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FAQs on Moving Synthetic Seawater
Related Articles: Synthetic or Natural
Seawater,
Saltwater Impressions (Synthetics Review) By Steven Pro,
Specific Gravity, Water Changes/Changing, pH,
Alkalinity,
Marine Alkalinity Related FAQs:
Seawater 1, Seawater 2,
Seawater 3, Seawater 4,
Seawater 5,
Seawater 6, & FAQs on Mixing,
Supplementing, Storing,
Physical/Chemical Troubleshooting/Fixing... By
Make/Manufacturer: Natural Seawater.
Synthetics: Aquarium Systems (Instant
Ocean, Reef Crystals), Aquacraft
(Marine Environments, BioSea...),
Central Garden (Oceanic), Kent Marine
(SeaSalt), Red Sea (Red Sea Salt, Coral
Pro Salt), SeaChem Marine (Marine
Salt, Reef Salt), Energy Savers
(Coralife), Tropic Marin,
Other Brands... About Buying Pre-mixed
Seawater, About Synthetics
Manufacturers Advertising Claims...
Spg 1,
Treating Tapwater For Marine Aquarium Use,
Reverse Osmosis Filtration | 
Don't disturb the occupants
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Filling a new 150 gallon tank with RO water--what pump should
I use? 10/15/09
Hello everyone,
<Hiya Shannon>
I'm hoping you guys can help me out.
<I often wonder that myself>
I'm getting ready to fill my 150 gallon tank and I'm not sure how to get
the water in it!
<Easy .. you pour the water in through the top! .. oh wait ... there's
more ... lemme read ....>
My situation is this: I have an RO/DI unit mounted on the wall in my
laundry room, which is run off the washing machine. I'm planning on
filling two Brute trash cans that are stored in the laundry room with
the RO/DI water, and since the cans are on wheels, rolling them into the
living room where my tank is located.
<OK. Stop right there. Those trash cans are strong, but they're designed
for trash. 40 gallons of salt water weighs more than 350 pounds -- and
the wheels and axles of those trash cans aren't designed for anywhere
NEAR that weight. In other words, Shannon, once you fill those suckers
with water and make your mix, think of them like concrete pillars -- not
going anywhere until close to empty.>
<Now, as it turns out, this is a good thing(tm) because water in any
container sloshes as it's moved ... and the more it's moved, the bigger
the waves get. More to the point, once salt water starts to sloshing, it
finds a way to escape from it's container ... ANY container ... although
this does not sound possible, trust me when I tell that once salt water
is spilt, it will FIND the most valuable or most easily damaged thing in
the room and saturate it. Most old timers will tell you stories of a
spilled gallon of salt water that went UP a set of stairs, picked the
lock of a door and saturated some memorable keepsake of some family
member. Don't try to move the container and you and your entire family
will thank us later!>
I'm not sure what the best way to pump the water from the Brute trash
cans up into the tank would be.
<After your mix is made and aerated, aged (at least a day, 2 is probably
better), heated and pH balanced ...>
Would I use some type of submersible pump?
<Exactly>
If so, what kind would you recommend?
<The brand isn't that important, Shannon. 1) It needs to be submersible
2) that it be magnetic drive 3) It needs to have enough lifting capacity
to pump from the bottom of the trash can to the top of the aquarium.
This distance is known as "Head" and it's measured typically in feet. My
suggestion is that you pick a pump that is at least 2-3 feet higher that
your maximum distance.>
<Here's what I do, Shannon: I have a pump that is rated approximately
120 Gallons per hour - a relatively small pump. I have a roll of 1/2
inch ID (Inside Diameter) vinyl tubing from my local building supply
store that is long enough to reach and at the "tank" end, I run the
tubing into a 1/2 plastic ball valve (from the same building supply
store & they'll have plastic thread to barb fittings & clamps to
construct this, as well) and then out of the valve and into a piece of
"U" shaped tubing (from an old canister filter) to hang over the lip of
the tank.>
<Water changes are easy: close the valve, hang the tubing into the tank,
run the other end to a drain, open the valve, start a suction and go
watch TV. I have the INSIDE length of the U tube cut right at 10% so
when I start the drain, it runs dry at 10% of my tank volume. Once it
runs dry, I take the open end of the tube, attach it to the out let of
the pump, drop the pump into the vat of new water and plug it in.>
<Now this is an important part: Because I use only 1/2 inch tubing and
fairly weak pump .. the water flow back IN takes about 15 minutes which
is a nice, slow addition of the new water. When I reach the desired
level, I just close the valve at the tank, which gives me plenty of time
to get to the reserve water tank and turn everything off.>
<My last step is to run some hot, fresh water into a bucket and drop the
pump and both ends of the tubing into it and turn it on. The fresh water
circulates and cleans everything AND it makes the vinyl tubing extremely
flexible .. so when I'm rolling it up, it's easier to roll up without
kinks. But that's just me.>
Any help on this matter will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
<Yer welcome afterwards!>
Shannon O'Rourke
Old Bridge, NJ
Re: Filling a new 150 gallon
tank with RO water--what pump should I use? 10/17/09
Thanks so much for the info! You guys are THE BEST help as always!
<Yes we are! Go Team!>
One thing I definitely have enough of are ball valves and vinyl tubing!
<hmmmm ...>
This will give me a project for the weekend.
Thanks again,
<Yer welcome!>
Shannon
<Darrel>
Water Change Tactics, SW 7/7/08 I have not been able to
find out much about this, maybe I'm not searching correctly. What is the
fastest way to do a water change? I have a tall 300 gallon tank, and
draining is the easy part. <Heee!> To replace the water, I climb
up a stepladder with a five gallon plastic bottle containing water from
Rubbermaid trash cans that have the salt mix. Difficult and messy.
Is there an easier way? <Sure there is, a few. Perhaps the easiest
in my opinion (my method) is to get a dedicated hose ( a garden hose
with the ends cut off to fit hose barbs is cheap) and small, large,
whatever you want pump. A ball valve on the aquarium end will let you
control the flow. Put the pump in your mixing tank, run to the display
tank and filler up. If running a hose through your house is not
practical or appealing, the same can be done out of each individual 5
gal. next to the tank. It sounds like a pain, but after a while it is
nice to just set the bucket next to the tank and pump it in rather than
lifting bucket after bucket. There are a few, albeit pricey,
automated/semi automated water change systems out there. I just don’t
trust automation to this extent!> Anything you can tell me will
greatly appreciated! <I hope this helps out, Scott V.>
Re: Water Change Tactics 7/10/08 Thanks for the info, Scott. If
that garden hose idea works out, I owe you one! Terri <Very
welcome. One of the key overlooked components to water changes is making
them as easy as possible. This way water changes are more likely to
happen routinely. I hope this works out for you, Scott V.>
Moving useful aquarium water in volume - 01/09/2006 Hey Bob,
How's it goin? Hope all is well. <Yes, fine my friend. Returning
today from Dizzyworld, the marathon here> I was wondering if you had
any info on where to get large water transporting containers, like those
big plastic 50gal drums. <Mmm, we used to buy these spiffy
polyethylene drums from a soda pop syrup/distributor in San Diego... I
would call/contact one of these "bottlers" in your area... likely to
be cheap/er, easy to clean...> I am picking up a 135gallon reef
tank that some guy is tired of and want to move a lot of the old tank
water too. I am stressed about the move and have been reading over our
tank moving FAQs, but a free system is too good to pass up. here are
some pics if you are curious. <Mmm, a few thicknesses of trashcan
bags can/will do to line sturdy/dirty trash bins...>
http://happyfishy.net/reef.html Thanks, Gage <Ahh, back
into the fray! BobF>
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