Who keeps tanks in the basement?

[Irecruitfish]

If so and I apologize in advance as I'm not familar with what's called what. Did you have to upgrade or worry about where your water drains from the tanks?

I drain my tank water to the sink in the basement which drains to a discharge pit which then pumps the water to a pipe to take it out of the house. Sewage draining pipe I guess. I started hearing some weird noises while the pit was draining. I think the pit holds about 20 gallons of water before discharging.

I'm starting to think if putting my several tanks in the basement was a bad idea now. I don't want to constantly have to replace this pump or worry about issues. But then again I've never had to worry about this pump in the 6 years I've lived here.

 

[duanes]

When I lived in Milwaukee I kept tanks in the basement for over 25 years, when I did water changes in summer, Tees on my pump lines from the aquariums sumps sent old water, to PVC running to the garden, and when I did water changes the old water went to the garden or lawn. In winter, directly to laundry tubs in the basement, usual water changes on a 300 gallon tank line were about 75 to 100 gallons .

 

[importracer]

If so and I apologize in advance as I'm not ................................. lived here.

I swept out my grandma's basement and made a man cave out of it.............Then I started adding fish tanks...............I started with 55's and moved up to owning a couple 100's and even a 8 foot 180................The basement is the best..............There is always a water hose............and being with a garage door, I can easily siphon out water and put in fresh water......................

 

[PYRU]

I use discharge pumps similar to what you use in a sump. I then pump it out to the flower bed etc. The way my basement is setup is use to just gravity flow it out the garage doors, but I stay so busy I use the pumps for speed.

What your describing is a typical below sewage line setup. There's a float in a tank and when the waste reaches the float it triggers the pump to discharge the waste out to a septic tank etc. I don't see how it would be a problem, but I would avoid sand getting to your holding tank. The pump might not be up to the task depending on how much waste water your dumping into it.

I personally would buy a pump & some pvc. Then rig up a system to discharge it out to your yard. You could even rig an end up to accept a std garden hose that you can unreel whenever you do changes that way you don't have to worry about pipes freezing etc.

 

[Irecruitfish]

When I lived in Milwaukee I kept tanks in the basement for over 25 years, when I did water changes in summer, Tees on my pump lines from the aquariums sumps sent old water, to PVC running to the garden, and when I did water changes the old water went to the garden or lawn. In winter, directly to laundry tubs in the basement, usual water changes on a 300 gallon tank line were about 75 to 100 gallons .

That's an awesome use of excess water which I'm all about! I really need to research this and make this setup happen. What I do in the summer is while the water is draining into the sink I would manually siphon has many 5 gallon buckets as I could and then water trees I've planted. Pretty annoying carrying it around but I never had to use the hose in the yard once to water anything.

 

[markstrimaran]

In summer I use a 1/4 up sump pump to irrigate with. In winter, I use the same pump, to city sewer, tied in to the kitchen sink, about 6 foot above the pump. This same pump is the emergency bilge as when it rains 5 plus inches, during a wet summer, my base ment can become a shallow well.
I live on top the ridge, so the sewer never backs up, like some peoples.

 

[Irecruitfish]

I use discharge pumps similar to what you use in a sump. I then pump it out to the flower bed etc. The way my basement is setup is use to just gravity flow it out the garage doors, but I stay so busy I use the pumps for speed.

What your describing is a typical below sewage line setup. There's a float in a tank and when the waste reaches the float it triggers the pump to discharge the waste out to a septic tank etc. I don't see how it would be a problem, but I would avoid sand getting to your holding tank. The pump might not be up to the task depending on how much waste water your dumping into it.

I personally would buy a pump & some pvc. Then rig up a system to discharge it out to your yard. You could even rig an end up to accept a std garden hose that you can unreel whenever you do changes that way you don't have to worry about pipes freezing etc.

Thanks you described my setup. Makes sense about the sand which I do have in my 125, but I'm carefully not to ever suck any up.

Any chance anyone know how often the drain pump needs to be replaced or even maintained?

 

[markstrimaran]

55 gallon water change drums

 

[Irecruitfish]

View attachment 1291804
55 gallon water change drums

Very nice setup. So the tank water is drained into the drums and then you pump it outside in the summer?

 

[krichardson]

I've kept my tanks in the basement for years and I think the last tank I had on the main floor was a saltwater display.
I have a drain in the center of the floor near the tanks and not too far away is my laundry tub for refilling.