Considering a garge sump....

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

Hello fellow reefers,

I will hopefully be starting a 150g upgrade over the next few months and I am debating on placing the sump/equipment into the garage which is directly on the other side of the wall where the tank will reside.

I am toying with the idea as I am shopping for equipment for the coming build. Main goals are noise reduction and ease of maintenance. As an added benefit, generally you can also have much larger sump capacity and large refugiums that would typically be limited in a stand.

The garage itself is finished and insulated (including the roll up door) but the space is not conditioned. Living in Palmdale, the garage can get as hot as 90 ish in the summer and as cool as 50 ish in the winter. I have researched pros and cons on this but was curious if there were any local So Cal reefers that have had success or horror stories to share.

Tank build is planned for SPS dominance with as much automation as is affordably possible.

Input/Opinions appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

As I have thought a out this myself, with plans in place, couple things right off the bat...
1st, enclose the space you plan housing the sump. Make it as big or small as you like, it will allow you to condition the space without having to do the whole garage.
Which brings me to very important thought #2
By enclosing the space, you also enclose the moisture/humidity. You would be amazed at how fast everything, and I mean EVERYTHING rusts when exposed to that much moisture.. tools, cars, Everything..
By enclosing the space you can vent directly outside, meaning, not only can you control heat/cold but also maintain a decent garage space without rusty garage stuff..

pirate2876 · Mar 6, 2017

I did that with my tank and I couldn't be happier with it. Tons of space and lot of room for improvements down the road. I had to upgrade to a bigger heater and I know come summer, I will need to get the fans working to vent the room but, so far so good. I have a contractor installing a thermostatically controlled fan above the sump once our kitchen is done. So far no tools have been ruined and, apart from me flooding the garage a couple times, no damage done.

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

pirate2876 said:

I did that with my tank and I couldn't be happier with it. Tons of space and lot of room for improvements down the road. I had to upgrade to a bigger heater and I know come summer, I will need to get the fans working to vent the room but, so far so good. I have a contractor installing a thermostatically controlled fan above the sump once our kitchen is done. So far no tools have been ruined and, apart from me flooding the garage a couple times, no damage done.

I think I recognize that tank....

pirate2876 · Mar 6, 2017

ndrwater said:

It may have been yours. I got it off the SDreefs board.

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

ndrwater said:

Venting directly outside may be challenging. For this to happen, I am looking at a roof penetration above the garage (wife may go into cardiac arrest). I have somewhat of a dead/attic space above a portion of the garage (2 story house and an upstairs bedroom covers the other half of it) do you think venting into that space with a bathroom fan would be sufficient?

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

pirate2876 said:

I did that with my tank and I couldn't be happier with it. Tons of space and lot of room for improvements down the road. I had to upgrade to a bigger heater and I know come summer, I will need to get the fans working to vent the room but, so far so good. I have a contractor installing a thermostatically controlled fan above the sump once our kitchen is done. So far no tools have been ruined and, apart from me flooding the garage a couple times, no damage done.

Exactly something I want to do! How long have you been up and running with this set up?

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

I wouldn't vent into an attic space unless there was still a fan venting directly outside. I have seen a few different setups where a ducting system is created to an exterior vent. Nothing major, just a fan with a humidity controller blowing air outside. The one I am thinking about now uses a 8" (maybe) insulated line to a exhaust port on the side of the house. Think dryer vent... With the fan being humidity controller..

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

Blowing wet, potentially warm air directly into an attic space is a recipe for disaster... Mold can and will grow exponentially fast in a situation like that. Some mold (black) can be very toxic and needs to be abated like asbestos...
I have seen a situation where black mold grew from nothing to a literal foot tall forest in as little as a week... Nasty stuff mold...

pirate2876 · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

I think I set the tank up around Sept-Oct. Moving was kinda bittersweet; I love my set-up now but, I lost all my acros and some fish I had for years.

I got lucky with the venting setup because the old range had it's own vent that will be unused once we redo the kitchen. Just ducting and placing the blower and controls. I already had power run above the sump to a switch behind the frag tank. You can see the conduit it runs to in the pic.

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

ndrwater said:

Makes sense. The attic space is vented, but it's passive. No fans. Sounds like this will be the challenge.

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

ndrwater said:

What about a dehumidifier in the enclosed area with the evap going to a drain?

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

Maybe... Could work. But how about access for maintenance? Is running a direct line outside really not an option? I just don't like the idea of pumping warm wet air into an enclosed space. Seems to me the potential for bad things to happen would outweigh the headache of getting directly outside..

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

ndrwater said:

I meant within the sump enclosed area, not the attic space. It is possible to go outside. Just has to be clean. I have registers in the garage walls already so I suppose if I can duplicate that some how...

All Delight · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

I run one in my new garage, it's awesome.

I did the exhaust fan in the old garage, was effective but the dehumidifier is better. One thing to consider is the unit pushes out warm air. My garage is fully insulated and prior to the dehumidifier it was 72 degrees this past Feb. Once the dehumidifier ran for a few days my garage is 77 now. Nice because I imagine my heaters don't turn on as much. Bad once summer comes around. I would like to get an exhaust fan put in to compliment the dehumidifier. Down the road if it gets really warm, I may have to get a AC wall unit. I did the portable one in the old garage, it didn't cool the garage, it basically slowed it down from getting hot. Example, say by 3pm my garage would be 90 degrees without the AC. With the AC it would be 87. So the temp kept raising but it was never able to cool the garage down and hold it at 85 degrees.

I did have my exhaust fan going out through the attic and exiting out the roof. Worked well, but it's cost me a lot.

ndrwater · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

Problem with a dehumidifier within the sump space is, well, humidity... Meaning the dehumidifier will run 24/7 365. Unless of course you can get one of the programmable ones that are set to turn on at a specific level. I would spring for the programmable fan and make something clean looking to an exterior wall. Seriously, something like a dryer vent is pre-made, cheap, and moisture proof.
Just make sure to use insulated line to the exterior to prevent condensation. Probably not an issue during the heat of summer, but a potential issue in the cold of winter..

cymaster007 · Mar 6, 2017

Sooooo much better having a remote sump in the garage. I can work and spill water all over and my wife cant get mad at me. Easier to work on and totally sealed for me as it gets cold in the winter here, and hot in the summer.

cymaster007 · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason · Mar 6, 2017

cymaster007 said:

That thing is a beast! Does the insulation on the sump keep the temp pretty consistent?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

cymaster007 · Mar 6, 2017

ChevelleJason said:

actually it does! I have a temp probe in the sump, and in the main tank, the temperature does not drop too much from the sump to the main tank +/- 2 degrees max. I do not see the heaters turning on that much considering the temperature in the crawl space gets down into the single digits. I also insulated the plumbing lines to keep anything from wasting energy. All of my equipment, spare parts + media fits on this costco rack.

Most important thing for energy conservation has been the insulation. Dont skimp or cut corners on it. If you do it right, the remote sump will not add any additional cost or trouble to the main tank.

Considering a garge sump....

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