Water Mixing Tank

JustinFromAL · Dec 28, 2015

Hi folks, I'm currently using a 35g Brute trash can as my mixing vessel for water changes. I'm redo-ing my entire setup (build thread coming soon) and want to "clean up" the water changing station a bit.

I need something that is:
- vertically oriented
- holds at least 35g, preferably 50ish
- has easy access to add salt at the top
- can be drilled near the bottom

I think something like this 55g roto-mold would be ideal, but $200 shipping kills it.

I'm planning on having this next to the 150g Rubbermiad stock tank I just bought and adding the new salt water via gravity.

Anybody know a local vendor that might carry something that would work? Any suggestions on setting up something like this also welcome.

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2015

Tractor supply carries water storage containers close to what your looking for. The only one that I know of is in Moody.

My setup is not exactly what you are talking about, but it is close. I run my mixing container on the ground mainly because there is a plug on the air conditioner. In the top pic, I have the second part of the union connected to a barbed fitting that is connected to a hose. When I am ready to add water I just open the middle ball valve.

The RO line is connected to a T from the supply line on the sink. I run the RO line overhead and down to the garbage can.

You are more than welcome to stop by and check it out. I am in Hoover.

Thanks
Randy

theblackpearl · Dec 28, 2015

jump on craigslist and look for 55 gallon plastic barrels....If they are blue they are food safe....9 times out of ten they have a label on them saying what was in them...I picked up 2 for 20 bucks.....Give them a good vinegar bath before you use them......i cut a 6 inch round hole in the top of mine so that I can use a sump pump and pump to the second story where my tank is

ChrisAndJulie2012 · Dec 28, 2015

Man thats a heck of a set up hawk, wish I had the space for something like that.

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2015

ChrisAndJulie2012 said:
Man thats a heck of a set up hawk, wish I had the space for something like that.

Thank you. When we moved back to Birmingham, the downstairs was built basically around the fish tanks. I feel very fortunate to be able to have something like this. All of this started when I was around 5 with a goldfish bowl.

JustinFromAL · Dec 28, 2015

@Hawkinsgk, great setup! Looks very similar to what I'm trying to do as well, but much cleaner..haha. I'd love to see it before I go _too_ far with my setup.

@theblackpearl, great tip! I immediately found a guy with white 55g poly drums for $20. Not sure how I feel about bulkheads in a round drum but it looks like people are getting 1/2" sch40's to seal without issue. That might be my best/cheapest bet.

JustinFromAL · Dec 28, 2015

hawkinsrgk said:

I noticed you have your stock tank sitting directly on the concrete. I was planning on building a stand or at least putting some insulating board between the tank the concrete to mitigate the cold concrete in the winter. Are you having any issues with yours?

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2015

JustinFromAL said:
I noticed you have your stock tank sitting directly on the concrete. I was planning on building a stand or at least putting some insulating board between the tank the concrete to mitigate the cold concrete in the winter. Are you having any issues with yours?

Not from the cold or heat. My only issues have been mold from the humidity. I put a dehumidifier in the fish room and run it during the summer months. The temperature in the basement doesn't vary that much for me. It could be that two of the basement walls are underground. The stock tank has one inch plastic supports under it so not sure if that could be a factor as well.
http://r.search.yahoo.com/cbclk2/dW...t7hIyvevOTkL2xglYjf2zyVVSCcWHRxLYCzIcFm11KY8-

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2015

Oh. One thing I forgot about. I am running a 800W heater and the total system volume is about 380G.

JustinFromAL · Dec 28, 2015

Gotcha, similar to my situation. We just built an addition that makes our former 1 car garage into a laundry/fish room/storage/seasonal greenhouse. I feel like it will stay +/- 5 degrees or so with the rest of the house so I might be ok. Humidity will definitely be an issue, I'm already assuming I'll need a dehumidifier that I can hopefully just plumb down the washer drain.

hawkinsrgk · Dec 28, 2015

That will work as long as the line is slopped down. When I set mine up, I thought I would be ok as long as the output from the dehumidifier was higher than the connection to the sink. I had to work with the output line for a min to get it to have no back pressure.