SCA 112 gallon w/basement sump, built in tank

Dburr1014 · Feb 8, 2022

Very nice so far.
I have the basement sump and have to deal with moisture problems. How do you intend to deal with that if it all?
When I plumbed mine I didn't even think about dealing with moisture. Plus my sump is under the basement stairs so that makes it much more difficult anyway.

Stephensx04 · Feb 8, 2022

Dburr1014 said:
Very nice so far.
I have the basement sump and have to deal with moisture problems. How do you intend to deal with that if it all?
When I plumbed mine I didn't even think about dealing with moisture. Plus my sump is under the basement stairs so that makes it much more difficult anyway.

Above tank humidity is shown in earlier posts. In the basement during summer months there is a dehumidifier that runs 24/7 and keeps basement dry. If it becomes an issue ill make a lid for sump to control evap or have to install another exhaust fan to outside.

Stephensx04 · Feb 8, 2022

Got the emergency drain completed tonight. Should have main drain done tomorrow. Getting close to being wet for leak test.

Stephensx04 · Feb 9, 2022

Tonight finished the main drain line. Got it all supported and clamped down.

Fitting all these lines in an already cramped area was tough. There was already 2 water lines run in this area.

Also got my new exhaust fan in for above tank ventilation. Pretty impressed with how much air it moves and is pretty quiet. Once canapy is installed you won't be able to hear it run.

Stephensx04 · Feb 11, 2022

Last night got the first of the baffles installed in the sump. And what a pain in the butt it was. My arms don't fit in the tight spot so we'll to apply the silicone. Glued the filter sock area together with weld on 4 first then taped everything off to try and get nice silicone lines. Came out ok.

While waiting for that to cure I needed something else to do. So I mounted my RO system under the sink to the left of the tank.

Still need to figure out how I want to run plumbing for that. Want the TDS meter mounted up top somewhere so it's easy to see and monitor. Also need to source locally fitting for this. I hate waiting for shipping.

Dburr1014 · Feb 11, 2022

Stephensx04 said:
Last night got the first of the baffles installed in the sump. And what a pain in the butt it was. My arms don't fit in the tight spot so we'll to apply the silicone. Glued the filter sock area together with weld on 4 first then taped everything off to try and get nice silicone lines. Came out ok.

While waiting for that to cure I needed something else to do. So I mounted my RO system under the sink to the left of the tank.

Still need to figure out how I want to run plumbing for that. Want the TDS meter mounted up top somewhere so it's easy to see and monitor. Also need to source locally fitting for this. I hate waiting for shipping.

Home Depot has John guest fittings, well, at least in my area

Stephensx04 · Feb 13, 2022

Little update. Should be doing full leak check tomorrow. Got all baffles installed in sump. Plumbed the drain line for water changes. Performed leak test of sump and function of return pump. Mounted controller for pump and heater.

Stephensx04 · Feb 14, 2022

Finally full water test done. Went off without any issues. No leaks. Return lines flow allot. Full siphon achieved with no issue. Only thing I need to resolve is the return. Lock lines. 2 small outlets seem to restrict the flow allot. Turn up pump and doesn't up the flow much. Going to make a new return manifold and have multiple directional outlets. I think this will help along with giving me more options for water direction.

Stephensx04 · Feb 16, 2022

Well corrected some issues today. Last test pump seemed Iike it couldn't move anymore water than it was. Turned pump up and no extra flow. At current settings it pulls 125 watts of power. So I updated the two return zozzles. Removed them and made my own manifold with 4 outlets into lock line and random flow heads. When I turned pump back on it was still set as it was before. And Holy cow what a difference. Not only did the watt usage go down by 25 watts but I had to open gate valve on return allot to accommodate the extra flow. I would guess it flowed at least 25% if not more. Had to turn pump down some as it was too much now. Now flowing more than before and only using 88 watts. Still some fine tuning needed to reduce water fall sound in overflow but that will be done when it has salt in it. All in all happy with how it's turning out.

New return lines

Right side

Left side

I added a ball valve between middle and outside lock line to reduce flow to outside nozzles to fine tune if needed.

Stephensx04 · Feb 19, 2022

Big night tonight. Drained all the freshwater from the test. Put my rock work into tank. My fiancé came up with the design. Attached all rock together using BRS motor mix. The rock work was put together in 3 separate large pieces allowing me to put in tank with ease. All the morter joints were then covered In rubble and sand with superglue to hide joints and make rock appear as one. Tomorrow should start filling with fresh saltwater. Now on to some pics.

Stephensx04 · Feb 23, 2022

Small update. Got rockwork situated in tank. Sand and water in. Salinity set and warmed up. Started the Dr Tim's fishless cycle put in Monday. Will also pick up the media I put in buddies tank for last couple weeks tonseed with his tank bactieria. Now the waiting game.

lubeck · Mar 2, 2022

Sweet build. My first tank was a basement sump build. Loved it. Especially for sound or lack thereof. Kept it cool in the summer.

Stephensx04 · Mar 3, 2022

So day 11 of the Dr Tim's fish less cycle and here is where I'm at. Day 8 and 9 seemed to take for ever for ammonia levels to come down. And these are from today. Should be good to add a fish or 2 and clean up crew? Nitrite seems a bit high at 2.0

Stephensx04 · Mar 5, 2022

Big night here. Put in a small clean up crew and 2 clowns. Friend of mine also gave me a few frags of hammerhead and frogspawn. Finally nice to see some movement in the tank.

Stephensx04 · Mar 13, 2022

1 week in and both clowns and clean up crew doing great. Been testing water just about every day just to monitor and nothing seems to change but the ammonia levels a little. Not sure if it's normal or not being a new tank. Nitrite seems high but maybe it's normal for a new tank.

lubeck · Mar 13, 2022

I wouldn’t trust the nitrite results on api.

mandarin417 · Mar 22, 2022

Nice!
So what size PVC did you end up with on the return and drain lines?

Best to you,
Bob

Stephensx04 · Mar 22, 2022

mandarin417 said:
Nice!
So what size PVC did you end up with on the return and drain lines?

Best to you,
Bob

1 inch main drain, 1 inch emergency, 2 inch return that steps down to 1 inch right before it enters back through tank bulkhead.

Stephensx04 · Mar 29, 2022

Been a little bit since I updated thread. Tank has been doing good. 4 fish all doing great.

So last couple days decided to work on my mixing station. I've looked and looked for tanks. Only ones I found that would save some space are weeks out and rather expensive. But luckily fleet farm had thier 35 gallon Containers on sale. So I bought 2. Now to find a good place for them. I decided to extend my sump stand and put them next to my sump. Grabbed some wood from HD and started building something. Crude and over built. This was first night of designing and building.

Tonight made a trip to store to get some more 2x4 and counter top to match my sump stand. Finished up stand and put in place.

This is how 2 tanks will sit on stand

Top tank will be fresh water and bottom for mixed. I'll hopefully work on plumbing by this weekend.

This is where mixing pump will reside. It's on the bottom rack behind SW tank.

Also relocated my RO unit and added 2 more stages. It was under sink but now moved to under sump. Much easier to access to service filters. And mounted my TDS meters. Left to right. Water onto ro unit. Water out of ro unit, second unit measures out of 2 middle canisters. Then measures final water product.

Stephensx04 · Apr 10, 2022

Little update. Got time to work on water change station this past week and weekend. Got is 99 percent complete. Only thing left is I need to pick up a couple grommets to run heater wire and top off pump wire.

Right valve controls the water mixing inside lower tank. When left valve is opened and right valve closed it diverts water to fill back into sump for water changes. Pretty simple and fool proof.

Top tank is the fresh water side. Fill it up and there is a valve to dump water from upper to lower tank.

Top tank has float valve attached to ro line. In the event the float valve sticks and doesn't shut off automatically the small 1/2 cpvc pipe will allow water to drain back to sink preventing a flood. Line coming from top of top tank is the fresh water top off that is hard lined back to return section.