Best buckets for carrying water and water changes?

[sixline]

I've been using my old Oceanic salt buckets for water changes. I fill them with 6 gallons of water, carry them over to my tank and then do a water change. About 6 months ago, the handle on one of them broke when I was carrying it, resulting in a spill of about 3 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater. Last week, the other one broke as I was carrying it. Fortunately, I haven't had one break when I've been carrying dirty water yet!

In the meantime, I've been just filling the buckets half way, and carrying them without using the handle. This works, but is a lot more work. I'd like to be able to change 12-15 gallons at a time. Any suggestions on good heavy duty, large buckets that won't break? Or should I be taking a different approach?

 

[blaxsun]

I still use the orange 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot, but a lot of people swear by the larger 20-gallon Brutes.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Brute trash can

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Even has wheels

 

[LOVEROCK]

Any of you guys experiencing brute leeching phosphate ?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

No

 

[mfinn]

Any of you guys experiencing brute leeching phosphate ?

nope

 

[damsels are not mean]

Depends on how much water you need to use. I just use 2 5 gallon buckets weekly. One is a newer BRS one and the waste bucket is from walmart and has no lid.

 

[DaddyFish]

I'm too old for buckets. I have a bunch of IO salt buckets for special projects, but my investment went into 30' lengths of 3/8" silicone tubing and pumps!

No More Buckets... No More Buckets... No More Buckets...

 

[mdb_talon]

I mostly just use pumps and long hoses but i do have some small tanks not hooked up to main systems that i carry water to/from. For those i use the 5 gallon jugs for home water dispensers like below. The handle is on the side so a little more effort to keep upright but dont worry about it breaking. I also keep the lid and dont worry about splashes/etc.

 

[ReeferSamster]

I've been using my old Oceanic salt buckets for water changes.

The day I did a DIY of about 20 feet of flexible tubing and PVC, (low near ground level) running around walls from my salt mix container and into my sump was the most satisfying moment in my reefing life. I flick a gate valve ON in my sump and fresh saltwater streams through the tubing from a 100 gallon drum in my kitchen to my living room reeftank. I refill the drum once every few weeks.

I'm trying to figure out how to do the same automation with export of old water. But for now, I just open the window next to the reef tank and siphon out old water out the window.

One thing I noticed is that the easier I made the job, the more I was willing to do it and my water change frequency increased, resulting in a healthier tank. It takes 10 minutes to change 20 gallons in my Reefer 350 with minimal fuss.

I would highly recommend everyone to evolve from buckets and find a way to run a line from your salt mixing container to your reeftank. If it can't be gravity fed (my container sits higher than the sump), then a small pump inside the mixing container can push the water out to the tank. If you google "water storage containers" there are a lot of companies that have all sorts of sizes of food safe plastic drums with a hole near the base of the container for you to install a hose or pvc. Sizes ranging from 10-200 gallons. You can find the perfect one for your tank , no matter how small or large your reef is.

Trust me, you will know what I mean when I say its one of the best things I've done to my reeftank aside from collecting corals.

 

[mehaffydr]

I use pumps and tubing very inexpensive as I use a MJ1200 for the pump you could pump 5-10 gallons in a short amount of time.

 

[mikereefing]

I use the python water change system...so convenient and one of the best investments I've made. I use a 10g brute container to mix salt water and the sicce utility pump to pump water back into the tank

 

[outhouse]

Been using a 100g rubbermaid stock tank to mix in, and then pump that in my 100g sump.

Back in the days of little tanks, I used those 7 dollar cheap green 35g trash cans. Never leached phos at all.

 

[Greg P]

I'm with the crowd who spent the money on using hose and pumps.
50g drum for RO storage, 30g tank for mixing salt, 65' hose and pump to transfer water.
I pump water from the RO tank to the mixing tank. I drain tank water to a different 55g drum for disposal. Newly mixed/aged SW is pumped into the sump/tank to replace the old water.
I pump old WC water from the drum to the toilet. Then I pump fresh RO water through the lines to clear out any salt/bacteria.

 

[mfinn]

I use the python water change system...so convenient and one of the best investments I've made. I use a 10g brute container to mix salt water and the sicce utility pump to pump water back into the tank

Same exact thing here.
I discovered the python water change system probably 18-20 years ago. Never went back to carrying buckets.
I use to drag brute containers in next to the tank to mix up the new water change water and use a mag 9-12 pump on a hose with a pvc u-tube to hang over the edge of the tank.
Then I figured out I could do my water change water out in my garage and use the same return pump, just with a longer hose.
Then last year I found the sicce ( sump pump) utility pump with a hose and u-tube. Works great at getting all of the water out of the container.