Members' Aquarium Series - Mike Kirda
Mike has been in the hobby since 1991.
His first tank, an All-Glass 75 gallon, was going continuously for
ten years. In his recent move, he
graduated
to an Oceanic 120
gallon Reef Ready system, complete with basement sump. An avid
early reader of rec.aquaria, (predecessor to RAMR), Mike has been a
frequent contributor to Reef-l and Reefkeepers mailing lists. His
other
hobby is under water photography.
Presentation
About two years ago, I decided to upgrade to a larger tank. My 75 gallon was eight years old and getting cramped. I began to think about what I wanted, and more importantly, saving up for it.
While I wanted the larger tank, I also didn’t want to deal with the cramped setup underneath the tank. I wanted it to be larger and I realized that a remote sump was the only practical solution. This also freed up all sorts of size constraints, meaning I could have as large a sump as I wanted. All of the maintenance and filtration could be done at the sump, rather than in and around the tank itself. I decided that I wanted the sump to be at least as large as the tank, preferably double the size.
At the time, my 75 gallon tank was in the dining room. My wife and I decided that we should move the new tank to the living room. The space where it would fit best had enough room for a four foot tank. I settled on an Oceanic 120 Reef-ready, with a medium oak stand. At one point, I had contacted Inter-American for a custom tank- I really wanted to get one 24” high, with a 30” front to back depth. For the extra six inches in width, I would need to fork out roughly $750-800 additional. I opted for the smaller tank.
As for the sump, I was planning on using a 300 gallon Rubbermaid horse trough that I already had. I had moved the contents of the 75 gallon tank into the trough temporarily because I needed to paint the walls in the house. Working in the trough, I learned I had made several mistakes. It was too difficult to reach anything in the center. That’s when I decided I needed something else to serve as the sump. I lucked out talking to JT Croteau one night on #reefs- he was ordering in a batch of apple crates, and offered to add one onto the order for me. I imagine I was quite the sight, bringing that crate on top of my old car, a yellow 1978 Olds Delta 88, from Indiana back to Chicago…
The apple crate proved ideal. Given access to two sides, you could reach most of it very easily. A third side, you could reach in anywhere. It was also easier to build into a room, being that it was square, rather than round. And at a 240 gallon capacity, I wasn’t losing that much water.
Tank and sump chosen, I now got to the skimmer. I looked at a lot of the specs, then asked around. JT pointed me to Brian Ferguson. I was unaware that Brian built skimmers at the time. He and I spoke at length, and I decided to oversize it, with the option of REALLY oversizing it later, if need be. The design would be such that the foam tower would be expandable. I decided to build the injector tower to the larger size already.
The other important point for me was to have a kalkwasser injection port built into the skimmer. Craig Bingman wrote an article, I believe it was in the old print edition of Aquarium Frontiers, detailing the effect kalkwasser had on phosphates. One of his comments was that injecting kalkwasser into a skimmer would have the effect of precipitating phosphates, and exporting them via skimmate. I had practiced this for years, and have always wondered why skimmer manufacturers have never picked up on this.
(Note: This is not currently being used, due to the failure of my kalk dosing pump. The blue plastic is being used to cover the hole, otherwise a nice, steady stream of water would exit.)
I order my tank and skimmer, and both arrive. Next, I have to figure out plumbing.
Then my whole plan came to a crashing halt.
I noticed a house across the street from us had gone up for sale, and mentioned it to my wife. One thing led to another, and two days later, we bought it.
Fast-forward a hectic summer- always too much to do when you move. Especially when moving a tank…
We decided to do things a bit differently in the new house. The tank would go into the dining room. The sump would go directly below. Unlike the previous house, this place had a somewhat finished basement.
I actually had more room for a larger tank if I had wanted. I decided not to push it with the wife. {grin} Instead, I hired someone to come in and frame out a room for the basement sump, then had it wired properly. I added two 20A circuits, each into three dual outlets (GFCI, of course). Each outlet was separately switched, so I could turn off the pumps by flicking a switch. In addition, I had the electrician pull additional wire through the conduit, just in case I decided I needed another set of outlets at a later date.
Switch and GFCI Outlets Picture
I have to mention something here about electrical work: My old
house had 60 amp service, and we had to be very careful about what
we were running at any given time, as we would trip the breakers
otherwise. I hired an electrician to come in and upgrade the
service to 100 amp, and split a few outlets. For some reason, our
kitchen, for example, was wired with the dishwasher and microwave
connected to the same circuit as my tank.
To make it worse, the same circuit ran the washer/dryer,
refrigerator and a dehumidifier. When the electrician shut off the
service and tore apart the box outside, he showed us the connectors
for the house to the service. The metal was corroded, evidence of
sparking was apparent, and the plastic covers had nearly completely
melted off. We were looking at a time bomb, because when it did
catch fire, it would have torched the house. If anyone is
considering putting in a tank, especially one with larger
electrical requirements in an older home, I would urge you to have
an electrician come out and evaluate the existing wiring and
outlets, as well as the outdoor connections. Looking at those
connectors scared me a bit. The first thing I did with the new
place was to have the electrical system checked out. Luckily, it
was far newer, and had been upgraded to 100 amp service
already.
I started to re-think the sump on the floor idea. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a bad idea. Bending over for long periods over a sump, kneeling on concrete, etc. Bad idea.
So I decided to elevate the apple crate. The ideal height turned out to be 20 inches- combined with the height of the crate, the edge was just below my arm pit. No bending required. Worst case, I had to be on my tippie-toes to reach some areas on the far side of the crate… So I built a stand. Or a German engineer would say, I over-built the stand. The legs on each corner were two 2x6 boards. The cross-braces, 2x6s. The top, 1” plywood. Everything primed with three coats, then topped with three coats of enamel. All screws that could be exposed to water were stainless steel. All metal braces had six coats of rust-proofing paint, then were covered with enamel. Everything that was screwed was also glued. Twice.
I brought the completed stand into the basement, set the apple crate on it, then realized something was very wrong. My skimmer, built for the other house, with the sump on the floor, would not fit. I contacted Brian to have a second shorter injector tube built. (Thanks, Brian!)
The two last decisions I had to make were dealing with plumbing and buying a pump to run the skimmer and the return. Again, I turned to the Reefkeepers mailing list for help.
I ended up ordering two pumps, one for the skimmer and one for the return. I used Sequence pumps, a SEQ-11 for the skimmer (3000 GPH) and a SEQ-12 for the return (3600GPH). I got these over Iwaki pumps due to the fact that both of them together use less energy than a single Iwaki 100 model. JT Croteau told me to take a look at them initially, knowing how much I wanted to minimize my recurring electrical costs.
The plumbing advice was another matter. I ended up disliking all
of the suggested suppliers.
I went ahead and ordered my plumbing supplies from Aquatic
Ecosystems. As it always seems to turn out, you forget something,
or don’t take something into account… When having the
sump room built, I had a limitation. One wall could only go so far
because of a window there. I had a door put in next to the window,
so the sump room actually has two entrances. I put in the stand,
then the crate, and all is well. I used a milk crate for a skimmer
stand, and everything fit fine. The pumps came and they
were… Well… Larger than I had imagined they’d
be.
Then the plumbing parts came in.
Omigod, would you look at the size of that thing!
I could not believe how large a 2” gate valve was. By the time you had a 2” threaded bulkhead, then a piece to attach to the gate valve, then a piece to attach to the pump, the pump was sticking out from the sump nearly as long as your arm. I never thought it would be that far. This actually placed it UNDER the stairwell, forcing me to make some major revisions in my plumbing plans. One of many to come.
Having just pulled up carpeting in the dining room, and having had just about the entire first floor (all oak hardwood floors) sanded and re-finished, I was dead set against doing the plumbing through the floor. Instead, I had a better plan. Inside the wall behind the tank, I figured I had 3.5 inches of space. Drill the holes into the wall, run the PVC down, drill another hole in the ceiling from the basement, I should have a clear shot down…
So I do this and see no light. Hmmm. I shine a flashlight down
from upstairs. Still nothing.
I cut the hole in the ceiling larger. Nothing. I go grab the jigsaw
and really cut the hole bigger, ruining two blades in the
process.
I see… Wood. Ok, this is underlayment below the hardwood
flooring. I drill up near one of the floor joists. Six inches up in
solid wood.
Double Hmmm… My drill is so hot by this time I can barely
hold it. I re-aim, closer to the joist then start again. Only two
inches or so this time, then up, and I see light…
I see the light, and I see Trouble.
The space I want to use is there. Centered on the joist. Unless I want to cut the floor joist to facilitate my tank plumbing, I cannot use the space in the wall. Somehow, cutting the floor joist just didn’t seem like such a great idea. After conferring with the wife, we decided that I would have to cut holes through the floor.
Hole Through the Floor Picture
Note to self… Electric drills get really, really hot when drilling through 2” of wood with a 3” round hole saw.
Another note to self: Plaster is murder on any cutting tools. (The teeth on the hole saw used to cut through the plaster wall were round before I finished the hole.)
So here I am a week before I am to put water in the tank, and
about two weeks before I have to move my corals. I have the stand
finished. I have the room framed out, drywall put in, mudded,
sanded and painted. Door hung, stained and polyurethaned. All I
have to do is slop a coat of paint onto the exposed foundation and
brick (already painted in dark gray), and I’d be ready to do
all the plumbing.
I started with a roller, and was absolutely flabbergasted when,
upon applying the paint, the gray paint decided to flake off and
attach to the roller. I have no idea why, but as soon as it got
‘wet’ with the white paint, it ‘let go’. It
was not flaky otherwise. I scratched my head, and realized
that… I have to frame this wall too! Off to Home Depot.
The wall got covered in plastic, then framed with 2 x 2’s, then covered in a sheet of drywall. Luckily, I had watched the guys mud the other walls a day or two earlier, and had learned how it was done. Sanded and painted it the following day.
For the sump, I figured out where I wanted the bulkheads, marked them, then cut the holes using a jigsaw. The Sequence pumps used a 2” intake, so I used a 2” bulkhead for both. The connections worked like this:
• 2” bulkhead, with threaded end.
• 2” threaded male adapter, other end SLIP, into small
piece of 2”PVC, then into another 2” threaded male
adapter.
• 2” threaded single union gateway valve.
• 2” threaded male adapter, other end SLIP, into small
piece of 2”PVC, then into another 2” threaded male
adapter.
• Into the intake of the Sequence pump.
This put both of the pumps under the stairs. Meaning, I cannot make a vertical run to the tank, and would have to devise another way. I learned that flex-PVC was not really flexible enough for this. The distance from the bulkheads to the end of the pump is 24 inches.
Another trip to Home Depot followed. (I have a sort of like/hate relationship with Home Depot. I like it because it is nearby. I hate it because I can’t find ANYTHING in the store. Nothing is where my mind says it should logically be.) The PVC plumbing section is in utter, complete disarray, as if 30,000 drunk college kids decided to play ‘Mystery Shopper’ and decided to concentrate on PVC parts. 2” 90-degree elbows were not in any of the three boxes labeled as 2” 90-degree elbows. Of course not. How silly of me! But I did find one in the ½” CPVC coupling box!
Hours later, I emerged from Home Depot armed with 90 degree vent elbows. These have a much softer, more rounded bend than normal 90-degree elbows.
From the return pump, the output goes into a threaded 1.5” to 2” SLIP adapter. This led to a short bit of PVC, 2” coupler, a bit more PVC, 90-degree vent elbow, bit of PVC, then another 90-degree vent elbow, a bit of PVC, then a SLIP-threaded male adapter. Then came the union ball valve. Last was the threaded male to SLIP adapter to Flex-PVC going up to the tank. I used 2” PVC piping to help reduce flow resistance.
The skimmer input is a 1” threaded female end. I had to go from a 1.5” output to the 1” input. I cut the PVC pieces, assembled the S-curve as above, but with 1.5” pieces instead. I fitted them all together by friction, then realized that the piece would be impossible to assemble due to the stairs. I had to re-do it using a coupling between the two 90 degree bends. I realized though that I could use the valve here, as it was a single union version.
The point of all this here is simple: Before I had started, I had my plumbing plans all completely figured out, all down on paper. I ended up being completely wrong, namely because I underestimated the size of the parts, then I needed to change everything around afterwards so that this would work. If at all humanly possible, buy the pumps, the sump, and the parts, and work on putting them together, friction fit-wise, so you know the dimensions you are dealing with, before you start to build your room, or decide exactly where you will place your sump.
Hooking the return pump up to the tank was pretty simple. Flex-PVC comes up the hole in the floor, into a 45-degree SLIP fitting, then into a 2” union coupling. This went into a 2” T-connector, then both directions into 90 degree elbows. Reducing bushings followed, into 1 or 1.25” couplings. This was further reduced into the ¾” inputs for the Oceanic Reef ready components.
Returns to the sump… The bulkheads Oceanic uses are 1” in size. Originally, I bought the parts for and built Durso standpipes in a 1” version, having glossed over one fact on his web site… The fact that that the standpipes had to be larger than the bulkhead fitting. (Yet another trip to Home Depot follows, this after I had already gone to get the 1” parts barely an hour before…) 1.25” parts solved standpipe issue, although I have to say that I needed many, many, many more than one or two 1/16th inch holes in the top. More like 20 or 30. I think this is due to the flow.
Below, things are really simple. Bushings to increase the size, again 1 or 1.25” coupling, another bushing up to 1.5”, an elbow, then straight on down to the sump.
Note: Normal PVC primer and glue can be used on flex-PVC with good results. The worst thing about gluing larger PVC pieces is the sheer amount of force required to hold the pieces together until the glue sets- Well-primed parts will come apart as if by telekinesis. A bit unsettling at first. Especially since those parts always seem to end up by your nose when you are holding them together. You need some serious ventilation.
Stand Plumbing (left side) Picture
Stand Plumbing (right side) Picture
Stand Plumbing (middle) Picture
One thing that I have noticed- the left-hand side of my tank is between ¼ and ½” lower than the right-hand side of my tank. This causes the overflow on one side to be noisier due to the sheer amount of water coming through the overflow. I am undecided about using a Dremel Mototool to grind the right-hand side overflow grooves down a bit in order to even out the differences in the flow. One thing it does tell me though is that, although quite noisy, 1” bulkheads can handle one heck of a lot of flow- I think that the tank gets roughly 1800-2000 GPH from the Sequence pump (SEQ-12). I’ll bet the tank could handle 3000-3500 GPH, although it would be extremely loud, even with the Durso standpipes.
The sump has a fairly deep sandbed, about 4-6 inches. At first, I had problems with microbubbles. When I moved the outlet with the most flow to the opposite corner of the sump from the return, and removed the Reeftec PE-1 I had set up for circulation, the bubbles stopped coming into the tank.
Some other pics of the system setup.
- Skimmer Picture
- Skimmer Picture #2
- Skimmer's Waste Bucket Picture - Waste bucket HIGHLY recommended- this has saved my butt once already.
- Skimmer's Output (quieter) Picture - Mostly, this was to reduce noise and splashing. At the bottom, I added a 90 degree elbow and faced it towards the skimmer pump input. This has helped reduce the microbubbles as well.
- Basement Picture - Medusa controller mounted on the wall, currently set for heating.
- Calcium Reactor Picture - Note how much substrate has dissolved in ten days.
- Calcium Reactor Feed Pump Picture - Peristaltic pump feeding the reactor. Pulls water from sump, forces it through the media, then back into the sump. Dual head pump, could easily double flow to calcium reactor if needed.
- Cramped Space Picture - Forces me to remain slim, else I cannot reach that skimmer… Very little space between the sump and the stairs, but I can fit just fine.
So there you have it, the basics of my sump setup, along with a lot of the issues I faced.
Two issues I have yet to deal with:
1) Easier water changes- I will make them nearly automated. Probably after the holidays.
2) Cooling/humidity issues: Framing out the sump room has really helped with the humidity in the basement itself, but it may be too soon to tell if more work is needed. I had two holes punched through the brick the size of dryer vent holes. These are covered at the moment, but are available should I need them. Fairly large CFM fans are available in 4” sizes, and the room could be vented easily this way. Potentially, I could build a vented enclosure for my chiller, if needed, as well, thereby venting the heat outside the house.
Links:
- Skimmer: Brian doesn’t have a web site up yet, but you can contact him at: brian@productionsystemsdesign.com
- Sequence: http://www.mdminc.com/Sequence_Pumps.htm
- Aquatic Eco-systems: http://www.aquaticeco.com/
- Arco systems apple crate: http://www.ppsamericas.com/default.html
- Oceanic tanks: http://www.oceanicsystems.com/
-
Reeftec:
http://www.reeftec.com/
Questions and Answers
What did you find hardest (overall) about installing your basement sump? .
Honestly, the worst part was drilling the holes in the wall, and finding out I couldn't utilize the space. It took a lot of time to do that. The rest of it is just the time that it took.
Do you feel that you will need to periodically clean your kalkwasser injector of calcium carbonate buildup?
Yes, of course. I'll have to clean the beckett head periodically too. I plan to soak it in vinegar, then brush it off/out.
Where does the kalkwasser inject with respect to the skimmer?
Right before the Beckett head. This is the area with the greatest amount of mixing of air and water, so it is perfect.
What size piping did you use to the sump and what size pump to return? Also, why did you choose this combination?
All parts used in the tank are standard Oceanic parts. I never thought to have the tank custom drilled. At first, I was worried about the sizes. The bulkhead feeding the tank is 3/4". The return is 1". The return to the sump, I made the pipe larger, 1.5". The feed up to the tank, I made the pipe 2" all the way from the pump to the base of the tank. Only after the T-split and 90 degree turn did I start to reduce the sizes to 3/4". Why? Simple. The larger the size, the less the flow resistance. Meaning I can push more water through for less head pressure, and for less money, electricity-wise.
Now that you have your basement sump/room all installed, is there something that you would change about it knowing what you know now?
I probably would have framed the room to include the window. I also think that I should have finished the water change system before I plumbed everything in. Now, it will be difficult to fit things in. The one space is a little more cramped than I would have liked it to be.
Who is this JT Croteau guy you mentioned, it sounds like he really knows his stuff. Is he in the industry or a just a hobbyist?
Are you for real? LOL. Message JT. He can tell you.
What is the total cost of this system after it was all said and done?
To be honest, I haven't totalled it up. I think I would cry if I
did.
Tank/stand: $1000
Sump: under $200
Plumbing parts: $250-300
Pumps: $500
Skimmer: Ask Fergy.
Framing the room: $600 labor, plus parts.
Electrical work: $100 parts.
Sand for the sandbed: at least $200
Am missing a heck of a lot of stuff here, I'm sure. The materials
were quite a bit...
Why did you go with a "softer" bend on your 90° elbows?
Less flow resistance. The less severe the bend, the less resistance.
Where would a person go to get an "apple crate" if they wanted to use one for their sump? Are there additional retailers that sell them as well as the previously mentioned URL?
Funny you should ask: Mike King messaged me earlier tonight saying that he is a distributor for them now, and that all profits go to CORL. So, contact Mike_workin... And tell him I sent ya! I should mention that when I originally got the crate, JT was working for Mike King up in Grand Rapids, MI. So, Mike is where I sourced mine as well. Purchasing them from Arca was a bit pricey.
Mike, how many GPH would you say is going through the two overflows on the 120 and are they standard size overflows that comes from oceanic?
I honestly think that I am getting roughly 2000 GPH from the sump to the tank. The tank is entirely a standard Oceanic Reef Ready 120. Only mod on the tank is the Durso standpipes.
Could you tell me anything about what you use to dose the kalk?
Previously, I used an Omega peristaltic pump, Model FPU-103 if my memory serves correctly. This is a roughly 3 GPD pump, sorta noisy, but ideal for remote locations. I'll probably get another one shortly.
What does your entire system add to your electric bill per month?
I have not done a comparison yet. However, I think that I have probably made it just a little higher than before. Pulling out all the powerheads and replacing them with Reeftecs helped in this regards.The Sequence pumps are rated to use less than 300W per hour. I'm thinking that I probably went up by about 100-150W per hour.
Why did you choose to use two pumps (one for return and one for skimmer) as opposed to one pump (say an Iwaki 100)? (other than electrical costs)
It was the JT/Fergy tag-team. They convinced me that tuning the skimmer would be harder with one pump rather than two.
What are your thought on waterproofing a bordered area under your tank and installing a drain beneath it?
Under my tank, wouldn't do it. Under someone else's tank, in certain situations, I can see where there would be advantages to it. If you ever go behind the scenes at major aquariums, all the systems are like this.I just think it would be a hard sell to the wife...
Do you have a URL with tank pics as well?
Not as of yet. Am working on it. I will be honest in that the move did not go as smoothly for my tank as I would have planned.I did lose several corals, a few of which I had for 7-8 years.I have also run out of money, so the tank will be sparsely stocked for a bit.
What kind of lighting do you have?
Plan to add MH to sump. I may also upgrade the tank to 400W MH at some point in the future.
Thanks for the great talk, Mike!
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