basement sump

[tankdude]

I've been thinking about putting my sump in the basement for quite some time now, and I have a couple of questions to ask. My current system is a 110 gal tank with a 40 gal sump/fuge setup. My questions are:

#1 How do I get through the floor if I want to go down through a wall?
#2 What size return pump would I need?, It's about 9ft of head

[adalius]

1) Use a stud finder to locate the studs where the pipe needs to go between, remove a good chunk of drywall with a razorblade so you can fit a drill with a hole saw slightly larger than the size of pipe you're using into the exposed studs, drill down through the (presumably) 2x4 close to the stud so you can strap to it, feed the pvc up through the hole, use a pipe strap to tie it to the vertical stud, glue on an elbow at the height you want. If the wall is deep enough you might be able to put a stub into the corner and cut drywall to fit around it, otherwise the corner will have to stick through the drywall and the stub will go on the outside of the wall. Connect that to your system.

2) Check out the pump manufacturer's specs. Dr. Foster & Smith has a page for the pumps they sell, most of which, for inline pumps, can handle 10' to 50' of head depending on model. If you have a 9' drop I'd suggest getting one that is rated for at least 14' of head to compensate for the friction loss from elbows and reducers. If your plumbing is overly complex you might even want to go a few steps up from that, but 14' should be sufficient for a few elbows/reducers/valves. Here's the DFS page. Cross check their list for head along with desired GPH to find a suitable pump.