Pump water to 2nd floor?

H

Hoss

Anyone have experience running water to a second story?

I've decided I would like to set up my 30ish gallon DSA tank in my bedroom. The tank will be on the second floor, right above my 120 that is downstairs in the den (share the same wall).

Ideally, I would like to plumb this smaller DSA tank into the 120 and I am trying to figure out how best to do that. It is an interior wall, so I should be able to run either flexible PVC or vinyl hose through the wall without making too big of a hole, but I am curious to see what you guys think.

I am currently running an Eheim 1260 as a return for my 120, but I do have a 1262 as well. You think I could "t" off the current return pipe and run 1/2" or 3/4" Vinyl hose up to the second floor in my bedroom? My best guess estimate for total height is 14 feet.

My other option is to run a dedicated in sump pump to pump up to the second floor. I have the space in my sump, but was hoping to have it run off of one.

This DSA tank has 3 holes drilled, so my plan was to have one return and 2 drains...one being for emergency.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. The tank will more than likely house my higher end chalice, but I may just turn it into a frag tank.

Josh
 
I recall someone trying to do something similar on another forum, but ended up with heat issues from the pump heating up the water.
 
Yeah, I am definately worried about that. I'm running a chiller, but do not want to drastically shorten the life span of my return pump nor have a chiller running more than it absoletly has to.

Most applications I have seen thus far for pumping water to a second floor involve an external pump. Although I have a Reeflo Snapper and Dart laying around, completely replumbing my system is not something I wanted to do. Plus, I have ZERO room under my tank stand and realestate elsewhere is not good.
 
to pump it that high you will need a pressure rated pump. i think most pumps start hitting there limit at about 20-25 feet. Also you would need to make sure the 120 sump can handle the extra water if you have a power outage. It would have to hold the drain water from the top tank and also all the water from the plumbing also. other then that i dont really see it being to difficult
 
Thanks. There is plenty of room in the sump....I'm not worried about that.

Can you recommend any internal pumps that could supply about 600gph to my 120 gallon (3ft of head pressure) and about 150 gph to the 30 gallon upstairs (14ft of head pressure)?

Of all the examples I've read about so far, 95% of them have been done with external pumps. Most say an internal pump will put too much heat into the system (work too hard) and potentially wear out much faster.

Josh
 
I believe quiet one makes a high head pressure pump I'm not sure of the gph on it though but I would recommend running two separate pumps for the two tanks that way you have less strain on one single pump. If you want 1 big pump it will probably pull about the same wattage as two.
 
Well, I've still not gotten around to this yet. I'm moving away from an internal pump as an option because wear on it as well as heat will be a concern. I'm strongly considering replumbing and going external. My biggest obsticle is going to be drilling the sump. Emptying my return section is easy enough, but I can not take the sump out from under the stand. The sump is a Melev acrylic....but I definately do not want to ruin it as I've never drilled acrylic before.

So the question now is...which pump to use...the Snapper or the Dart. All it will be supplying is my 120 gallon at approximately 4 ft of head and the tank upstairs as approximately 14ft of head.

The plumbing to the 120 would all be 1" hard PVC....the plumbing to the upstairs will have to be the hardcore reinforced plastic tubing...probably 3/4".

I thought about feeding the chiller and my reactors with it...but dont want the chiller to ever run dry and also dont want air bubble causing a problem in my reactors when I turn off the return pump.
 
You can drill the sump - it takes maybe 20 seconds with a nice sharp hole saw. If you drill it for a 2" bulkhead, the hole needs to be 3". If you want to use a 1.5" bulkhead, the hole needs to be 2 3/8". Drain the return section as low as you can, and drill the hole (center point) 3.25" from the base of the sump.

I don't think either of those pumps are rated for what you hope to accomplish. Sequence makes pressure rated pumps and pushing water vertically 14" is going to be an ongoing battle against gravity. I would run 1" PVC (Schedule 40) to the second floor and use a ball valve to control how much comes out. Maybe the Dart Gold pump is the one to get - you need to look it up. The other line going to the 120g is going to need a ball valve as well.

Finally, can the sump hold all the water that drains from two aquariums and 14' of plumbing (both ways)?
 
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