New house, New build. Show me your sump rooms

[cilyjr]

I couple things I'll highlight that may or may not be of interest but I found helpful. I've redone this room a few times now to make my life easier so there have been a few improvements over the 8 years I've had it going.

1. A manifold to run reactors ect. It's very easy for me to add active carbon, gfo, or the like in a few minutes I just fill the reactor then plug it in. Also a drain for easy water exchanges. (That's the hose barb to the rt) All run of 1 return pump.

2. My electrical is run off of 2 dedicated gfci 20a breakers into this box.
I threw a couple with switches for return pump ect. It has a door on it to keep from getting wet (not installed yet in picture)

3.. I made this pipe for keeping wiring organized. You can buy a product called panduit though to make life easier.

 

[PedroYoung]

I couple things I'll highlight that may or may not be of interest but I found helpful. I've redone this room a few times now to make my life easier so there have been a few improvements over the 8 years I've had it going.

1. A manifold to run reactors ect. It's very easy for me to add active carbon, gfo, or the like in a few minutes I just fill the reactor then plug it in. Also a drain for easy water exchanges. (That's the hose barb to the rt) All run of 1 return pump.

2. My electrical is run off of 2 dedicated gfci 20a breakers into this box.
I threw a couple with switches for return pump ect. It has a door on it to keep from getting wet (not installed yet in picture)

3.. I made this pipe for keeping wiring organized. You can buy a product called panduit though to make life easier.

I love the PVC conduit for the wiring, great idea!

 

[cilyjr]

It took me about 5 minutes to make on a table saw. But make the teeth wide enough to be able to slide cords around each other. I wouldn't use then 2 inch pvc they fill quickly with wiring.

 

[Bryce Peterson]

I don't have any pics now, but I will sum up a little of what I have:
1.5" pipe comes down from upstairs. It goes into a 3ft sock filter that's in the top of a 55g drum which sits on cinder blocks. Coming out the side of it, near the top, is a bulkhead and elbow that lets it spill into another drum. Coming out of that drum, near the bottom, is another bulkhead. This goes to the small side of a standard 30g sump. The water level in the second drum and the sump section it goes into will remain equal. Note that so far, I have about 140g of sump volume, and no pump is needed yet. In the large side of the sump is a reef octopus skimmer and an ecotech Vectra pump which runs as a return pump. It has a small section of 1" tube on it and then goes back to 1.5" pvc and back upstairs.

In addition to that, I use a 20" synergy ghost overflow with a variation of a bean animal plumbing setup under it, which feeds to ONE return pipe that goes back to the basement. "They" said I couldn't do it that way, but I did...and it works well.

Looks awesome! I'm working on mine today. May post some pics later.

 

[ithk21620]

I have a basement fish room with my sump and frag system. Here are some pictures of the system as it sits right now. Still have some work to do on the fish room but it's getting close.

If you have any questions on the system let me know.

 

[Engloid]

Does your skimmer ever flip out amd overflow? I always put it such that if it does, it overflows back into the sump.

 

[ithk21620]

Does your skimmer ever flip out amd overflow? I always put it such that if it does, it overflows back into the sump.

If you are asking me the answer is no. My skimmer is very stable and shuts off when the sump level will be higher. For instance when I feed the tank the return is turned off and when the system kicks back on the skimmer has a delayed start. If it were to fill the reservoir there is a float switch in it that kills the skimmer pump and notifies me.

I travel half the year for work so I have my system very automated. Multiple float switches so I know if something is wrong and to shut off certain things if needed.

I have additional wiring in place for some future float switch I plan to add.

 

[Engloid]

If you are asking me the answer is no. My skimmer is very stable and shuts off when the sump level will be higher. For instance when I feed the tank the return is turned off and when the system kicks back on the skimmer has a delayed start. If it were to fill the reservoir there is a float switch in it that kills the skimmer pump and notifies me.

I travel half the year for work so I have my system very automated. Multiple float switches so I know if something is wrong and to shut off certain things if needed.

I have additional wiring in place for some future float switch I plan to add.

Can you give more info on how you did that? I think the method you use could be used to accomplish many things.

 

[ithk21620]

Can you give more info on how you did that? I think the method you use could be used to accomplish many things.

Everything is accomplished with my Apex. When I use the feed function on my Apex the return pump is shut off, the MP 40's shut off and the skimmer turns off. Once 5 minutes pass the MP 40's turn back on and then 5 minutes after that the return pump turns back on. A minute after the return pump turns on the skimmer restarts.

Here is some of the programming:

As far as the float switches, I have three I currently use. One in my RO top off container, one in the sump and one in the skimmate locker.

The switch in the RO tank is located about 10-15 gallons above empty. I know how long the other 15-20 gallons of water last so if for some reason my float valve in the sump would get stuck open I would be notified and could correct the issue. This has never happened by the way. The float valve has worked flawless for 6+ years.

The switch in the sump is located about 5-10 gallons below the normal volume of water. If this switch gets tripped it kills the entire system. I know if this switch is tripped I have a leak or something else major going on and I want to limit the amount of damage if possible.

The switch in the skimmate locker just kills the pump to the skimmer until I empty it or manually bypass the switch.

All of the switches have alarms related to them so I get notified if any of the switches get triggered. I also have a virtual outlet for my water change and other tasks so that it ignores the float switches while I do the task.

Here is the float switch in my sump.

I think that should answer your questions but if not let me know

 

[Engloid]

Nice. I have ordered an apex, so I am sure I will be figuring out the programming functions soon.

 

[ithk21620]

Nice. I have ordered an apex, so I am sure I will be figuring out the programming functions soon.

You won't regret the purchase. The possibilities are endless. I have some additional automation that I will be doing soon but I let my tank pay for itself for the most part so my upgrades come in chunks.

 

[Engloid]

Is there an apex users forum. If there is, I need to check it out.

 

[ithk21620]

Is there an apex users forum. If there is, I need to check it out.

Yes

http://forum.neptunesystems.com

I believe there is a section on R2R also but I find that there is more info on the Neptune forum since it's strictly for the Neptune products.

Also google is your friend because there is a lot of info across the web

 

[AlexG]

Here is my sump room. It consists of a 265 gallon HDPE tank, 150 gallon glass tank, and a 120 gallon HDPE tank. I am still under construction with this build but in a few months it should be up and running.

 

[Engloid]

I have noticed that very few of the older neptune apex systems go up for sale. I think I have seen one of the new ones for sale used. It seems people that buy them nearly always keep them.

 

[KJAG]

The issue here isn't that you can't do it that way as you most certainly can and it will work. The issue is it completely defeats the purpose of a bean animal system bringing it down to one drain to the sump. The whole purpose of the bean animal is redundancy with extra pipes so if the first or even second gets clogged you always have the third as an emergency. If all your drain pipes merge into one and that one pipe clogs than there really was no point in using the bean animal set up and your whole system will flood, that being the worst case scenario. HOWEVER and I'm sure you did it this way, if the bean animal drains fed into say a 4" drain pipe down to the basement you would avoid that issue. But they would have to merge with the 4" pipe individually and not merge together first and then into the 4".

Spot on. I don't know why you're catching flack for simply calling it what it is. It's a totally inferior method of plumbing a Bean. Period. In fact, in that orientation, it is disqualified from even being associated with this system. Yeah it's failsafe all right. Until it isn't. To any reefers out there potentially embarking on this system: Don't ever plumb a "Bean" the way this dude did. Nothing personal, just the truth.

 

[Dubs83]

Here is my basement sump room.

 

[Engloid]

Spot on. I don't know why you're catching flack for simply calling it what it is. It's a totally inferior method of plumbing a Bean. Period. In fact, in that orientation, it is disqualified from even being associated with this system. Yeah it's failsafe all right. Until it isn't. To any reefers out there potentially embarking on this system: Don't ever plumb a "Bean" the way this dude did. Nothing personal, just the truth.

You cant justify it. You cant explain it. The numbers show it has almost the same cross sectional flow. You cant criticize it....But since its not exactly what somebody else did, its wrong. Haha. I needed something others hadnt done. I think for myself. I adapted ideas from elsewhere, and made it work perfectly.


"Disqualified from being called a bean?" This is good... straight from the "bean judge." Where is the list of qualifications? I have been the first to do many things. I have been criticized before. I also have been applauded once enough bandwagoners had somebody onboard that they followed. Nothing new to me.

 

[Engloid]

I think I'm going to have to see your Bean Animal Inspection and Auditor Qualification card. I refuse to accept your qualification to determine my qualification. haha!!!!!!!!

 

[ithk21620]

I think I'm going to have to see your Bean Animal Inspection and Auditor Qualification card. I refuse to accept your qualification to determine my qualification. haha!!!!!!!!

I am sorry but I don't think this bantering back and forth about who's plumbing is correct is what the OP wanted with this thread....

Let's keep the posts to the subject please