I am looking for the BEST water container ever.

T

Tinyfish

Membership Expired
I am tired of buckets to do water changes with. I have 4 saltwater tanks and 2 freshwater tanks. I have a RODI and would like to make enough water once a week to provide for all water changes and evaporation replenishment needs. Meaning make the water once a week for all week's needs. Water container needs to be on really good wheels.

What I am unsure about is its shape, since there are so many shapes, and the size. And I am currently thinking that the storage tank will stay in the garage with the RODI and thus be separate from my ATO system storage. I could wheel around the fresh water storage each day filling the other tanks that need replenishment since I only have the one ATO system.

I have been lugging buckets since 2005 and I have got to stop. I know all of you are smarter than me and must have come up with some amazing ideas to conquer this problem. Please share your fantastic results.
 
Keep in mind that any area that isn't climate controlled will make using that water difficult. I'd considered putting my storage tank in my garage, but in the summer the water would have been over 100F, and in the winter just above freezing. I'd have to heat it or cool it, at least 24 hours prior to use. Or bring the water inside and wait for it to match ambient temperatures.

How many gallons do you want to store? Do you want to keep RO/DI water primarily, or would you prefer to keep saltwater on hand like me?
 
Here's a pic of my current setup:
[attachment=0]ImageUploadedByTapatalk1354502526.556962.jpg[/attachment]

Both barrels are 55 gal and I bought them from craigslist for $25 each. The RODI water is on top of the freezer (in garage) which only holds 30 gallons due to excess weight on top of freezer. I receive the water from the laundry room, just on the other side of the wall. The drain is ran into the water heater drain off to the right of the freezer.

The lower barrel holds 40 gallons and I have a spare mag 7 pump to mix my own salt. For 40 gals, it takes 17 cups of salinity for a perfect mix of 1.026. I just do 10 gal water changes about every 2 weeks so I just use 5 gal buckets.

My garage is kinda insulated so it doesn't get as hot or cold as Marc does but if my water is too cold, I do have a spare heater just for this purpose but if need be, I will just have the water sit in buckets for at least 24 hours prior to changing it.


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I own my house and have an attic, but I probably can't get up there.

I have been leaving my garage/house door open for my cats so the temperature difference is not as great as most people's.

I think I would like to store RODI water, about 30 gallons. I just need it so I can transfer it easily throughout my house.

That barrel thing looks like its own water tower. An interesting idea. I know some use a trashcan on a dolly, also a good idea. And some people have their system all plumbed ready to go so hauling the water is not done.
 
I first used a 44 gal trash can with dolly and it worked great but takes too much room. Another idea is to get an external pump and run a garden hose (or some other hose) and pump it to your tank. There is a member here (forgot name) that pumps it to tank.

When I do water changes, to get the water out of tank, I use a really small pump (abt 30 gals per hour) to pump old water out into 5 gal buckets. Then I must use a ladder to put the new water on top (higher than tank) to pump the water back into tank. Works great so far, no mess or flooding.


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They sell 33G drums. Look on Craigslist. If your really in for the long haul in this hobby I would run pipe through the attic. Yeah it could cost a bit and its a lot of work. But there's nothing like having rodi and salt water coming out of a hose into your sump. Also can be used for sucking water out. But you need a good sized pump and water containers so you could always buy the containers now but gear them towards that. I would buy a plastic 55G drum if I were you. You don't have to fill it all the way and its cheap. You could also insulate the outside and leave a pump and heater running in there.
 
I am going to look into those 33gal. grey Brute barrels with the dolly underneath. They were out when I went to get one the other day. I think that may be a way to go for inside the house. Not sure about in the garage where the RODI is.
 
http://www.manyhatsofme.com/2013/03/aquarium-water-change-system.html

When I hit 11 tanks, I built and permanently installed one customized drain system for each tank ( a maxijet 606 is sufficient for the drain pump ... airline tubing is sufficiently cheap to run long distances to get out the door / window or to a sink, and is easy to coil up under the tank between uses --- takes a bit longer than larger tubing, but it gives me time to do other stuff while the tank is draining ).

I used a 60' length of 1/2" poly tubing for refills ( mag 5 on one end, valve on the other ). drop the pump into the freshwater or saltwater as approprate ( my water containers sit in the laundry, have heaters in each to keep them at same temp as the tanks ), turn pump on and move tank to tank adding whatever I need.
 
I drain manually into 5G buckets, but for mixing, refill, I use a station in the garage. I've got a 30g RO/DI and a 30G saltwater bucket always ready to go. They are side by side, and piped together with a few valve options. 1 tiny Rio 1200 is enough to transfer the water about 40' from the garage to the tank in the front room. There's a hose spigot for filling buckets with the pump. When not doing a water change, the pump is always running to turnover the SW bucket.

In the summer, I drop (2) frozen 1 gallon jugs of RODI to drop the water temp to tank temp. In the winter, I run a heater to keep it at a constant temp.

Not sure how much this helps without a pic or drawing, but my setup was relatively cheap. Wish I'd have used better trash cans than the ones from walmart though...
 
We use a 33 gallon brute on wheels for mixing our water. I just roll it into the kitchen, fill it up with ROdi from the under sink unit and mix right there. I only mix it long enough to clear. Usually less than an hour. Then we use a maxijet 900 to pump 25 gallons out directly into the kitchen sink. Then I roll the trashcan over and use a mag 9 to pump water back in. It only takes about 10-15 for the entire process if I don't scrub the glass. We don't have much algae buildup on the glass so far. Biopellets have been awesome for us. We find our 175 gallon tank to be easier to take care of than our 34 gallon was.


Matt
 
I also need to add. After I get done with the home water change, I pump the remainder into a 5 gallon jug to keep on hand. Then I mix another 15 gallons of saltwater for the school aquarium. Mix for about 20-30 minutes and pump into jugs to take to school. I do two separate mixings because the salt we use for school was donated for that purpose. I always keep everything separated for school and personal use. I'd really like to get an ROdi unit for the school so I don't have to haul water from home. I'm really unsure about using the science departments filtration system. It runs through copper pipes and it is not a typical ROdi unit.


Matt
 
@reeferwanabe wrote:
[I]@khoff wrote:[/I][quote=" In the summer said:
Can you please elaborate on this? I may need to do something like this as it gets 90+ degrees in my garage.

~Matt"]
Sure. In my garage, my deep freeze sits right next to my SW mixing can. I keep 2-3 milk jugs full of RODI frozen solid in the freezer. An hour or so before I do my water change, I drop these giant ice cubes in the mixing can to cool it down. I can usually get from 95 down to 83 or so in an hour as they thaw, which seems OK to me for a 10-20% water change. When I'm done, I put the jugs back in the freezer for next time...
Click to expand...
 
Sweet, sounds like I need to do the same. Thanks for the info! Last time I did a water change, I didn't think of the temperature being si hot. Performed a 5 gallon change via the sump and watched the temp raise from 78 to over 90 within seconds. Lesson learned. Thanks again.

~Matt
 
2 110G standing tanks in the garage.. plumbed through the wall to the tank. One mixes salt, the other is ro/di. Hooked to a chiller. Drain out the front door, fill via the plumbing. Easy as cake.

Check out... http://www.texastankdepot.com/our-products/texas-stock-tanks/

You can find anything you need there. Just make sure to use a poly tank that is food quality. If you put in the garage, a chiller will be needed but only to chill what you mix before adding. RO/DI just a smaller container in the house and it will be at room temp. Fill it, then use it for auto-top off.

Just make sure if you put holes in the wall you seal em up good.
 
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