May make a fish room in the basement...problem though...

[emartin]

I've been thinking for a while of turning a decent sized area (I want to say, at least 20ftx20ft) into a fish room and just leave my monster 265g upstairs.

The big problem though, is that there is NO sink or drains down there. Granted, getting a sink plumbed shouldn't be a problem because the water pipes are all over down there. But the problem is draining... The main pipe that goes out to the street sewer system is right up on the basement ceiling.

So, before we even bother to consult a plumber, I wanted to ask you guys what you think on how I would have water drain out from the basement? We do have a sump hole on the other side of the basement but no sump pump since it never floods down there and I don't think there are any cheap sump pumps that will not burn out from the constant water flow when I do several hundred gallons of water changes weekly...

Any thoughts?

~Ed

[CJC]

Ed,
No matter what you do, you'll need a holding tank and pump, to pump the waste water up to the house sewer pipe.

[Afreakin]

55 gallon drum and a pump, Done:alarm::partay::smilewinkgrin:

[DJRansome]

My basement laundry has to pump up because the septic tank is higher than the basement. There is a pump under the laundry sink. When water starts going down the drain, the pump kicks on and pumps it up (and out) to the gray water septic tank.

I don't know if it is cheap, but it was part of the plumbing in our home.

[foamerdave]

There are a lot of way's to deal with this. But as said be for they all will have a holding tank and a pump. First there is the "basement sewer set up" these can be had at most home improvement stores. These can be spendy and might not move water fast enough for you. A 55g drum or even an old oil tank (can hold all the water you would want to drain and then can be pumped out at your speed) both can be had for free with a bit of looking around. I myself can hook you up with all the 55g's you could want just come get them. Hook your holding tank up to a pump of your liking I my self would look for a used salt tank circulation pump as it will deal with the head pis that getting water up to grade will have and not kill it. Plus the can flow 100's of gal's an hr. I would plum this to my back yard or to the street as fish water is "Gray water" and should not be put into public sewers ( yes i know we all do this even me) but this would help cut down on your sewer bill too. Last be not lest put a check ball in the discharge tube to prevent back flow that could make a mess

[Afreakin]

I have a french drain in my basement and it feeds to a basin and there is a pump that has a float. When the basin fills to certain level the float rises and the pump goes on. It feeds through a PVC pipe through the foundation and out to a flower bed.

You get the idea.

[YoungAquaticPhotos]

I had a basement with the same issue and I used the 55 gallon drum and pumped it out.

[Spud]

G'day mate, there's no basements here in Oz but the way I figure is, you need to pump water up. I would make myself a huge sump, place a sludge pump with a bleeder valve. These pumps aren't all that expensive and can pump up to 16 foot high with a water flow of up to 10 gallons per minute. Bob's your uncle ! If you sort yourself out, throw us a pic.

Cheers Spud

[mack74]

I have my tanks in the basement with me and I use a 55g plastic barrel with a pump and hose and pump it out the window or back door. It works really well.

[AlishanAS]

My tanks are in the basement. I had a utility sink installed with a pump that ties into my main drain via a pvc pipe and check valve. Only problem is that I can't siphon the gravel as too much detritus/grit from gravel/crushed coral will mess up the pump. So I occasionally have to haul buckets upstairs and dump the water outside. Good stuff for the flower beds however.

[Bev N]

We too have our fishroom in the basement. Currently we have approx. 170 tanks totaling nearly 4,000 gallons of water.

We have a sump and a pump that pump the water up into the sewer pipe. We have had the fish room set up for 2 years and no problem with the pump as of yet. Hubby did fashion a 5 gallon bucket under the sink so that when I gravel vac the tanks the sand is caught in the bucket which is much easier to clean out then the sump.

I think on one of the pictures on my website you can see that. It's under the photo gallery tab at www.theamazonbasement.com

Bev

[finman57]

I pump all of my water from the fish room to the sump pump. The sump pump sends the water up and out onto the lawn. I live on a hill and that side of the yard stays green in the heat of the summer for some reason. lol
Hundreds of gallons a week keeps it growing late into the fall too.
In the winter when the ground if frozen is about the only time that you can tell I do it though. Thats when the water makes it to the street and the storm drains.