Mixing Station Idea

[brian313313]

I don't have a lot of space and had an idea to make it easier to mix my saltwater. The perfect ideal, but too expensive to be practical. I could get an acrylic tank 18Lx13Wx36 tall. That's about 50 gallons. Then mark each 5 gallons on the side so I'd know how much salt to add. Then I could attach the whole thing to a hand-cart to move it from the bathroom to the office where my aquarium is. The problem is I'm guessing that the 36 tall acrylic aquarium would run me at least 500 because height determines the thickness of the acrylic. That would be small enough to store in my walk-in easily. Can anyone come up with better ideas that wouldn't be quite so expensive? Obviously, it's still cheaper than buying a new home.

Thanks.

-Brian

 

[russ]

What about pricing an acrylic tube. 8" round and glue a bottom on it?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

20 or 32 gal brute trashcan on wheels. East to move Ady you can still mark off if you wanted. I use a dip stick that is marked to tell me how many gallons of water is in there. (Plus I know to the "step" above the handle is 15 gal in the 20 gal brute)

You are looking at under $50 total. The wheels are more expensive then the cans.

 

[brian313313]

I used to have a brute when I had a basement but the 32 gallon is too bulky now. I'll have to look for the 20 gallon on wheels though. I have a 20 gallon brute tub right now. I never put in more than 10 so it's easy to manage and I empty if after every water change so I can put it back on the shelf. Yesterday I spilled about 5 gallons of water in my wife's bathroom when the lip cracked as I was trying to pour the dirty water out. That's why I'm looking for a new solution. It's a good idea about the yardstick though. I hadn't thought of that.

I also found these after searching some more. The shipping is very high though so if anyone knows where to get them locally please let me know.

 

[markl]

Xyzpdq0121;937631 wrote: 20 or 32 gal brute trashcan on wheels. East to move Ady you can still mark off if you wanted. I use a dip stick that is marked to tell me how many gallons of water is in there. (Plus I know to the "step" above the handle is 15 gal in the 20 gal brute)

You are looking at under $50 total. The wheels are more expensive then the cans.

That's what I've always used. If you need to know how much water you can use two 1-2 bulk heads on near the bottom and one near the top run two 1/2 90s and some clear tubing to see the water.

 

[rjrgroup]

8" tube would need to be about 50' tall. Look for a small brine tank, should be able to find one for less than $100. They have some small, square footprint and tall with a lid. Btw, according to your 18"x13"x36" dimensions, you would have 36 gallons. Great idea on the external sight tube...

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I always pump water in and out of the thing, never tip. The 20 gal is a nice size (they even mak a 10 gal but I can never find it locally). I can wheel the 20 gal around on the carpet and even pick it up over the doorway in the garage. The 32s are a but bulky.

Other tip is I used one for ro container. I just drilled a small hole in the ljd to feed my ro tubing into and put the lid on and let it make water. This keeps it covered and safe in the garage from stuff in the air.

 

[enderg60]

Use rubbermaid stock tanks, put it in the garage and get a LOOOONG hose with a pump and done.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

EnderG60;937678 wrote: Use rubbermaid stock tanks, put it in the garage and get a LOOOONG hose with a pump and done.

I have 2 or 3 50 gal ones that are for sale.. I like that idea!!

 

[jdw]

I agree about not dipping container but pumping in and out. You wouldn't need a huge pump either, just something to get you over the head distance. I use a small pond pump from HomeDepot with a piece of old garden hose zip tied to the nipple. Tales me longer to lug the 5 gallon bucket up the stairs than it does to pump it.

 

[brian313313]

I did buy a hose yesterday for a pump that I already had so that will help. I stopped back by Lowes today but I couldn't find a 20g on wheels. They had a 32 which was close but I didn't want to buy it unless I measured it.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

The wheels are sold separate in the same section as the brute cans... The wheels fit both the 20 gal and the 32...

 

[xyzpdq0121]

They look like this:

 

[gareefer]

I got some 20g brutes from Home Depot. I couldn't find them at the Lowes around me.

 

[frag freak]

I pump all my water too... but cool idea on a mixing station!

 

[brian313313]

I went to Home Depot in Roswell today and found the 20g Brute and wheel base. This seems like it's going to work pretty good. I'd have liked to get the 50g but I don't have room for it.

I normally do a 10g (about 20%) water change every two weeks. I'm having a bit of an algae problem now though so I'm upping it to 30%/week since 15g is the most I can mix at once. The water has tested perfectly though but I don't know what else to do. I already did this week's so I'm mixing next week's water now. I had a fish disappear about a month ago. I thought he may have gone into the overflow or just got lost under the stand or something but now I know he was probably down in the rocks. I took off the top layer looking for him but I couldn't remove it all without a major disruption.

 

[smoothie]

Xyzpdq0121;937631 wrote: 20 or 32 gal brute trashcan on wheels. East to move Ady you can still mark off if you wanted. I use a dip stick that is marked to tell me how many gallons of water is in there. (Plus I know to the "step" above the handle is 15 gal in the 20 gal brute)

You are looking at under $50 total. The wheels are more expensive then the cans.

Same here.