First time filling the tank!

[D3NT]

I ended up buying a tank I posted about on here a couple days ago. My RO system is installed and should be good to go later tonight! I have my salt and tomorrow my plumbing cement will be cured and ready. I've been reading up on adding water but I want to be sure to do this right. I have a hydrometer which I will probably be replacing because I e hear they're in accurate. How do you guys fill a new? What should I look out for?

 

[Loki]

have you done a leak test on the tank? A leak test is something I reccomend on all tanks. Assuming that you have and want to start setting the tank up. I have found the easiest system for setting up a tank is to put things into the tank in a certain order.

1 dry rock stacked how you want it
2 sand
3 salt
4 water

If you do it in this order your rocks will be more stable and you can mix your saltwater in the tank (Only in fresh tanks with no inhabitants)

 

[Loki]

I would also run a line from your RODI directly to your tank. they sell the 1/4" line at home depot and lowes (it's the same as the water line for your refridgerator). Running a line will prevent you from having to pick up buckets

 

[D3NT]

Are the directions that come with the salt usually reliable? Meaning, will the product say for every x amount of gallons add x amount of salt? And thanks for the tips. I was going to fill it tomorrow and get the rock later but Ill probably hold off. The line from my RO seems like a great idea too!

 

[wysiwyg]

yes the directions on mixing salt are fairly accurate

 

[D3NT]

Well, my RO system will literally take days. I've been looking around, and I keep reading and hearing that people are starting with tap water or straight from an outdoor hose. Some guys in my area are saying the same. Obviously my tank is a LONG ways from being coral/fish ready, but I'm still weary. Everything I've read says DO NOT use tap water. Am I right to be skeptical, or is it acceptable to start with tap water while the system is new and needing to sort itself out? At any rate, I have an RO for top-offs at the very least!

 

[wysiwyg]

tap water contains alot of tds and other heavy metals and chlorine which will not help your cycle but there is addatives for tap water . that being said your better off going to your lfs and getting either pre mixed ro/di saltwater or regular ro/di fresh water.

 

[303travism]

Well, my RO system will literally take days. I've been looking around, and I keep reading and hearing that people are starting with tap water or straight from an outdoor hose. Some guys in my area are saying the same. Obviously my tank is a LONG ways from being coral/fish ready, but I'm still weary. Everything I've read says DO NOT use tap water. Am I right to be skeptical, or is it acceptable to start with tap water while the system is new and needing to sort itself out? At any rate, I have an RO for top-offs at the very least!

You might try and contact a aquarium maintenance company and see what they will charge you to fill your tank just an option you might want to consider

 

[D3NT]

Yup, I'll be looking into other ways of getting good water. After reading a few posts down, it seems well worth the wait.

 

[Loki]

Yeah. My tank took 72+ hours of constant running of my RODI to get it filled. As far as your filters/DI goes is may be a good idea to get the water from someone else. Provided its not expensive.

 

[Pappy]

I set up a 55g drum in garage with auto shutoff. May I suggest doing this for future water changes. Because it does take forever


Mike D "like the beastie boys" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EcoFrags]

using RO/DI water is the way to go dont mess around with tap water as even if you dont have issues with the water itself the piping in your home is typically copper which is not a good thing to have in your aquarium...as far as the salt yes those little bags are pretty accurate in their salt per gallon estimates...i would just run your RO unit into your tank for a few days it will be tedious but in the end the most rewarding and cost effective way of doing it...dont put the salt or rocks in first when you do that because if you have a leak you will be moving all of that material all over again and thats not fun at all...also doing it from your own RO ensures that you know every thing that played a part in making your aquarium and not having water come from other places that you may be unsure of..i've had RODI water from a LFS give me aptasia like i couldnt believe so i dont trust those places

 

[bmr]

I bought large 3 - 38 gallon rubbermaid containers for my RO/DI water. It took a couple of days to make enough water to fill my tank. I also bought the caster bases to make it easy to move them around. I like using the rubbermaids even after the initial tank fill because I use them for my water changes. I pump out 1 rubbermaid full then pump one in which is very close to my 20% water change. I also always keep one full just incase.


A hard lesson learned for me is to set remember alarms when making water. The wife was none to happy with the floating carpet in the front room.

 

[Loki]

I would suggest getting some float valves for your RODI storage containers. They are cheap when compared to a lashing from the Always Better Half. I have a 55g drum and a float switch on it. My RODI is hooked directly to it. Any time I take water from the drum it automatically starts to fill it back up and then shuts off when full.

 

[Chameleon]

I would suggest getting some float valves for your RODI storage containers. They are cheap when compared to a lashing from the Always Better Half. I have a 55g drum and a float switch on it. My RODI is hooked directly to it. Any time I take water from the drum it automatically starts to fill it back up and then shuts off when full.

+1 Also I might not mix the saltwater in the aquarium as changing the salinity might be a little tricky especially if you overshoot.

 

[D3NT]

The drum is a great idea.

 

[MaidOfDishonor]

I never thought of getting a RO system (what does RODI stand for?) for my home. I just figured they were too expensive. I thought I'd just have to get all my water at my LFS since they sell fresh and salt RO water.

 

[Loki]

The ones for a home are ridiculously expensive. If you look at bulkreefsupply.com you can get into one for $130.

RO/DI stands for reverse osmosis/ deionization it's a multi process crap removal from water.

 

[ritter6788]

The ones for a home are ridiculously expensive. If you look at bulkreefsupply.com you can get into one for $130.

RO/DI stands for reverse osmosis/ deionization it's a multi process crap removal from water.

+1 RO/DI is one of the best investments you can make for a tank.