Rubbermaid for water mixing?

[rk4435]

I'm finally ready to go large on water mixing. I've been doing everything in several five gallon buckets dragged down from a guest room. The guest room is officially a junk room now so I can set up a bigger operation.

Is there any type of rubber trashcans that should be avoided? I'm planning on a 32 gallon set up.

 

[y-not]

If you go the Rubbermaid route, I've always used the Rubbermaid Brute containers.
Do yourself two favors while you are buying them.
1: Get a lid for each container. This will help keep any dust out and help reduce evaporation.
2. Get the set of wheels that attach to the bottom of the container. It'll make moving them MUCH easier.

And...If you can afford it, skip the rubbermaid and go with something like this:

 

[rk4435]

Wow, nice set up. I wish I had the space for something like that, sadly I don't. Even with a 32 gallon set up I'll be much happier than I was setting up five gallon buckets in the living room for days of mixing.

 

[y-not]

rk4435;947510 wrote: Wow, nice set up. I wish I had the space for something like that, sadly I don't. Even with a 32 gallon set up I'll be much happier than I was setting up five gallon buckets in the living room for days of mixing.

Yes indeed.
Moving up from 5g buckets to a 37g brute is like the difference between riding the bus or driving your own car.

And thanks.
That photo was taken while I was still working on it.
It's got all the plumbing and electrical (mixing pump & heater) done now.

 

[y-not]

Oh...All you need, space wise, is a 3ft x 3ft space.
My top container holds 30g of fresh and can be dumped right into the container below that is used to mix up saltwater. All that in a 3ft x 3ft space.

 

[rk4435]

That's awesome Y-Not. I left an integral component out of my set up description. I hook the RO/DI up to the kitchen sink to fill a couple of 6 gallon containers, and several Home Depot buckets. When it's time to mix I carry water down and have at it, making 4 gallons in each HD bucket.

I have enough containers for about 30 gallons of RO/ DI at a time, the wife acts like I'm assaulting her bird when it's time for the RO/DI set up.. Needless to say the next house will be more reef compatible.

 

[jennm]

Brutes are the way to go, if you need to be able to stack them and put them away in a closet or whatnot.

You can also plumb a float valve to the fresh RO water one, and have the RO fill it and shut off when it's full, although I suggest having an emergency drain above the float line, draining to a sink or bathtub or whatnot, just in case the float valve fails (speaking from experience, here). Not hard to do.

Also, a small pump like a Mag 2 or 3 to mix saltwater, fitted with a hose and a Python connector is helpful - get the other connector (ie one male, one female) to attach to your siphon hose, so when it's time to refill the tank, you can just connect the hose to the mixing pump, and refill your tank without bailing or lifting buckets.

Jenn

 

[rk4435]

Thanks for the advice Jenn.