Water change station questions..

reefknight · Aug 3, 2013

Ok, guys I know this is a subject that has probably been beaten to death, lol. But this is my situation, I have a stand made holding a 32gal Brute container above a 44gal Brute container. Both have float valves and are directly connected to my RO/DI unit which is wall mounted next to the hot water heater ( I T' ed off the cold water supply line to supply the RO unit). The 32gal is freshwater and the 44gal is for mixing saltwater. This all resides in my garage which is about 55' from the display tank and sump which is in the dining room. For the past couple of years this means to conduct a water change I must fill a separate 32gal Brute on wheels and bring it through the house. The catch is there is a step up from the garage to the house and one person lifting that container is difficult, so I have to plan this around when my teenage son is home. Draining the needed 10% is fairly easy as I installed a water change valve off of the return pump. I close all of the return valves on the display, hook up to the bulkhead fitting, open the back door and run the hose outside (about 10' or so, since I am on a septic tank rather than municipal sewer).

My thought is to drill the saltwater container to accept 3/4" uniseals and plumb it to an older Iwaki 40RLT that I have. Using PVC I need to create a way for the pump to not only circulate the saltwater as it is mixing, but hopefully deliver the water to the sump. I would like to use RV/Marine hose that is drinking water safe, remove the metal ends and install plastic ends to use as a delivery system to the sump in an attempt to quit lugging a 32gal Brute through the house.

Is the pump strong enough to deliver the water 55' horizontally, then maybe a 18" vertically (height of the sump)? Would the uniseals be better than attempting to install bulkheads in the containers?

Thoughts or ideas are welcomed!

chefmur · Aug 3, 2013

I had a similar problem my RO is in the garage and my tank is at the complete other end of the house, when I had a 75 gal tank I just used to haul buckets of the new salwater through the house for water change. Then I upgraded to a 150 and it was going to be a nightmare. My buddy gave a great idea, I purchased a bilge pump from Home Depot (about $100 ) that has a garden hose attachement and put it in my saltwater Brute. I run the hose to my tank ( about 60 feet ) along with an extension cord to the bilge pump. Plug in pump beside tank and voilla water change in about 10 mins, this saved me about 45 mins and backache from hauling buckets. If you have an Apex you can plug pump into that and control on/off with your phone rather than plug and unplug the pump. Works great for me.

Reefing Madness · Aug 3, 2013

Max Head 84'.
ReeFlo Tiger Shark 4300GPH - Bulk Reef Supply

reefknight · Aug 4, 2013

The bulge pump is an interesting idea. I'll have to take a look at that. Definitely a more affordable option over a Tiger Shark, ouch!

chefmur · Aug 4, 2013

here it is

Flotec 1/6 HP Submersible Utility Pump-FP0S1300X at The Home Depot

Reefing Madness · Aug 4, 2013

chefmur said:
here it is

Flotec 1/6 HP Submersible Utility Pump-FP0S1300X at The Home Depot

Salt Water rated?

SeymourDuncan · Aug 4, 2013

This is an easy job for me! I love plumbing!
All you need is the uniseal in the brute attached to whatever pump you decide. The output will have a t with valves on each side. One will be routed to your aquarium area, the other will be unisealed back into the salt reservoir. You just keep the valve to the tank closed while the one into the can is open to mix, then when you want to move the water just close the valve and open the closed one. Just don't forget to switch them back when you are finished lol. As for what pumps to use;
You don't need it to be super high powered, as that can actually be a problem, with my water station it gets pretty fast with just gravity so bubbles may be an issue. The next issue to be weary of:
Trapped water in the plumbing! You will need a way to flush the plumbing out so it doesn't become stagnant. A couple spiders crawl up in it and die and live got a mini cycle starting in your pipes lol.

What if your t off to the tank had a barbed hose fitting so you can take the hose off and dry it out and potentially use it on a future tank if you decide to add a second one someday? Just some ideas.

Ohh. And float switches to turn off the pump when your waterchange is complete. 55' is a long jog when your pump is running dry.

SeymourDuncan · Aug 4, 2013

Reefing Madness said:
Max Head 84'.
ReeFlo Tiger Shark 4300GPH - Bulk Reef Supply

Holy crap that's some massive head height! I guess I can setup a frag tank on the roof hahah

reefknight · Aug 5, 2013

SeymourDuncan said:
This is an easy job for me! I love plumbing!
All you need is the uniseal in the brute attached to whatever pump you decide. The output will have a t with valves on each side. One will be routed to your aquarium area, the other will be unisealed back into the salt reservoir. You just keep the valve to the tank closed while the one into the can is open to mix, then when you want to move the water just close the valve and open the closed one. Just don't forget to switch them back when you are finished lol. As for what pumps to use;
You don't need it to be super high powered, as that can actually be a problem, with my water station it gets pretty fast with just gravity so bubbles may be an issue. The next issue to be weary of:
Trapped water in the plumbing! You will need a way to flush the plumbing out so it doesn't become stagnant. A couple spiders crawl up in it and die and live got a mini cycle starting in your pipes lol.

What if your t off to the tank had a barbed hose fitting so you can take the hose off and dry it out and potentially use it on a future tank if you decide to add a second one someday? Just some ideas.

Ohh. And float switches to turn off the pump when your waterchange is complete. 55' is a long jog when your pump is running dry.

Some great ideas there, I need to get to work on this. Unfortunately work had me tied up on my day off. I need to order the uniseals and get them in so I can begin. My plan was to search for a hose locally today, but that didn't happen. I want to run a test to see if this will work before investing too much in the project. If my pump can push the water into the house then I will proceed with the project, if not then its back to the drawing board for the time being.

reefknight · Aug 10, 2013

Well I wasn't able to test the pump this week due to way too many hours at work. I did however order the uniseals and a 75' camper/marine hose. One way or another this project is going to work, lol!

SeymourDuncan · Aug 10, 2013

Awesome! A start is a start. That's for sure. I found a way to dump water from the lines too, but it requires a massive air pump.

Simply take a PVC cap that will plug the upper most end of the plumbing. Drill a hole and securely fasten an air hose into it. Blast the air through the pipe. As Long as there aren't too many ups and downs it gets the water out nicely. I'd recommend an air compressor but I don't know what's in them.