Water changes...save me form hell...

[vair]

On my 340g. display tank I’ve been running my RO/DI unit make up water into 33g. rough neck rubbermaids for years. Fill one on a simple float valve and manually transfer water over to two others for salt water mixing. If I had my water spills and spraying in the fish room on video you would all spit milk out your nose for sure for sure. Almost always something is getting wet. I need help! (For added fun… main tank on the main floor, fish room and sump/equipment in the basement)

For the actual water change out of the main tank I’ve always hand siphoned the water, cleaning out the rock work, dead flow areas and such- cramming my siphon hose under the rock and places that the tank flow does not ‘clean out’. So that has always stopped me from a more automatic flip a switch/valve type set up for water changes.
I’m beaten’ down and tired of the run away hose in the fish room. I’ve read and drooled over some great looking water change systems on this site over the years.

If you guys could please save me the re- reading and researching those posts again and give me some links and or tips on simple larger reef water change ideas that would be amazing!

How many of you don’t hand siphon your main tanks and totally rely on a dump and fill valve orientated method? Most of my spills are always on the fill side of the water change. I do have lots of flow, wave maker, OM 4 way on a closed loop and a separate return from chiller.

Thanks in advance for the advice. I must say there are so many amazing large tank threads on the go right now it is hard find the time to read them all!

Dave (sorry for the long and boring post!)

 

[46bfinGA]

im been dealing with the same thing as you for nearly 3 years now.thank god im moving in a couple weeks and will set all of my tanks in a fish room so that i can automate more things.if you could run a pipe into your return with a T from your saltwater make up tank then you could pump the water up your return pipe.shut off your return pump in the sump,close a ball valve,open the ball valve from your mixing tank and turn on the pump in your mixing tank.that would shoot your newly made saltwater up your existing return lines and fill your system.hopefully that makes some sense?

 

[46bfinGA]

or why cant you drain the sump instead of the main tank and refill it?how big is your sump?that would save you trips upstairs.

 

[vair]

I can drain the sump... I guess I'm addicted to siphoning out my main tank. I don't do any carrying of buckets upstairs or any thing, all my rubbermaids are on wheels and I fill the sump with the make up water. When I do siphon the main it drains right into a sink below in the fish room.
It's the run away hose from transferring water that is my main issue.
46bfinGA those are good and easy ideas, sort of what I do now with buckets and dropping in a pump.

I guess I'm really just looking for a more permanent storage mixing system.

 

[jjjimmy]

I have a 55 gallon polypropylene tank with a lid in my equipment room in my basement. I drilled a hole in the side near the top of the drum and installed a Kent float valve that my RO line is connected to. There are (2) Dolphin submersible pumps in the drum also. One for mixing salt and one for transferring water to my sump.

The day before water change, I plug in the mixing pump and mix in the salt. I let the pump run for about 1/2 hour then unplug it for the night.

The "fill pump" has a 1" line connected to the pump in the drum and then to a bulkhead fitting in the sump with a ball valve in-line.

On water change day, I close the valve from my return pump to the display then I just use a python hose to siphon water out of the display into the toilet. When I have siphoned out the desired amount of old water I pull out the python and put it away. Then back downstairs to start refilling.

I plug in the "fill pump" then open back up the return to the display. The in-line ball valve from the "fill pump" is used to balance out the fill rate with what is being sent back up to the tank. Once the level in my sump starts to rise, I know that the tank is full and I am done.

Very simple and no hard manual labor.

Hope that helps.

Jimmy

 

[DaveWC]

I siphon separate from water changes. I have a holder that I made that fits a filter bag. Just pop the bag in the holder and siphon into the bag. No water leaves the tank and you can siphon as long as you like, so long as you don't clog the bag.

For water changes, I have a pump in my holding/mixing tank for mixing the salt and a return pump in my sump. To remove water I turn a few valves and so the return pump empties my sump into my house drain. Then I turn another few valves and my holding tank pump refills my sump. I do a water change in about 5 minutes.

 

[mflamb]

I'm setting up a 390 display. In my garage I havetwo 65 gallon barrels, one for RO/DI water for top-off and one for mixing salt for water changes. The two barrels are plumbed to one pump through ball valves and a T fitting, and then out of the pump through a T fitting and 2 ball valves into two pipes, one fresh, one salt. The two pipes run underground to my tank. Still setting up the drain from the sump. It will be on th sump return line, T'd off and sent to a sewer cleanout beside my house. Open one valve to drain. Open two valves and turn on the pump to fill.
Mike

 

[46bfinGA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8446385#post8446385 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
I'm setting up a 390 display. In my garage I havetwo 65 gallon barrels, one for RO/DI water for top-off and one for mixing salt for water changes. The two barrels are plumbed to one pump through ball valves and a T fitting, and then out of the pump through a T fitting and 2 ball valves into two pipes, one fresh, one salt. The two pipes run underground to my tank. Still setting up the drain from the sump. It will be on th sump return line, T'd off and sent to a sewer cleanout beside my house. Open one valve to drain. Open two valves and turn on the pump to fill.
Mike

im doing the same thing on my new house im moving into.im running a drain into the sewer cleanout is there any reason why that wont be a good idea?my builder told me as long as im not running high volumes through it it shouldnt be a problem.im actually going to be tyin into the cleanout for my drain on a sink that i will for cleaning stuff and as an emergency drain for the sump.

 

[mflamb]

Make sure you use a spring loaded one-way check valve to prevent backflow. That's why I went to the cleanout.
Mike

 

[46bfinGA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8447126#post8447126 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
Make sure you use a spring loaded one-way check valve to prevent backflow. That's why I went to the cleanout.
Mike

the drain from the bottom of sink will be gravity fed into the cleanout,so im not sure how it would backflow?can you ellaborate on that?thanks

 

[reefkoi]

heres a link to my setup, I open 1 valve to drain (tied into the houses sewer line) then switch one on the mixing tank pump and fill the aquarium up. and the tank has a float hooked to the Ro unit to fill it. I am so pleased with this setup, I do 60 gallon water changes weekly and it takes minutes, and I spill no water, lift nothing, it is totally worth every penny
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=928097

 

[vair]

reefkoi
Thanks looks pretty simple and easy to do. Do you have your RO just set up on a float valve at 60g.? Any way to make more or less water?

Thanks
Dave

 

[reefkoi]

I have the float at the top of the tank, this way if i forget to shutoff the flow I wont have a flood. I know how long it takes, and if I make 70 or 80 gallons its o.k. because I marked the tank in 10 gallon increments. So I just count how many i need and drain it down to that level.
100 gallon tank: $230
1.5" pipe and all fittings, ball valves: $75
Hammerhead pump: $200
time to build: less than a day
Value? Priceless

 

[mflamb]

46bfinGA...If the sewer backs up somehow, would be the only way. Safe is better than sorry.
Mike

 

[Craig Lambert]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8443574#post8443574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 46bfinGA
or why cant you drain the sump instead of the main tank and refill it?how big is your sump?that would save you trips upstairs.

Agree. Mark a "full" line on your sump with a majic marker, and a second line below it representing 30 gallons less than full. Plumb your sump with a small external return pump (maybe you have an old one not being used). Run a hard pvc line from the sump to a sink or drain. Shut down your tank's return line and pump 30G of water down the sink/drain from the sump. Then have a resivoir of NSW plumbed to the top of the sump with a ball valve at the resivoir exit. Turn the valve and gravity feed back up to the "full" line. Should take about 5 minutes to do your water changes.

 

[46bfinGA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8449862#post8449862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
46bfinGA...If the sewer backs up somehow, would be the only way. Safe is better than sorry.
Mike

got ya,have a link or a pic of the check valve your talking about using?i guess if it did backflow the worst thing that would happen is my sink would fill up a bit.ill have to think about that a bit when i install the sink.

 

[vair]

With larger storage tanks, do you clean them out once and a while? (wipe out slime build up)

 

[reefkoi]

The place I bought my tank from said they have to scrub the calcium in the tank yearly, I imagine it will get that white hard chalky crust on it eventually. I can remove my tank via unions in a minute or so, then I could blow out all the stuff with a high pressure washer I think, I hope it doesnt have to be done more than yearly, a vinegar bath would work also, then pressure wash it.
Chris

 

[mflamb]

46bfinGA...This is the Wye check valve. Use it inline in your sump drain before the sink plumbing, so nothing from the sewer gets into the tank plumbing.
http://www.savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=1
It's called a Wye check valve PVC
Mike

 

[reefkoi]

wouldnt it be easier to just put a ball valve there? then when you need to drain into the sewer you open it? Just seems easier and less prone to failure? Maybe I am not understanding the plumbing layout.
Chris