filling large tanks...

Necsones

New member
how did you guys fill your large tank from start up. If RODI how long did it take and what did you do with the waste water?

when it comes time to fill my 180 think i might buy about 200 rodi from a water company lol.
 
Filled sump, pumped water up. Rinse, repeat. I never save waste water. Shame really.
 
I stick the RODI tubing inside the main display and let it run till the tank is full then it will fill up the sump as well. I send the waste water back to the ocean...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14790740#post14790740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jar*Head
I stick the RODI tubing inside the main display and let it run till the tank is full then it will fill up the sump as well. I send the waste water back to the ocean...

+1
 
+1. Filled the main tank up directly to about 90 %, then switched over to the sump and activated the floats and let it finished that way. The reason is that I didn't want to fill the sump then pump is I didn't want a sandstorm. Once the water was up 90 % I could start the sump pumps and everything pretty much stayed settled.
 
I have my RO/DI and salt barrels in the garage plumbed to the tank, so I fill the barrel and send it to the sump and pump it to the tank. My waste water is used to water various plants in front of the house via 100 ft of PE tubing, and top off the pool in the back via the same type of tubing.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14792462#post14792462 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
I have my RO/DI and salt barrels in the garage plumbed to the tank, so I fill the barrel and send it to the sump and pump it to the tank. My waste water is used to water various plants in front of the house via 100 ft of PE tubing, and top off the pool in the back via the same type of tubing.

thats a good idea, didnt think about the pool lol... so to fill up the large tanks with RODI assuming its a 100gpd unit, did you guys just leave it on for about 2 straight days? (thats just roughly for about 180 gallon w/ sump) so u big guys with the 300+ 4 days to a week :eek:
 
Storage tanks are a must. I filled my 200g tank up over 3-4 days, waste went down the driveway, new neighbors were confused.

Filled up the filter system, and refilled the storage tank waiting for the tank to get here.

You can either just wait for it, or go lug a crapton of water from the LFS.
 
I just finished filling my new 210. Attached the RODI output to one of the overflow bulkheads with a clamp, and let it run (waste water down the drain, unfortunately) for 40 hours or so, until it got to the 160 gallon point (about 22" in this tank).

I then added a full bucket of reef crystals, and a pump to mix. While that was going on I made another 50 gallons in two Rubbermaid trash cans.

Once the salt was mixed well, I added my sand and rock, and then pumped in the contents of the trash cans, plus another 10 gallons I hurriedly made up. Total system volume (including 35 gallons in a 55 gallon sump, and accounting for rock and sand) worked out to right on 220 gallons.
 
I will be filling my tank with DI water soon. Should i put the sand in first, then DI water, then salt, then let the powerheads/return pump mix the salt/DI water? Or is there a better way?

wait on the sand?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14798500#post14798500 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JDL
I will be filling my tank with DI water soon. Should i put the sand in first, then DI water, then salt, then let the powerheads/return pump mix the salt/DI water? Or is there a better way?

wait on the sand?
I put the sand in first (1100 lbs) and then the water.
 
I am still currently debating the same thing on the sand as i bought 8 40lb bags of live sand for my 280g should i just fill the entire system with RODI and then salt and add the rock and sand later or get the sand and rock in and make 45g of salt water at a time in storage containers and add it that way.

Any thoughts?
 
i just did this the past week
1. filled tank with DI water
2. filled tank with Sand
3. put bucket of salt in the sump which mixed and flowed into DT
4. 2 days later tank is clear, mixed to 1.025

if i had to do it again, i would put the sand in first, then the water, then the salt. Would probably cause less of a cloudy issue with the sand.
 
I have 2 100 gallon storage barrels in the garage, and the waste water is run through the wall out to my wife's flower garden via a 1/4" drip hose (used for irrigation systems). Every time the RO system runs, they get a little watering - the wife loves it, as she doesn't hardly ever have to water!
 
i just let my rodi run for 3 days strait to fill my 240g plus 100g sump. i put all my rock and sand in first but it was all dry rock/sand.

if u spent all the money on live sand i would wait until i had the salt mixed in the water. otherwise u could of just bought dry sand.
 
I picked up 6 large Brute garbage bins(which I later returned to HD), spent 4 days filling them with RODI water and then premixed each barrel with salt. Once the tank was plumbed I used a Sedra pump with python hose to pump the water from each barrel into the sump. Once the sump would fill, I would turn on the return pump to send the water to the display. Repeated till full.
 
I have a poor mans tank and i made a doz trips to LFS. I dont have the money to front a RO/DI system, so i buy it. if you buy dead sand, rince it!!! i didnt because it says its optional on new tanks and im lazy and didnt want to take the extra time or effert. well, lets say i spend way more time emptying my skimmer becasue it would keep overflowing because of the sand dust, and it takes forever to clear. it only takes a few min up front but will cause hours if not days of frustration later if not done
 
I just called my lfs and for 30 cents a gallon they deliverd perfectly mixed saltwater and pumped from there van took ten minutes and salt was right on 130 gal and it was be3st 40$ bucks ever spent would be that much buying salt!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14976714#post14976714 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shovel
I just called my lfs and for 30 cents a gallon they deliverd perfectly mixed saltwater and pumped from there van took ten minutes and salt was right on 130 gal and it was be3st 40$ bucks ever spent would be that much buying salt!

At that price you might be right.
 
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