Saltwater Mixing Station - Design Input Please

[Chromakey]

Good Day:

I am near the end of the process of converting my den into a home office / fish room.

The RODI and sink are in the old closet. For the mixing station I have a footprint of 21" x 32". I have been making the water in a 32 gallon Brute container but am leaning towards a Norwesco 40 Gallon Vertical tank 18"x42" tall with 8" lid or 45 Gallon 20"x37" tall with 5" opening. They will be have to be stacked vertically.

This is my first mixing station and it will service a 139 gallon, 40 gallon, 10 gallon and maybe another 139 gallon and a frag tank.

The considerations I am trying to work out:

1. I am looking for an electronic solution to control the level in the RODI container compared to just the float valve. I haven't chose my controller yet (Apex or Profilux) and haven't seen an elegant standalone solution.
2. Can I use the RODI container as my ATO? It will be higher than the sumps and will probably be run down into the crawlspace and up the back wall. Will a separate ATO container be better?
3. I was think of minimizing the external plumbing. Have people had success putting the pump directly in the container?
4. I am looking for a hose solution to fill the tanks after water changes. I will have sand in most of the tanks and will be vacuuming as part of my maintenance routine. A AWC doesn't make a ton of sense for my plans?
5. Any tips to avoid the large dust cloud of salt when adding salt to the mixing container?

Thanks for your input,

Michael

 

[texdoc77]

The considerations I am trying to work out:

1. I am looking for an electronic solution to control the level in the RODI container compared to just the float valve. I haven't chose my controller yet (Apex or Profilux) and haven't seen an elegant standalone solution.
2. Can I use the RODI container as my ATO? It will be higher than the sumps and will probably be run down into the crawlspace and up the back wall. Will a separate ATO container be better?
3. I was think of minimizing the external plumbing. Have people had success putting the pump directly in the container?
4. I am looking for a hose solution to fill the tanks after water changes. I will have sand in most of the tanks and will be vacuuming as part of my maintenance routine. A AWC doesn't make a ton of sense for my plans?
5. Any tips to avoid the large dust cloud of salt when adding salt to the mixing container?

1. They make a pressure solenoid switch that is electronic. Use that along with the float valve for redundancy.
2. You can use the RODI as your ATO, as long as you set up some checks you should be fine. For example a controller that alerts you if the water level rises too high, the ATO pump is on too long or the salinity gets out of range.
3. Sure, they make some great submersible pumps. People use the external with elaborate plumbing to push water all over the place. Take a good hard look at the places you may want water and then how much you have to spend on pumps to determine what is right for you.
4. I don't know what you are asking here. AWC always makes sense to me.
5. Add slowly, wear a mask.