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

[Aquattro]

I siphon my tank to the bathtub with a 50ft hose, with the tank end measured to drain 50g exactly. I then take the tub end of the hose to the 50g mixing barrel, hook it to a MAG12 and plug it in. When it sucks air, I'm done. Takes about 20 minutes.

[Werbo]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Yah if it's mostly horizontal/downsloped I don't think this pump would have any issues whatsoever. 20 feet uphill might be a different story

Display tank is 2-3ft above the bathtub so that helps too. But when I drain my sump it takes about the same so the Hagen has more than enough juice

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I siphon my tank to the bathtub with a 50ft hose, with the tank end measured to drain 50g exactly. I then take the tub end of the hose to the 50g mixing barrel, hook it to a MAG12 and plug it in. When it sucks air, I'm done. Takes about 20 minutes.

How do you fill that mixing barrel? You use R/O right?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

How do you fill that mixing barrel? You use R/O right?

Yes, I have a RO line that I unroll when needed.

[Simons]

a topic that everyone with an aquarium will deal with.

I have a 100Gal food grade vertical plastic container in my furnace room, RO/DI unit in the same room. It will take a full 20 hours to fill the tank, I have an 400 GPH pump submerged to the bottom and leave it running all the time.

I add approx 9 full cups from my trust salt measuring dispenser, let it sit and mix for a day and verify salinity. I do use a heater since the ambient temp of my furnace room is a few degrees lower than the rest of my basement.

I have 30 feet of 0.5 inch tubing I hook into another submersible pump for water changes, after siphoning out about 80 Gal. I due 80 to 95 Gal every two weeks, but I have over 300Gal of total water volume.

Since I have limited space in my furnace room I went with a 23" wide but 65" tall container. It was just dump luck that the power cords attached to my heater, and pumps just pops out the top of the removable lid. I forgot about that part when I got the tall tank, thinking I was all smart n stuff but...it worked in the end.

[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.

[04V10]

I have another simple setup. I have a 5 gallon pail with a power head and heater in it. Fill with RO/DI water, add salt, test salinity and wait for it to get up to temperature. Then I syphon my water into another 5 gal pail. Put in a pump with a hose attached in the fresh saltwater, route hose into tank, turn on pump. When saltwater is back in tank. Shut off pump. Simple, and I don't have to lift anything causing any potential spills.

[lastlight]

i do what most people here do.

i have a mixing tank with a powerhead and heater in it. usually let my new water mix for a day minimum although i've found even a few hours is just fine. i vacuum my sandbed upstairs and then add the new water to my sump in the basement with a mag 12 while i turn my return pump back on.

[Simmy]

Thanks for everyones suggestions.

My plan is to use a plastic bin 15 gallons to mix the saltwater in and leave a power head in for 24 hours for aeration. I'll use a pump to pump the old water out and into a bathtub with clear vinyl tubing about 30ft away. I'll add the new salt water by wheeling the container to the tank and use the same pump to get the new water in with a shorter vinyl cable.

Does anyone see problems doing it this way?

[lastlight]

when i ripped my old bathtub out a small length of plumbing connecting it to the abs main was made of metal. if you've got an old bathtub maybe send a bit of freshwater down the drain after the saltwater lol.