need some thoughts on storing water

[reef tank 2.0]

to give a run down of what i have.....

i have a 135 gallon display tank, with a 40 gallon sump underneath the tank.
i have my RODI unit mounted in another room (on the other side of the main tank wall).

I have no room to keep a storage container to store top off water as well as my salt mixture. i do not have a basement or room near the RODI unit to store this.

only issue im having is not having a reserve stored to just top off. id have to fill up buckets/jugs each time and id have to mix salt manually each and every time. the salt mix, im ok with. but the top off water will end up being a lot of work each time......especially when im losing a bit of water due to evaporation.

now, i could save the water in jugs and store in a closet or what not but when it comes to putting it in to the tank, were now climbing ladders and pouring buckets in manually. that, as you can imagine, is a pain in the rear.

Can anyone share some ideas with me on what you do to mix the water/store top off water? im struggling trying to find the best way to do this.

 

[homer1475]

I store my RO/DI for days in water 5 gallon water jugs I bought online. One of these jugs has had the lid retrofitted for my ATO tubing, which all fits in my stand. Salt water if kept mixing can last for days before you should use it.

 

[nuxx]

We have our new saltwater and RODI in 50 gallon vertical storage tanks in the room behind the tank. Just made a small hole in the wall and siliconed a piece of PVC pipe in-between the wall. Works great...

Couldn't imagine manually filling it up...

 

[reef tank 2.0]

i have been trying to figure out a place near the RODI unit to store a brute, but i have no room. unless i wanna knock a wall down to do so..........not an option.

thought about placing it in the garage which is on the opposite wall of the RODI unit. but my only concern is freezing water in the winter and boiling hot water in the summer months. if that wasnt an issue, it would be in the garage at this point

 

[ryeguyy84]

I bought 7 gallon jugs from REI

http://www.rei.com/product/618168/reliance-aqua-tainer-7-gal

you can store RODI water in those for as long as you need. if you can fit one in your stand you can use it with an aqualifter pump and an ATO system.

 

[Marchillo]

I don't have a great solution but here is what I do. Make up 5 gallon buckets of RO water. Make salt water mix 24-48 hours before and run a heater/power head in bucket. To take water out I have my wife help. She manages one side of the siphon and I manage the other. To pump water back in I put a cheap pump in new bucket while my wife holds the tube in place and pump the water in.

My top off water is a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket in my stand. I cut the cover in half. Drilled a hole in one side to feed ato tubing through. I cut it in half so I could take the other half off without disturbing the tubing so I can refill the bucket but also keep it covered.

This is a solution for someone with a tank in a living room with limitations in the close vicinity of the tank.

 

[Marchillo]

I use a dolly to move the buckets room to room. Got sick of carrying them.

Brute can and casters would work too.

 

[gone fishin]

My RO/DI is set up similar to yours in a room behind my DT. I have 10g brute can for the top off storage and drilled a hole in the wall for the top off line to the sump. I use the Tunze osmolator, the top off line is a 1/4" tube. On the display side of the wall I put a blank switch plate on the wall and drilled a small hole for the tube.

 

[ericarenee]

wow you guys do a lot of work with water changes and ATO It seems..

My solution takes up way more space then it seem you have... Unless you move your sump to basement where you have room or have a room behind the tank with a Mixing station and pumps not sure what to tell you.

I have 3 tanks connected to a nice size external pump.. each tank is 55 gallons and the bottom of them are above the height of my sump . I also have a 20 gallon top off tank ..
They auto fill with my Ro/di unit take 1 . tank 2. tank 3 . Order depending on valves open... .. I mix saltwater 50 gallons at a time and it takes weeks to go thru it all.. I sometimes before i get ready to do any major changing or cleaning will mix 2 tanks.Just in case... I ALWAYS Keep 150 gallons of ro/di water .. 50 of it saltwater.

I turn a valve to pump/ drain water from my sump.... turn another valve to drain / pump saltwater back to sump for water changes...
Never have to touch the water or get my hands wet.. .......

But i have a huge amount of space and a lot of plumbing....

 

[billdogg]

You've seen my ro/di storage/salt mix setup - and I have more than enough room for multiple barrels - I use the same 55g barrel for both and it works out great because I end up using that much for a water change between the two systems anyway, so afterwards it just refills with freshly made ro/di to be used as topoff until the next water change. Your systems total volume will end up being in the 150g range, so something in the way of 20 - 30g of storage would allow for a ~20% water change and end up empty, or close enough.

 

[Marchillo]

Some of us just don't have that type of space :/

My tank is in my living room since I spend the majority of my time there I want to be able to enjoying it as much as possible. I have a staircase behind it leading to the basement. Id have to run a line a long way or drill through the floor. Plus I make my water on the main level. Id have to put a sink in the basement to make it work as well. I need to start keeping more water on hand. I plan on running a second tank so Id have an emergency spot for fish if needed.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I have my RO/DI stored in the garage in a 55 gallon drum. I can pull 5 gallons of top off freshwater easily. I also keep 10 g of saltwater in 5 g jugs JIC.
When it's time for a water change I mix a batch in a Brute and bring it inside to come up ( or down in summer ) to tank temp overnight.
I have marks on the tanks in 5g increments up to 30g so I can accurately drain the proper amount of water each time. The doggie door is between the reef and the FOWLR so I just drain the old water outside and pump the new water in. Mag 7 and some tubing make the job a breeze.