Mixing Saltwater and getting it back into your tank....

[Spyd]

I have a dedicated water-change tank / sump tank on my system. The tank sits up over my main sump and is tee'd off my main pump. There is a single drain line that goes down to the skimmer section of my main sump.

For water changes, I simply turn off the valves on the return line and drain. I have one other plumbing line that I drilled near the bottom of the tank. It connects to a vinyl hose that I place into my floor drain in the basement. I simply open that valve and my water change tank drains entirely to the floor drain, minus about 1/8" of water that I use a Sham Wow to remove the rest. lol.

I then close the drain valve and place my RO/DI line in the tank and fill it. I have a float valve to stop the water when it fills the tank. I also have a perfect measurement of salt. 17 even cups and that water is 1.025 on the dot every time. I add a powerhead when adding the salt. Stir it up and then add a heater. After 1 day, I remove the powerhead and heater, turn the return line and drain line valves open and water change is done.

Physical labour is about 10 minutes of my time. No buckets needed whatsoever and I have 45G of water changed out for my entire system.

Below, you can see the water change tank at the top right of the photo. Return line and drain line are on the right of the tank. You can just see the floor drain line at the bottom of the tank. It goes down towards the skimmer area and you can see where the hose is attached.