# 30 Gallon Basement Water Change Setup



## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

I should start here by saying that I never intended this to happen.

I live in upstate NY in the Finger Lakes region right next to Lake Ontario. We have *very* hard alkaline water with a pH of just over 8.1 coming out of the tap. Our water comes from one of the Finger Lakes 40 miles south of here, which literally has a limestone basin.

Due to the long distance the water is piped, our water company treats the tap water with high amounts of chlorine.

I hated putting water in 5 gallon buckets with a heater to get the water up to the right temp and then treating it for Chlorine. I decided that I could do a sump style setup for water changes but realized that I would be limited to what I could fit under the 55 gallon tank in the stand.

I then decided that the basement would be the perfect place to do this project. Here is what I came up with:


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The stand is build from a bunch of left over 2x4s I found in my neighbors garage. I would have asked, but they weren't home and I was in a hurry to build this! 

The stand keeps the water reservoir about 5 feet off the ground to reduce the overall head distance. it is placed directly under the tank (you can see the jack post I used to reinforce the floor under the tank).

For the resevior I used (2) Sterlite 30 gallon tubs from Target. 30 gallons gives me enough water to do roughly a 55% water change on my 55 gallon aquarium if I need to. During my normal water changes I find I only use about ~ 20 gallons anyways.

The tubs ran me about $7 each, and I have them double stacked to help add some structural integrity and to help add some insulation. After the tub was filled with water, I still experienced a considerable amount of bulging at the top. It was so bad that it would pop the top right off. I'm using a small ratchet strap to keep the tub from bulging.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The top of the lid has a vent which allows the chlorine to evaporate out, as well as provides a place for the garden hose from tap.

I added a plexiglass window to the top to allow some view into the holding tank without having to take the top off. It is held in place with SS hardware and siliconed to keep things nice and sealed.

Inside the holding tank I have a small colander with about 6-7 pounds of crushed coral in a coarse mesh filter bag. This adds some hardness to the water and helps buffer the pH a little bit.

Additionally, a Stealth 200 W heater keeps the temp around 75 degrees. I keep my tank at about 76.5, so the new water I introduce during a water change only drops the temp about 1/2 of a degree. I have digital thermometers on my aquarium and the holding tank, and the Stealth does a pretty consistent job.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

A Whisper 60 runs a large airstone in the holding tank to keep the water circulating, keeping the temperature uniform and preventing the water from becoming stagnant. For the price, I still prefer these pumps over the Rena, Azoo, and/or Hagen/Optima. They are dirt cheap and just do a great job.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

1/2" vinyl tubing runs up through the floor to the top of the tank. I build a small "U" shaped nozzle that can hang off the back of the tank. I sometimes use a 20" piece of PVC tubing that fits into the end of the nozzle to blow fresh water into the sand and/or inbetween the rocks.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The water is pushed up from the holding tank to the aquarium with a Pondmaster/Danner MD7 Magnetic drive submersible pump. Frank Mueller swears by these, and the man definitely knows his stuff.

This pump is rated for a maximum head height of 12 feet; I have a height of about 9.5 feet from the bottom of the holding tank to the top of my aquarium and am seeing a flow of what I can guess is about 4 gpm. The vinyl tubing I am using really sucks though and has flattened out from being on the roll so long. I think I would see about the max flow at this height (20 gpm (?)) if I replaced this tubing.

I activate the pump from upstairs using a small toggle switch attached to the stand. The wires run from this switch to the basement, to a Radio Shack project box. Inside this box I'm using a simple DPDT relay to trigger the power to the pump. Since the box lies below the water line of the holding tank, I've used some silicone to seal it all up nice and tight.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

The cost for the whole project ended up costing me considerably more than I would have liked, but now my fish get clean, chlorine free, buffered water at the right temp when I do water changes.

Here is a breakdown of the cost:

(2) x Sterlite 30 gallon tub = $13.98
SS clamps & hardware = $6.84
10 ft of 1/2" vinyl tubing = $4.63
PVC fittings = $4.97
Relay, DC adapter, Switch, & Box = $20.18
Stealth 200 W Heater = $25.80
10 lb. bag crushed coral = $10.99
MD7 Mag Pump = $64.99
Digital Thermometer = $4.39
_______________________________________________
Total Cost = $156.77

If you add in shipping, tax on the locally purchased stuff, and the cost of the stuff I already had/borrowed from the neighbors, you are easily looking at around $200.

Expensive? Yes, but the benefits are pretty high, and additionally it shaves off a lot of work and time doing a water change.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Very nice..one of the best detailed projects in a long time.


> costing me considerably more than I would have liked


Don`t they always do that  
Thanx for sharing


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## planenut007 (Mar 21, 2009)

wrap that strap aroun the tank, it should work better for maintaining the shape of the tub, looks great...got me thinking of doing something like that for a couple 180 gal sets.
Using those blue drums.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

***update***

I added two ball valves to the setup so I can direct water to my basement 40 gallon Ocellatus & J. Ornatus breeding tank.

Additionally, upset with the output to the tank upstairs, I replaced the flimsy 1/16" wall vinyl tubing with some beefier 1/8" tubing. The difference in flow is only marginally better. I had anticipated a significant increase in flow, as I thought that the flattened 1/16" wall tubing was restricting a lot of water. This turned out to be a false assumption. This leads me to conclude that either:

A. The pvc bends are restricting a lot of water.

-or-

B. The MD7 gph specs are a bit optimistic at this head height.

I think it might be a bit of both. The cost to upgrade to the MD9 was another $30 however, and I still wouldn't spend the extra cash for the slight increase that this pump advertises at this height.


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## cichlid_junkie (Dec 19, 2005)

Raising the tank in your basement as high as you can will probably do the most for gph output. Also will lengthen the life of the pump and save a little energy to boot.


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

cichlid_junkie said:


> Raising the tank in your basement as high as you can will probably do the most for gph output. Also will lengthen the life of the pump and save a little energy to boot.


I already have the reservoir about as high up as is feasible. Being that I only use the setup for changing water, I have the pump running for no more than 45 min to 1 hour per week when doing water changes for all my aquariums. At 70W, that's very little power consumption. Additionally, these pumps are bomb proof, with the only moving part being a $15 replaceable impeller. I'm not worried about lifespan or power consumption for these reasons.

After doing some more research into this, it appears that the table I found online was for the flow rate of the MD12 and not the MD7. With the correct values being taken from the spec sheet in the box, at 9 feet I should be seeing about 225 GPH, which comes out to less than 4 gpm. This is right about what I had estimated based on my experience with the setup. I guess this is as good as it will get!


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

you could make an exoskeleton for the holding tubs with 2x4s....then you wouldn't need the strap?


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

Riceburner said:


> you could make an exoskeleton for the holding tubs with 2x4s....then you wouldn't need the strap?


Yup....I could, but my neighbor is all out of 2x4s! :lol:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

This is the type project I like most. Something that makes life simple-- but takes a month to build!!! One area I would suggest changing is the tank. In his case the tub breaking is not going to hurt him badly as it is basement. Others should be aware that these are storage bins made to store dry goods and as such are not up to frequent flexing. As the strap shows, the plastic flexs each time the tub is drained and filled. At some point, the plastic at the bottom corners will break due to stress. I flooded a carpeted bedroom floor. A food grade barrel like barley malt or soda mixture is shipped in will last a lot longer and often be cheaper -- if one can find them in your area. Rather than a sealed window, I made a hinged flap for access to the inside. Air circulation is needed to release the gases and let the bubbler work so sealing is not needed.


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