Water Storage

[seased]

Now that I have a 90 gallon tank, I find myself making a lot of RO water. I store the water in 5 gallon buckets and that does not seem to last very long. I hear that people store their water in the garage in big rubbermaid trashcans. Also, some store their water change cans in the garage also.

Just wondering, is their going to be any issues with gas fumes (lawnmower gas can), car fumes, other garage stuff that would cause issues with storing water in the garage?

 

[awcurl]

I keep all my make-up and change water in the garage, I just make sure I've got it covered.

 

[seased]

ok - thanks. Do you use the lids that come with the rubbermaid trash cans? Also, do you store the cans on the concrete or do you have some type of platform?

 

[awcurl]

I don't use Rubbermaid trash cans, I use a 100 gallon poly tank with a screw on lid for my make-up and a 55 gallon poly barrel for my change water with a plastic cover.

 

[knoxtnreef]

making up water is the biggest pain, the tank is nothing. IMO

 

[seased]

where did you get the poly tanks? The rubbermaid cans cost about $50 at HD. How do they compare in cost?

 

[awcurl]

Any farm supply, feed store, Farmers coop. $100.00 - $200.00

 

[fishdoc11]

I use a large rubbermaid on rollers(36 gal I think) that I have marked off in 5 gal increments. I also have a kent shut off valve at 25 gallons so I can make that much up and my RO/DI will automatically shutoff. One of the best things I have ever done as far as making taking care of the tank easier.
I store my water in the garage....lots of people have their sumps or even their whole tanks in the garage without problems. The one problem I find with storing covered water for long periods is it will get a sour/ammonia smell like a tent that's been put up wet(it's worse in the summer when it's hot). Not sure if that's harmfull or not but that's why I don't like to store more than I'll use in a week or two.

Chris

 

[seased]

why do you have them on rollers? Just curious

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11085153#post11085153 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seased
why do you have them on rollers? Just curious

So I can move the container from where the RO/DI is mounted to the garage and to the tank.

 

[vol_reefer]

I have a couple 50 gallon tubs in my garage. I think they're Rubbermaid. Can't remember whether I got them at HD or Lowes. They're bark blue, have rollers, are sort of rectangular shaped and shorter than trash cans. I have my RO/DI output go into one (with a float valve cut-off) and I mix new SW in the other for water changes. I have the two bins wrapped in a couple water heater blankets because I heat the new SW for when I do water changes (I pump it straight from the garage into my tank) I keep the lids on the tubs because I also wondered about car exhaust fumes. I use an MJ1200 in each to keep the water circulating. With some hose on the output of the MJ, I have the water splashing back into the tub - the idea being to break the surface tension and keep it oxygenated. I don't get the smell Chris refered to - maybe because of the circulation? I have left the new SW in the bin for a month or more before use and never seen any problems in my tank that I would attribute to using this water.

Jeff (vol_reefer)

 

[fishdoc11]

I keep mine circulating as well and still have the smell problem. Not sure why.

 

[EvilMel]

I had mine on the rollers as well. It just made life a lot easier honestly.

The cans get super heavy and so I didn't have to have even more length of hose and drag the hose around the garage more...I just had them on rollers. They sell them that specifically fit into the bottom of the big brute trash cans (mine were like 46g, I think?). Very handy IMO.