Under my house filter idea

[Leebtattoos]

Hey y'all. So this probably is not original and really I hope it's not. I was telling a guy about how I'm putting a drain in the floor out of my new 520g tank I'm building and he thought I was saying I was putting the filter under the floor.

Light bulb*

Then I realized, it is a pier and beam and I have 36" or more for head room under the house.

Right off the bat I thought, well what do I do when it gets cold (I live in Texas so short winters). But it does get into the teens a few days and freezes a handful of times from Dec-Feb/mar.

A huge benefit is that the filters will quickly take up room in my walk in closet since the stand is short. Also, much quieter along with plenty of other benefits.

What do y'all think? My very first thought is two large heavy duty rubbermaids with submersible 1000-1200gph pumps. Maybe a third. There will be tons of filter media/ surface this way. But when it gets cold... I can wrap all plumbing just like I do any other house plumbing so I know it won't freeze. And with the addition of some heaters in the sumps, it should be fine, right?? Haha

Bounce some ideas off me if you don't mind. Thanks

 

[NathanKS]

It could work but getting a sump down there and working on it would be difficult. I personally wouldn't want to have to crawl under my house to my sump every weekend or be unable to see if a pump dies.

 

[J. H.]

You could use sponge filters and detach your sump during the winter.
markstrimaran uses large, remote sumps made of 55g HDPE barrels and it works quite well.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I'm confused when you say it will be "under the house" and then say it will be in a "walk in closet." Under the house means it's not in the house. Otoh, walk in closets are always inside the house.

So is this in your house or not?

As far as the temperature goes, if the filter gets down into the 30's, not to mention in the teens, you will have lost most of your filtration bacteria. Even in the 40's, the BB will be very inefficient.

According to my sources, for BB, you get no activity at 39 F and death at 32 F.


Also, and this is from personal experience, placing an open water source outside the home in a secluded location, is an invitation to pests, insects, rodents and raccoons. You might consider placing a metal cage around the items to restrict access.

 

[Leebtattoos]

The

I'm confused when you say it will be "under the house" and then say it will be in a "walk in closet." Under the house means it's not in the house. Otoh, walk in closets are always inside the house.

So is this in your house or not?

As far as the temperature goes, if the filter gets down into the 30's, not to mention in the teens, you will have lost most of your filtration bacteria. Even in the 40's, the BB will be very inefficient.

According to my sources, for BB, you get no activity at 39 F and death at 32 F.


Also, and this is from personal experience, placing an open water source outside the home in a secluded location, is an invitation to pests, insects, rodents and raccoons. You might consider placing a metal cage around the items to restrict access.

the tank is in the room and built into the wall of the walk in closet. But it's a pier and beam house. So I have room under the house to run plumbing under the home.

OTHER WISE the original plan was to build 3 5 gal canister filters to put in the walk in closet where you will access the tank.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; In addition to the things Dr. Strangelove has mentioned add the factor of "head height" for the pumps.
If you give it a try keep us posted.
Good luck.

 

[Leebtattoos]

Right on. Thanks for all the replies. I think k I'll stick to my original plan. The temp and bb are definitely reasons enough to not mess with it. I know people have filters in different rooms/basements/etc, but this would be exposed partially to the elements like a pond filter.

Hello; In addition to the things Dr. Strangelove has mentioned add the factor of "head height" for the pumps.
If you give it a try keep us posted.
Good luck.

I

 

[markstrimaran]

You could use sponge filters and detach your sump during the winter.
markstrimaran uses large, remote sumps made of 55g HDPE barrels and it works quite well.

My 55 gallon drums, are closed sealed and are under about 10 psi. They are mostly used to chill my tanks. They also make water changes very simple. They add volume to my 75 gallon displays.