Advice on Storage tanks for RO & Salt

[clearsky57]

I am getting ready to order a couple (100 gallon) poly tanks, one for my RO/DI water, and a second to have for mixed salt water for my water changing.

My question is, does anyone have any input as to the style tank I should get? I was thinking on two 23"diameter tanks (are about 5' tall, with a 7" or 8" top port, and a typical drain on the bottom... graduated, and the white poly...

I suppose my concern is what is the best way to mix the salt so that the water is properly disolved, and that it "keeps" in between changes in the tank.

 

My thought was to add a power head or some sort of pump, to keep the water moving in the tanks.

 

I'm sure there are ways (even better ways) to accomplish this so I figured I would get some input before I go out and buy a bunch of stuff, and find out there was a better way to "make the wheel"....

 

by the way.... I am purchasing a 75 GPD RO/DI unit so I think a 100 gallon tank should suffice... (I have a bunch of fresh tanks, but only one salt water one right now (75 gallon)

thanks

david

[epleeds]

if you have the room and the ability, look at post #10 in this link. This is the most though that I have ever seen go into a fish tank. The guy is OCD to the extreme.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1482007&perpage=25&pagenumb

[DaveS]

If you have the space and money to store 200G worth of water for a ~75G system go for it.

 

I have a ~300G system and I can store up to 30G RODI and 50G mixed salt. I usually don't keep it full so today for example, there's 10G RODI and 20G salt sitting around. I try to keep extra water around for emergencies and I figure 50G mixed + 30G that I can mix quickly + 150GPD RODI is usually enough. It's rare that I would have an emergency need to do more than 1/3 water change and if I do I know I can rely on my fellow WAMASers to help out.

[clearsky57]

I do have the space (money???) for a couple decent sized tanks, and I suppose 100 gal for mixed water may be overkill....

My concern on the mixed tank was the correct way to mix it, and how long it would keep once mixed.. If I maintain good circulation on it, will it keep longer?

I could go down in size, and might do so in retrospect, I don't need more than a 50 gal tank for the salt, but I can use all of what I produce in fresh, with all my other tanks.

I looked at the pics from the thread and the fellow there has the ultimate ocd system..... Looks great but maybe a little fancier than I need.

and the room I have for mine isn't quite as large as that...

[flooddc]

yep! it's overkill. But...with 200Gallons, you might be set for many months.

[OldReefer]

I have always thought about doing something similar. I think I would go with an external Pan World or Iwaki pump to mix the salt with and eductor in the mixing tank. You could plumb it up so all you have to do is flip a couple of valves to pump the salt water out to your sump. I really don't like having submersible pumps clanking around the bottom of my mixing tank, getting all limed up.

[Steve175]

^^^

That is what I do and I love it. I have separate external pumps plumbed to both an RODI container and a SW container. The SW container is plumbed into my main system (adds volume and with a flip of a switch I can take it off line and use that water for emergent addition to the sump). For a water change, I take the sw tank off line with a valve. Switch another valve and turn on pump for RODI (apex) and turn that pump off after it is full. Then I add salt and turn on the SW tank pump which pumps water back into the top of the SW tank (circulates itself). After 24h I then open the SW tank back to the system. Since I added an autotopoff system to the RODI container, it is always full. One of my system heaters sits in the bottom of the SW tank. The pump on the SW tank has 3 ouputs (each with a valve): one to the SW tank (to mix new SW), one to a drain, and one to a roll of 1" tubing that reaches to the sump. I outright love this system. Not only does increased volume add stability, but having a large volume of identical water to add to the sump emergently is priceless.

[clearsky57]

Do you have any photos of this system? would love to see it...

thanks

[Steve175]

A bit tough to photograph as the RODI is outside the walled off filtration room (through a door) with the SW tank in the filtration room (so hard to show the path of the PVC). I will do my best to grab a couple of pictures.

[DaveS]

The main disadvantage to the 2x100 storage system is probably the amount of floor space the tanks take up. That's space you could use for other things like storage racks, another tank, etc. If you are considering getting smaller tanks, even if just for the salt, you may be able to get away with stacking/mounting one above the other. If you do that, it will dramatically reduce the prime space being taken up by the system. Just a thought.

[clearsky57]

I actually have a space under my stairs, where the furnace and water tank are... there is room for a couple tanks, which works well for close proximity to my water filtration and hidden from view. It may be hard to plumb from that room, but I can set it up where I can attach a hose or something...