Let's see those water change setups

[dawgface]

Trying to design a setup thats faster, cleaner and more friendly than hauling 35g Rubbermaids in the house to conduct water changes.

I'm looking specifically for those of you that have user friendly, automated and quick setups! Pictures are absolutely encourage and appreciated!

 

[irahmatulla]

I have seen fish stores use rubbermaid trash cans (on wheels) with a vacuum and small pump/powerhead to push the water up. The pump can also be used to mix the water over night and meet equilibrium. Or depending on the tank height, maybe a garage cart for speed/stackability.

 

[frantz]

I just have a manifold just before my sump that goes to a drain line and I fill up my 5 gal buckets. It works well enough for a 200 gal system.

 

[tgriffin]

check out setthewineguy's.... it is set up really nice

 

[miami dolfan]

Come on over and I'll show you what you can do if you have a bathroom behind your fish room.

 

[holabird]

I set up a 55 gal tank in a closed loop system. When I do a water change, I just stop the water going to the 55 and drain it into a sink, then refill the 55 and my water change is done. It takes me 10 minutes and I do is turn off a pump, open a valve, drain the water, turn on another pump to refill the 55 and I am done. The pic shows the extra 55. This also gives me another 55 gallons for the system and I can use it for a frag rack or a tank to hold some extra fish.
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[ralph atl]

Miami Dolfan;693495 wrote: Come on over and I'll show you what you can do if you have a bathroom behind your fish room.

hummmm.....

 

[grouper therapy]

holabird;693580 wrote: I set up a 55 gal tank in a closed loop system. When I do a water change, I just stop the water going to the 55 and drain it into a sink, then refill the 55 and my water change is done. It takes me 10 minutes and I do is turn off a pump, open a valve, drain the water, turn on another pump to refill the 55 and I am done. The pic shows the extra 55. This also gives me another 55 gallons for the system and I can use it for a frag rack or a tank to hold some extra fish.

Exactly the way I had my big system set up. Worked well for 5 years

 

[thesilence87]

Holabird, that is one crazy looking plumbing system.

 

[holabird]

alcatoe;694572 wrote: It sure is. I bought a couple corals from him and he showed this setup to me. I wish my wife and son were not in the car waiting on me after a long day at the outlet malls - I would have liked to visit longer so I could try and comprehend all of it. His tank is massive upstairs and fully stocked.

Dave, how about some recent pics please!

Thanks for the compliment. Nothing really new. Sump set up still looks like this. I've added a couple things but basically the same.

 

[mojo]

Quoting myself from another thread:

Partitioned my 300g sump to have a 100g chamber, separate from the rest. WC partition is on the left in this picture, with the rubber ducky in it:

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Add 100g of fresh water, two bags of salt, allow to mix, and my WC water is ready to go. On my sump side, I have a Iwaki pump plumbed in that goes direct to the sewer line.

So I turn on the Iwaki until it hits a float valve, then turn on a Mag to dump over the water change water. Voila - 100g water change without turning anything off or measuring any salt.

Simplicity is the key to doing water changes. Of all the setups I've done, this is by far the best one I've used - especially since the WC volume is exactly two bags of IO boxed salt. Obviously, you could do the same thing with a 50g container...

 

[mojo]

blakejohn;695374 wrote: So you only run your system at an SG of 1.021?

It should take roughly two and a quarter bags of IO boxed salt to make 100 gallons at 1.025.

Another plus to using the boxed salt with the four bags is that there is no settling of ingredients.

~96 gallons of RO water + two bags of salt yields 1.025 every time I've made it up. The container is 100gallons, but the Kent float valve is adjustable, so I just adjusted it down until I got the correct ratio. Even if it was 1.021, I'm fine with that - consistency and being easy is better than chasing numbers.

 

[todd_washowich]

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[seth the wine guy]

tgriffin;693485 wrote: check out setthewineguy's.... it is set up really nice

Thanks Tyson but it's not finished. I need to get another EB8 and some more solenoid and float valves from McMaster Carr to make it easier than "push button". I'm not sure if I'll have the nerve to do it (Out of "But something could go wrong!" paranoia) but I'll be able to program the APEX to do the WC automated once a week. Pushing buttons is too labor-some. I just wish I could figure out how to have the salt automatically added in measured amounts to the salt mix container.

Things are about to get even more fun. I was contacted by a guy on RC who saw a post I made about APEX and Control4 home automation. He's writing a driver and program for Control4 for APEX. Only thing I won't be able to do from the seat of my couch is get another beer and expel the said beer.

 

[carlitosreef]

Anyone mixed station used it 55g drum barrels? Any pictures? Any idea where I can get 2 barrels? I have been looking on CL some of those locations seem kinda far.

 

[ff337]

CarlitosReef;698641 wrote: Anyone mixed station used it 55g drum barrels? Any pictures? Any idea where I can get 2 barrels? I have been looking on CL some of those locations seem kinda far.

I use 3 rubbermaid 32 gallon containers. 1 on wheels for vacuuming, etc. 1 for RODI top off, and 1 for salt mix.

All have bulkheads at the bottom for dispensing.

 

[carlitosreef]

FF337;698657 wrote: I use 3 rubbermaid 32 gallon containers. 1 on wheels for vacuuming, etc. 1 for RODI top off, and 1 for salt mix.

All have bulkheads at the bottom for dispensing.

Are you talking about those Brute containers?

 

[smallblock]

There are plenty of places to get the barrels around here bro. You need to be carefull as to what was in them though. Look for like a flea market type, like a sell all used stuff store.

 

[carlitosreef]

Smallblock;698715 wrote: There are plenty of places to get the barrels around here bro. You need to be carefull as to what was in them though. Look for like a flea market type, like a sell all used stuff store.

Ima check that out, I'm assuming they are FDA approve from what I heard

 

[smallblock]

yeah I think so. My neighbor got some to make a train for little kids to ride in a few days ago. Most of them held mollasesses sp? Which I would be comfy cleaning and using. Others I have seen held car wash soap which I would not be comfy using. Catch my drift broseph.