Water changes and lugging water around...

C

Canuck007

New member
Do any of you lug rodi water to and from the tank to do water changes or ATO?

I don't have access to a basement or a room behind the tank etc so I'll be lugging water to and from the tank...I'm considering upgrading from a 66gallon reef to a 300gallon reef but a bit apprehensive because of this issue...

I would like to know your experience and if you've found some sort of system that works. Please state your tank size. Thanks!
 
It depends on how you set it up. You can get 50 gallon tanks and set them in a permanent location in the basement and run hoses upstairs for weekly or bi-weekly water changes. Shut your return pump(s) off and pull x gallons of water from the sump via hoses directly to the nearest toilet or sink. Then pump x gallons of new saltwater up from the basement via hoses.

Daily top-ups need to be done from a smaller reservoir that resides upstais beneath the tank or close to it.

e.g. If you learn after a few week's experience that your tank typically loses 3-5 gallons of water per day you could set up a small 10 gallon tank fresh ro/di water upstairs beneath the tank or beside it. That way if anything sticks open the worst that can happen is 10 gallons get added to the tank. You'll have to keep this 10 gallon reservoir topped up every few days or until you get sick of it and figure out a way to automate this task by drilling holes in the floor.

Dave.M
 
My laundry room is near the DT (75g w/ 20g sump). When I do a wc I run a 25' Python siphon to the slop sink in the laundry room. When I'm done siphoning I attach the Python to a pump in the brute and pump fresh mixed water into the DT. Takes about 1/2 hr from start to finish.
The only time I have to lug water is to the QT which is in the boiler room around back of the house. It's only a 20g and one 5g bucket for a wc isn't that bad.
 
He doesnt have a basement.
I got a 50ft airline that i had cut to measure from my rodi unit to the aquarium room. I turn it on. Let it run for 30mins to clean the lies then i get my brute or pail what ever it is brute for water change pail for ato.
Or i jus put the air line to the ato after flushing the line.

I have a 55 drum i was storing water that i have no use for now. Since i got the long line. I jus plan ahead in the aquarium room.
 
thank you all.

again no basement. i do have an ATO and an RODI...it's just getting the water to the tank that is the problem.

probably no easy way but use brute containers and just roll them back and forth.

i'd probably have a large reservoir underneath, 30-40 gallons and just refill that every week or as needed. fortunately there would be alot of space underneath as it's 96x30x24 tank.
 
I run a 70 foot line from our RODI unit to our frag tank's reservoir when I need to top it off.

Just have a float setup on the reservoir to make sure I don't flood it...
 
Float switches need to be disassembled and cleaned regularly. Float switches fail, always when you are out of town and it is three in the morning. Always. That's why it is safer to use a small reservoir tank for top-offs - limits the size of the disaster.

Dave.M
 
dave.m said:
Float switches need to be disassembled and cleaned regularly. Float switches fail, always when you are out of town and it is three in the morning. Always. That's why it is safer to use a small reservoir tank for top-offs - limits the size of the disaster.

Dave.M
Click to expand...

These are just in RODI tanks, most of the time dry.

The RODI only runs until I noticed it's full, then turn it off...
 
Do you guys just dispose the bad saltwater down the sink? I could of swore I read somewhere that you shouldn't do that which is why I've been lugging 5 gallon buckets to the road or under my deck. If it's safe to dump down the sink, that will save me a lot of time and strength.
 
That depends on what you mean by "down the sink". If you're on private well water and you flush to a septic tank/drain field then the salt will be a problem. If you're on city sewage, however, flushing is no problem at all.

Dave.M
 
To the original post, I do this and on a 250 gallon system no less.

My main RODI vat and salt mixing vat are out in the garage and I can't run lines through the house to my tank/don't have a pump and looong hose. So when I do 50 gallon water changes I literally fill 50 gallons worth of 5 gallon buckets and carry them from the garage into the house to the tank.
Then I empty 50 gallons of water, typically with a spare empty bucket, one bucket at a time and either dump them down the sink or pour them on weeds in the back yard.

For topping off my 30 gallon ATO, which is under the tank, I carry buckets of RODI from the garage into the house.

I have been doing this for about 11 years, no joke. I like to think of it as my penance for squandering my money on such an investment.
 
Wonton...11 years....that's awesome! i have a feeling i'm going to be doing about the same thing. it's a tough way to do it but it's fail safe and some of us just have to do that.
 
Carrying water in buckets is the only way I have as a method of doing water changes,for my 220 gallon DT.Twenty-five gallons a week in 5 gallon buckets.Been doing80 to 100 gallons a month,carrying it upstairs from the basement where I can store 100 gallons at a time.I do it for the excercise,and I am 60 y/o.I have thought maybe in 10 or 15 years I may start pumping it up from the basement,however.
 
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