Stupid question -- where the hell do you people put these?
Preparing for huge water change.
- Thread starter Vincerama2
- Start date
Stupid question -- where the hell do you people put these?
rygh
Guest
Mine is outside behind the house in a small shed.
Bonus : Water spills do not matter at all.
With auto-water exchange, all you need is a small 1/4" tube, same stuff used for drip sprinklers.
You can run those a LONG ways very easily.
For manual method, a normal 20G plastic bin and a dolly makes moving long distances pretty easy.
Benaminh
Guest
What's DOS & how does Auto water Exchange with 1/4" hose work again?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
DOS is Neptune's peristaltic pump dohicky. And the auto-water change is less "let me do a 50 gal change now" and more a "let me continuously change water through the day" so 1/4" tubing works fine for that application.
Flagg37
Guest
The DOS only has two heads but they can run in reverse so I plan on using one head contuously for my CaRx and the other head for the AWC. It will pump one direction to draw water out of the tank and then there will be a T fitting and check valve so that when the pump reverses it will pull the fresh sw into the tank to fill it back up. There's no need for float switches since the DOS will refill the exact amount that it removes.
Flagg37
Guest
There's a local company that you can get them from. He orders them from Hanford I think he said. I was looking for a couple 50 gallon ones and he quoted me about $150 each.
Coral reefer
Past President
You can 50 gal containers much cheaper. I'd get 100 gal if you gonna pay top dollar
Coral reefer
Past President
Too true, could probably run it on a timer tho so it's only active a few times a day
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Being able to get a 50g brute with a lid, that basically has the same purpose (maybe doesn't look as slick) but yeah, go bigger if you can.
I've seen in the past those 330+ gallon square containers with the metal frames on Craigslist advertised in "farm country", have been tempted quite a bit until I remember one important feature, the smallest dimension is 42" so there's no way it'll get through any doorway in my house, and I'm not willing to sacrifice that much foot print in my garage (I mean I live in SF for crying out loud! The fact I have garage space at all is amazing!)
Now if you really want storage get one of those 300gallon Rubbermaid stock tanks, I mean I just so happen to have one that I want to get out of my house and would be willing to accept any reasonable offer
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Hey MIke (sfsuphysics)
I offer the space back in your garage if you can make like a turtle...
I offer the space back in your garage if you can make like a turtle...
rygh
Guest
Make a little loft-like structure in the garage, and put it over your car. What could go wrong.Being able to get a 50g brute with a lid, that basically has the same purpose (maybe doesn't look as slick) but yeah, go bigger if you can.
I've seen in the past those 330+ gallon square containers with the metal frames on Craigslist advertised in "farm country", have been tempted quite a bit until I remember one important feature, the smallest dimension is 42" so there's no way it'll get through any doorway in my house, and I'm not willing to sacrifice that much foot print in my garage (I mean I live in SF for crying out loud! The fact I have garage space at all is amazing!)
Now if you really want storage get one of those 300gallon Rubbermaid stock tanks, I mean I just so happen to have one that I want to get out of my house and would be willing to accept any reasonable offer
Newjack
Guest
word on the "street" is you can usually find many different water storage containers at your local Tractor supply stores. For us from the Bay, I think there is a location near Vacaville. I have not confirmed this though. I have friends that have farms, and they have told me they have seen them there.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Also can find those grey "pickle" barrels from various places of business that use them and toss them. Saw a few at the San Bruno park flea market a month or so ago, guy was selling them for $25 each (think they were 50g, and had a lid on top), he was supposed to bring a couple over to my place, he says he goes dumpster diving for them and they make great rain catch barrels.
But yeah, you want cheap, think farm country, they need portable fluid containers... just make certain of what they were used for (i.e. not diesel fuel or something)
But yeah, you want cheap, think farm country, they need portable fluid containers... just make certain of what they were used for (i.e. not diesel fuel or something
)
Coral reefer
Past President
What's the dimensions? Likely interestedBeing able to get a 50g brute with a lid, that basically has the same purpose (maybe doesn't look as slick) but yeah, go bigger if you can.
I've seen in the past those 330+ gallon square containers with the metal frames on Craigslist advertised in "farm country", have been tempted quite a bit until I remember one important feature, the smallest dimension is 42" so there's no way it'll get through any doorway in my house, and I'm not willing to sacrifice that much foot print in my garage (I mean I live in SF for crying out loud! The fact I have garage space at all is amazing!)
Now if you really want storage get one of those 300gallon Rubbermaid stock tanks, I mean I just so happen to have one that I want to get out of my house and would be willing to accept any reasonable offer
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Here's a link to a new one
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rubbermaid-structural-foam-stock-tanks-300-gal-capacity
69" x 63" x 25" high.
Vincerama2
Supporting Member
I bought another 44g brute, much to my wife's consternation, but it was the easiest way to match new and old water volume.
I did a depth estimate based on the inner dimensions of the tank and then guessing at the not-square dual overflows. But there was still rocks and stuff in the way. I had calculated that 40g would be about 6" from the surface of the water (with sump return off).
I was sort of close, using the second brute, I drained until it was almost full (with panicking fish) and it came to about 7 inches of water from the main tank... pretty close considering the rockwork.
I did discover than a 44 gallon brute, filled to an inch of the top takes an entire "50g worth of salt" bag. (ie; if you buy IO in the 200 g box, it comes with 4 bags, each with 50g worth of salt). Each bad is supposed to bring 50g of water to 1.023 salinity, though I prefer 1.026 and emptying the entire bag into the brute (I tried 20 cups since it said 1/2 cup/gallon) gave me 1.025 so ... whatever, good enough.
Managed to keep spillage to a minimum. The new water was in the garage and I used a Mag5 with 30' of vinyl hose to deliver it to the tank, then I used the same pump to pump the waste water into the sink. In both cases I had to physically lift the brute to get the last unpumpable water out of it, but it was not so heavy that I couldn't do it alone.
So that is one water change, and it was maybe 20-25%, depending on what the real volume of water in the system is.
I'm going to do another next weekend, just to catch up on a few years of neglect, then relegate it to maybe just a monthly or 6-weekly change, as it's tedious and not cheap.
V
I did a depth estimate based on the inner dimensions of the tank and then guessing at the not-square dual overflows. But there was still rocks and stuff in the way. I had calculated that 40g would be about 6" from the surface of the water (with sump return off).
I was sort of close, using the second brute, I drained until it was almost full (with panicking fish) and it came to about 7 inches of water from the main tank... pretty close considering the rockwork.
I did discover than a 44 gallon brute, filled to an inch of the top takes an entire "50g worth of salt" bag. (ie; if you buy IO in the 200 g box, it comes with 4 bags, each with 50g worth of salt). Each bad is supposed to bring 50g of water to 1.023 salinity, though I prefer 1.026 and emptying the entire bag into the brute (I tried 20 cups since it said 1/2 cup/gallon) gave me 1.025 so ... whatever, good enough.
Managed to keep spillage to a minimum. The new water was in the garage and I used a Mag5 with 30' of vinyl hose to deliver it to the tank, then I used the same pump to pump the waste water into the sink. In both cases I had to physically lift the brute to get the last unpumpable water out of it, but it was not so heavy that I couldn't do it alone.
So that is one water change, and it was maybe 20-25%, depending on what the real volume of water in the system is.
I'm going to do another next weekend, just to catch up on a few years of neglect, then relegate it to maybe just a monthly or 6-weekly change, as it's tedious and not cheap.
V
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Way to go Vince!
Now just remember more water changes means whatever filters you have on your RO unit will get exhausted that much faster. Too often I've neglected the increased water production I've had and just went by the "good for 6 months" rule of thumb, and boy oh boy. Water changes are supposed to help your system out!
Now just remember more water changes means whatever filters you have on your RO unit will get exhausted that much faster. Too often I've neglected the increased water production I've had and just went by the "good for 6 months" rule of thumb, and boy oh boy. Water changes are supposed to help your system out!
Vincerama2
Supporting Member
Yeah, my pre-filter cannisters are at least see through so I can see the horror build up. I bought a booster pump to help out (somehow, I'm not really sure how it helps, sitting in that box behind the tank).
I better clear out more of the garage so the brutes don't get in the way too much.
I'm wondering if I can set up another RO unit, using the washing machine water source and drain. Wish we had a wash tub in the garage.
Maybe even a garden hose adapter and just eject the (filtered) RO "waste" water onto the lawn ... or actually capture it as earthquake emergency water in yet another brute.
V
I better clear out more of the garage so the brutes don't get in the way too much.
I'm wondering if I can set up another RO unit, using the washing machine water source and drain. Wish we had a wash tub in the garage.
Maybe even a garden hose adapter and just eject the (filtered) RO "waste" water onto the lawn ... or actually capture it as earthquake emergency water in yet another brute.
V