What do you use to measure out water?

[Larry L]

What do you use to measure out a volume of water and know you've got the number of gallons you wanted? Suppose you have a Brute trash can and wanted to do a 25 gallon water change - what container would you use to measure out the 25 gallons, and have reasonable confidence you got the right volume?

 

[krash7172]

I've started with 4 cup measuring cups to verify a larger container like a pitcher or bucket. Mark that with graduations. Then do the same with next size container. Now I have graduation lines on my sump and mix tanks

 

[krash7172]

Larger volumes - in lab we will zero 5g buckets on a scale and weigh

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Larger volumes - in lab we will zero 5g buckets on a scale and weigh

And how much would that be

 

[krash7172]

Water is about 8.35 lb/gal

 

[Quietman]

So you could calculate 25 gallon by height of display (l x d x w)/231 = gallons. Drain to buckets, fill your brute, mark accordingly.

 

[Quietman]

Practically speaking though. Make up a full trashcan of SW. Empty down to your 25 gallon inch height on display tank. Fill to that mark.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

You update your brute trash can or buy a expensive tank built with volume display.
I chose the DiY approach.

 

[krash7172]

Soft containers will distort. Weight is accurate

 

[Greg P]

Start with a lab grade beaker. Measure out a gallon, mark a container with the 1 gallon level, and carry on

 

[krash7172]

True, true. Most dont have a lab grade beaker tho

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Come on guys, nothing in our hobby requires that accurate of measurement.

 

[Opus]

Come on guys, nothing in our hobby requires that accurate of measurement.

I must agree. I just change some water. The corals or fish don't know if you done a 10% or 13% water change.

 

[Greg P]

Come on guys, nothing in our hobby requires that accurate of measurement.

Yes it does, if you're trying to do as the OP is, which is to accurately measure out nearly 200 gallons of water.

If you, pdx, took a 5 gallon bucket of water that was actually only 4.8 gallons, how far off would your measurements be by the time you reached 200 gallons?
It's off by 8 gallons, which is 4%, which if the OP was dosing something could make an impact you were not calculating for.

 

[krash7172]

Wanna know 25g? put your container on a scale. You prob don't even need one that you can zero because the container ls plastic and light compared to 25g of water. 210 lbs

 

[jurgenph]

5 gallon wc in a 5 gallon bucket
2 gallon wc in a 2 gallon bucket

easy peasy

J.

 

[Greg P]

Picture the OP looking for advise to dose ChemiClean.
He states he has a 180 and a 68g sump.
So you tell him to dose 248 gallons of water, but we have figured out he only has 200 gallons of total system water.

How would any of our trying to figure out exact water volumes be a bad idea?

 

[Greg P]

5 gallon wc in a 5 gallon bucket
2 gallon wc in a 2 gallon bucket

easy peasy

J.

So what exact level in what bucket is the line for each ?

 

[Greg P]

Wanna know 25g? put your container on a scale. You prob don't even need one that you can zero because the container ls plastic and light compared to 25g of water. 210 lbs

Do we really know the weight of water between our different cities with our TDS levels?
My TDS water might only weigh 6.5lbs/gallon versus your 160/300TDS water at 7lbs/gallon.
This is not a fair or accurate measure.

 

[krash7172]

When they overflow. lol

Seriously. Easiest way to figure out how much water is in a container is to weigh it