Mixing large amounts of Water tips?

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deerhunter06

deerhunter06

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Hey guys ive always bought the natural sea water for my initial water supply with this new tank I have spent ALOT of money setting it up. So im trying to save where I can and mixing my water is definitely going to be cheaper then buying 25 boxes of ocean water. I saw a chart once on what salts mix up to like mg, calc, and alk and SG. I cant find it though if any of you have it that would be great, also any recommendations on salt would be great too. Also do you all use 55g trash cans to mix up large amounts? I have easy access to 5g increments of RODI at my local water store that will kind of be a pain pouring that many 5g buckets into another bucket. Is there anything easier? Any help would be appreciated! thanks.
 
If you have the space, I would setup a mixing station. Get your own RODI unit and have a container for fresh RODI water and another for mixing. Other than that, I would get a RODI unit. As far as salt, I use Aquavitro Salinity.
 
Deltec
Definitely get your own RODI. It's a must have and you'll thank yourself every time you use it. My buddy and I have a barracuda 100 gallons per day unit from AQUA FX!! I paid about 180 for it. He's had his for 2 years and I've had mine for one year. It's very reliable. When you purchase a RODI unit make sure it has a flush kit for flushing your RO filter.

As for salt I use instant ocean. It's great stuff and some times it goes on sale and you can get a 5 gallon bucket for 39.99 and a 10 dollar mail in rebate at petsmart making it 29.99. They also have reef crystal made by instant ocean which is more precisely balanced for reef tanks. It's the only thing I get at petsmart btw lol.

Get a nice new trash can for water and fill it with your RODI water, add salt, throw a power head in to mix the water and you'll save $100s

You can also take the DI off and make your own drinking water and save more money.

Tho the initial investment can be expensive you can save over a $1000 dollars a year like me filtering your own water!!
 
But I literally live a block away from a water store they have two Rodi machines that are open 24/7. Still wouldn't mind having one though
 
Nutramar Foods
I would suggest getting the 44 gallon brute for a mixing vessel but I have found you can get away with a 25-30 gallon Rubbermaid tote if you have one already.

My routine is to fill my mixing container of DI.
I have an old return "beater" pump I place in the water for circulation
I start off by adding one or two cups of salt at a time making sure to let each fully dissolve before adding the next batch.
My main goal here is to get the salt to dissolve with little to no accumulation of crystals on the bottom.
Accumulating salt crystals in water can result in precipitation of minerals that can mess up the final composition of the mixture.

I check the mixture with a calibrated refractometer and continue adding salt until the mixture is roughly 1.022 sg and let it circulate overnight.
The following day I add a heater to the water and let it warm to near display temperature.

As it warms I add the remaining salt until I reach my desired salinity (1.025 sg) as verified by refractometer.
I know most refractometers are temperature compensated but I still like my final checks to be within a few degrees of the display.

Finally I let the finished mix circulate for another 30 minutes or so then it is ready to use.

Others likely have a better method so take this with a grain of salt...:drum:.........pun fully intended!
 
I have 3 --44g, brute cans....1 is plumbed directly thru the wall into our tank. I have a ball valve/tee to use to drain and fill our 150g main tank.

turn it one way to drain, other to refill.

we use I/O Reef Crystals
 
Are you sure the water store has RO/DI? That is highly unusual since most people use RO only for drinking and cooking and DI is rare.
If you choose to purchase water do yourself a favor and invest $25 in a good handheld TDS meter so you know exactly what you are getting. I don't like relying on someone else for the single largest ingredient in my reef systems. You have spent a ton of money on your system, why skimp on the most important piece of all? $125 for a good reef quality RO/DI and around 5 cents a gallon to produce the RO/DI water from then on is darn cheap insurance and you alone control its quality.
 
Ecoscape Reef Rock
AZDesertRat said:
Are you sure the water store has RO/DI? That is highly unusual since most people use RO only for drinking and cooking and DI is rare.
If you choose to purchase water do yourself a favor and invest $25 in a good handheld TDS meter so you know exactly what you are getting. I don't like relying on someone else for the single largest ingredient in my reef systems. You have spent a ton of money on your system, why skimp on the most important piece of all? $125 for a good reef quality RO/DI and around 5 cents a gallon to produce the RO/DI water from then on is darn cheap insurance and you alone control its quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks bought a 100gpd rodi unit I hate going to the water store anyways.
 
Please tell us you didn't buy a RO/DI with a Dow Filmtec 100 GPD membrane!
The Dow 100 is the worst possible choice of membranes for reef use, it is not really a 96-98% rejection rate RO membrane but is a Nano Filter only capable of 90% removal efficiency.
What exactly did you buy? If it is the Dow membrane please for your sake cancel the order as there are much much better choices at around $125 complete.
 
Tidal Gardens
It's OK but you can do better at a lower price from several vendors. Alex at Aqua FX is a nice guy but they are not at the top of my list.
Compare what you ordered to this for $125:
Refurbished 90-GPD RODI System

or this for $146
Premium RODI System - Buckeye Hydro

or this for $139
http://www.purelyh2o.com/index.php?...oduct_id=63&virtuemart_category_id=75&lang=en

or if you want to stick with Marine Depot for some reason at $189 but is the same unit as the first one above directly from the manufacturer:
SpectraPure® Maxpure RO/DI System



You really don't need gimmic's like chloramine carbons even if you do have chloramines in your water and especially if you don't. Aqua buys membrane fabric and winds their own membranes which concerns me a bit unless they can provide third party independent testing results showing their sustained rejection rates. The reason you want a 98 or even 99% rejection rate RO membrane in the case of Spectrapures hand tested Select series is for every 2% improvement your DI resin life doubles.

The three I linked to all use 75 GPD Dow Filmtec RO membranes which are the standard of the industry then the first two improve upon them. Spectrapure specially treats all their membranes with a proven proprietary process to improve the rejection rate then either batch tests them or in the case of the Select series individually hand tests them and guarantees the performance in writing. Buckeye also offers tested membranes. Either will save you money over the life of the system in DI savings alone.
 
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jdl513 said:
I would suggest getting the 44 gallon brute for a mixing vessel but I have found you can get away with a 25-30 gallon Rubbermaid tote if you have one already.

My routine is to fill my mixing container of DI.
I have an old return "beater" pump I place in the water for circulation
I start off by adding one or two cups of salt at a time making sure to let each fully dissolve before adding the next batch.
My main goal here is to get the salt to dissolve with little to no accumulation of crystals on the bottom.
Accumulating salt crystals in water can result in precipitation of minerals that can mess up the final composition of the mixture.

I check the mixture with a calibrated refractometer and continue adding salt until the mixture is roughly 1.022 sg and let it circulate overnight.
The following day I add a heater to the water and let it warm to near display temperature.

As it warms I add the remaining salt until I reach my desired salinity (1.025 sg) as verified by refractometer.
I know most refractometers are temperature compensated but I still like my final checks to be within a few degrees of the display.

Finally I let the finished mix circulate for another 30 minutes or so then it is ready to use.

Others likely have a better method so take this with a grain of salt...:drum:.........pun fully intended!
Click to expand...

I have a very similar process. I feel that adding all the salt at once causes that brownish calcification on the sides of my mixing container. Another step I now implement is adding magnesium sulfate/chloride with the first addition of salt.
 
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They are two different membrane technologies. The Dow TW30-1812-100 is a NF or Nano Filter rated by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) for "Pool and Spa Use" and 90% removal (two log removal) and the TW30-1812-75 is a RO or Reverse Osmosis membrane rated as a Human Consumption Drinking Water filter and 96-98% efficient (three log removal).

The difference between the two amounts to many times longer DI resin lifespan and better water quality since one is 6% to 8% or more higher efficiency. Each 2% increase doubles the DI life so its nt just twice as long but 8 to 10 times longer DI life which adds up to a huge savings over the lifespan of the membrane.

I am not saying the Aqua FX membrane is the same as the Dow but I do believe they purchase the materials from Dow so it really depends on which materials they use and how well they wind their membrane. Many others such as Applied use Dow materials and their membranes do not always he the same typical efficiencies as true Dow membranes.

GE Water builds what they call a 100 GPD membrane which is 96-98% rejection but it is equal in all respects to the Dow 75 since it requires 60-65 psi to produce 100 GPD and 75 GPD at 50 psi which is identical to Dow which rates their membrane GPD at 50 psi. The Dow 75 does 75 GPD at 50, 90 GPD at 60 and 100 GPD at 65 psi and the higher the pressure the more efficient or better rejection rate it has. I run mine at 95-100 psi with a booster pump and get over 125 GPD at 99.4% efficiency.
 
So a booster pump is almost certainly going to be a must have to get maximum efficiency?
 
Deltec
I'm kinda the oddball here. Air water and ice Rodi
5stage. Flush. Ect.
Nice unit.

Oceanic salt. Just available and average priced.

55g drum. Food grade. Scrub with Rodi and rinse.
My big point of sale pump heats and mixs. Lol.
Hths
D
 
RO booster pumps make a big difference not only by increasing the GPD but more importantly they improve the rejection rate or removal efficiency. If you look in the FAQ section on the Spectrapure website they have an article on how a booster pump helps and saves you money.

If you have 60+ psi at the tap it may take awhile to realize a return on your booster investment but if you have less than 60 the difference can be dramatic.

Spectrapure also has an FAQ article on the things you should know before buying a RO/DI and why those things matter.
 
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