Poll: Sump Location

[dbl]

The last couple of days we looked at stands and sump preferences. I only wish I had the space to have a dedicated fish room/area. I'm in Florida and live on a slab, so no basement. Given the location of my tank, I have no adjacent room either. So I'm stuck with having all the equipment under the tank.

I'm curious how many have a dedicated fish room/area. My guess is most are like me and are confined to the space under the tank, but let's see how many have the luxury of not having to cram everything underneath.

 

[mckinleyw]

I like the remote sumps best for easy of access. As of now I am running a sump under DT. I am also working on building a dedicated fish room. Not having to crawl under your display to get to filtration is the best IMO.

 

[andrewkw]

It really doesn't bother me having the sump under the tank in the stand. I too don't have a basement and if I felt this was my forever home I'd *probably* put the sump in the room behind my tank which more or less functions as a fish room / storage room. I keep my frag and qt tanks there + another mini display. It would be pretty easy to do but that being said there wouldn't be much to gain other than water volume. My sump is actually my 3rd choice sump. When I moved houses 2 years ago my 180 gallon tank broke in transit, fortunately I kept my old 112 tank which I was actually going to sell but decided to keep. So that is now my main display a foot shorter and 6 inches narrower. Of course that meant the 180 sump would not fit under the tank. I had another sump from my frag system but that was too wide as well. So I went to the 3rd of 3 sumps I brought with me when I moved. It's smaller, I even had to downsize skimmers but you know what it works. I'm only in the sump twice a week changing filter socks and once a week cleaning skimmer. Since my dosing pump is controller via an app I never have to physically touch it.

When I first set all this stuff up I was really upset going with 2nd choice skimmer and 3rd choice sump, but it's working fine. The tank is doing great, there is room under the stand for everything I dose + auto top off container. If this was my dream setup I'd change things, but it's not so this works for the foreseeable future. One thing I will point out is with filter socks being changed twice a week and not really running a fuge (there is a bit of one there but it's really just a refuge I'm not really growing macro) I don't have to clean out the sump more then once or twice a year which is when I do my yearly skimmer cleaning anyway. If everything wasn't under the stand it would be easier to reach but I generally don't have to touch much down there. As much as I'd love to have pvc running all through my walls and elaborate setup at this point I don't really need it at least until I get a massive display tank.

 

[Luno]

Basements are non-existent here in Australia. So 99% of tanks have the sump under the display. In my new house and new tank build my tank lives in the garage and is set into the wall at the entrance. So the garage is sort of like a fishroom, but sump will Be underneath and other things will be beside.

If I could convince my other half to let me have a dedicated room just as a filtration/fish room I would definitely prefer it just for the not having to bend down so far to access aspects of the sump.

 

[cracker]

My sump is under the tank. However I do have a fish room behind. I split the dinning room with a wall stand. Behind I have plenty of room for a utility sink ,rodi filter, mixing barrels . I can also get to the back of the tank for valve adjust & access to the sump & such. It chose this because I could get to water & drain on the the other side of a wall.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I've always had a sump under the DT for years. Then now with basement sump/fish room. Wouldn't have it any other way now. Much easier to maintain my system.

 

[cracker]

Basements are non-existent here in Australia.

Curious as to why no basements in Australia? Here in Florida the water table is too high. so there are some basements in the northern prt of the state.
Flipper I saw your super nice basement setup.

 

[Luno]

Curious as to why no basements in Australia? Here in Florida the water table is too high. so there are some basements in the northern prt of the state.

I'm not sure about other states but originally most of my state Queensland, the original houses which are now referred to as "queenslanders" as a style of house were lifted off the ground incase of flooding, so I guess similar to you. It's not such an issue these days and nearly every house is built on a concrete slab. I'm not a builder but I'm Pretty sure basements are usually built due to colder temps, I think with the freeze/thaw a basement provides a more stable grounding. Here if we need towe just put concrete piers.

Majority of houses don't have attics as well which seems popular in America. Generally because of higher temps we use the roof space to hold insulation instead.

 

[cracker]

Thanks ! I enjoy learning how people do thing in far away lands .

 

[madweazl]

Currently have a sump inside the stand but our new house has a basement so I'll be putting up the "fish room" soon. Essentially framing it in from the polls on the left, to the back wall (12'x19'). The 75g is just past the second I-beam and the 150g is about 10' left of the polls that support the I-beams. They'll get plumbed to a common sump.

 

[ca1ore]

If you are able to have a dedicated fish room, it really is the best way to go. The only downsides are head pressure on the pump (less so if room is adjacent versus below) and the extra space being conducive to excesses.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I’m planning my next tank and it will feature a completely open stand so I can see my new sump in all its glory :D I like having my equipment open and visible, for me it’s all part of the reefing experience..

 

[dbl]

I’m planning my next tank and it will feature a completely open stand so I can see my new sump in all its glory :D I like having my equipment open and visible, for me it’s all part of the reefing experience..

It's funny...I've had friends and family over and they've been more impressed with the underbelly than the display itself. It is pretty impressive what we do to keep things alive!

 

[Mark Gray]

I live Alone and I decided I am to old to be crawling under my stand working in the sump. I put both sumps outside my stands I may some day move both of them, I know most better half's would hate my set up but my dog doesn't mind at all

 

[Jesterrace]

Sump is under the tank since I don't have a basement and quite frankly I don't like the idea of having to custom plumb the house (neither does my wife). You can see it at around the 4:45 mark in this vid:

 

[vlangel]

My sump is in the basement directly under the tank. It was the best upgrade I ever made. There is a floor drain in concrete there and also easy access to the cold water line where I used a saddle valve to hook my ro/di up. I save ro water in a brute can, and mix salt mix in another brute can beside the first. A water change is as simple as drain old water out of the sump into the floor drain and then then pump premade salt water back into the sump. No lifting or carrying the 24 gallons of water change I do every week. The mess stays in the basement which I love.

Another perk is I do not need a chiller anymore for the seahorses.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'm all over the place with my answer for this one. I have a sump under the tank in my cabinet. I dont mind it at all, but who wouldn't want a fish room :)

 

[tgionet]

I have my sump under my stand and everything else in my basement. I'd love to plumb them together but the reception to cutting holes in the floor was lukewarm at best...

 

[KenO]

I was lucky, when we built our retirement home in AZ I was able to get a dedicated fish room. The big issue was that the room is 45' away from my future family room tank and 25' from the game room tank (both of which just shipped from CDA) and I'm on a slab. So what crazy idea did I come up with? I talked with my builder and I put in a big concrete hole in the floor of my fish room. The in floor sump is 4' long, 4' deep and 32 inches wide. It was poured at the same time as my foundation. The walls are 6" thick. I also plumbed all of my drain and return lines under the concrete floor. I used high flex pvc in an ABS sleeve. Right now I am adding a rubber membrane to the walls and bottom. The bottom will be white like the walls. I still need to pour another gallon of the black membrane and then 2 gallons of the white.