add a coral beauty angel to this system. I've read mixed reviews about dwarf Angels and corals. If I couldn't add a dwarf angel, I would love to have a foxface. I've read mixed reviews about these guys in a 75. Some people say they do fine, others say they will outgrow the tank.

The black ice clowns are a cross between a snowflake and darwin clown. I've never kept them before, but I wouldn't expect them to be any more aggressive than your typical ocellarus. I've attached a picture of them in the QT. I've also attached a picture of the 75 as it is today. The royal gramma was being shy and did not want to come out for the camera.