Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

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sarahnya
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Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Okay I know to some of you this is a daft question but to mix saltwater I read I have to have a large container that's at least 3/4 my tank and mix the salt in there using a heater overnight.

If that's right how do I then get the water from the container in the tank (Yes I'm clueless I know) cus I sure as hell can't lift it.

Is there not an easier way of doing this, I don't like the idea of having to have a bin of water in my living room lol
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bertie 83
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by bertie 83 »

I mix saltwater with a powerhead and heater for 24hours minimum. Just to be sure. I have a large holding vat that holds enough for 2 water changes and a bit spare just in case. If you are on the ball you can have a mixing tank smaller and do regular water changes that way, this will not leave you prepared for a mishap though. If you can keep 50% of your tank volume mixed at all times you should be ok. If you can keep 100% of your tanks volume mixed you are well prepared in case of a disaster. With a long hose and a powerful pond pump or similar you can just syphon and pump back, from almost anywhere easy peasy
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
sarahnya
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

It's more of a space issue for me, I don't have room to have a big container in my living room. I guess one for my current tank wouldn't be too bad but when I upgrade his tank to the 180 l I'm not gonna have room.
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bertie 83
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by bertie 83 »

You can get away with a narrow tall container with a couple of well placed powerheads. Or a smaller one if you do more regular waterchanges
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Iliveinazoo
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by Iliveinazoo »

I used to use a bucket when I had a 60 litre tank and would mix the salt in the bucket as and when I needed it. Now that my tank is around 200 litres I have extended my siphon hose so that it reaches out of the window and into the front garden. I also have a 125 litre water butt that I usually fill up a day or two before water change day and I leave a cheap pond pump running, during the summer I have an aquarium heater in there but because the water butt is outside and the temperature has dropped I don't fill it to the top immediately because I top up with boiling water from the kettle as the tank drains just so I don't have to pay for wasted electrical energy.

I then use a garden hose and a drill driven pump to pump from the butt into the tank.
sarahnya
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Okay thanks. I have got a tall 25l bucket, I need to look into pumps etc as I've no idea what to buy.
sarahnya
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Can someone link me to the kinda pond pump and any other equipment I need.

I just tried to use a gravel vac for the first time today, I dunno if I had a crap one or it's my method but the suction was awful, really struggled.
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Iliveinazoo
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by Iliveinazoo »

Your gravel vac relies on gravity so if there isn't a large fall (distance to the floor) then the draw won't be as strong.

If you want to use a pond pump to pump water into the tank then you need to look at the 'head'. The 'head' will tell you how high the pump can pump the water up to but bear in mind that it will be reduced by the diameter of your hose and the length of the run and how many bends there will be in it. I would recommend buying a one that is very oversized and put a valve on the end of your hose so that you can temper the flow. For the price of large pond pumps you might be better off looking at water butt sump pumps. They still have to be submerged into the butt but they are normally more powerful. If the pond pump is there just to mix the salt then just buy the cheapest reputable make available.

I've got a Wolfcraft 2200000 Master Water Pump 3.000 l/h drill pump that i've mounted on a left over bit of chipboard and the offcut is big enough so that i can rest my drill on it. It won't work very well with a battry drill but a half decent power drill will work very nicely, something like this would work http://www.diy.com/departments/jcb-cord ... 567_BQ.prd , I'd recommend a drill with a chuck that is tightened and released with a chuck key rather than a hand tightening one because you will only be able to access about half of the chuck. You will also need decent attachments for the hose so that they don't leak on your carpet, i found a chrome kit when i was searching but these should do https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Outdoor-Taps ... garden+tap
The plastic ones leak over time in my experience.
Then it's just garden hose that's long enough to go from the water butt to the tank, via the drill pump. To keep the hose at the bottom of the water butt when pumping i've cable tied it to a small rock.

I was lucky in the sense that i'm always doing DIY so I had most of the gear already.
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bertie 83
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by bertie 83 »

I use the cheapo pumps from eBay/Amazon to pump water around here to there. As stated above just check how high they are rated to pump and I go one bigger. Got one at £6.99 to pump from mixing tank to sump (1000lph ish Amazon) use one on my reactor too cant remember size though, seem alright,
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
sarahnya
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Would this be a cheapo pump you refer to?
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUBMERSIBLE-WAT ... iid%253A23

What kinda power do I need and what other equipment shall I get?
sarahnya
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Ok so these just stick on the inside of the container and I run a hose from a to b and job done? What kinda power do I need or does it not matter on litres per hour etc for this kinda purpose.
sarahnya
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
Location (country): United Kingdom

Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

Iliveinazoo wrote:Your gravel vac relies on gravity so if there isn't a large fall (distance to the floor) then the draw won't be as strong.

If you want to use a pond pump to pump water into the tank then you need to look at the 'head'. The 'head' will tell you how high the pump can pump the water up to but bear in mind that it will be reduced by the diameter of your hose and the length of the run and how many bends there will be in it. I would recommend buying a one that is very oversized and put a valve on the end of your hose so that you can temper the flow. For the price of large pond pumps you might be better off looking at water butt sump pumps. They still have to be submerged into the butt but they are normally more powerful. If the pond pump is there just to mix the salt then just buy the cheapest reputable make available.

I've got a Wolfcraft 2200000 Master Water Pump 3.000 l/h drill pump that i've mounted on a left over bit of chipboard and the offcut is big enough so that i can rest my drill on it. It won't work very well with a battry drill but a half decent power drill will work very nicely, something like this would work http://www.diy.com/departments/jcb-cord ... 567_BQ.prd , I'd recommend a drill with a chuck that is tightened and released with a chuck key rather than a hand tightening one because you will only be able to access about half of the chuck. You will also need decent attachments for the hose so that they don't leak on your carpet, i found a chrome kit when i was searching but these should do https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Outdoor-Taps ... garden+tap
The plastic ones leak over time in my experience.
Then it's just garden hose that's long enough to go from the water butt to the tank, via the drill pump. To keep the hose at the bottom of the water butt when pumping i've cable tied it to a small rock.

I was lucky in the sense that i'm always doing DIY so I had most of the gear already.
Thanks for that. I'm absolutely rubbish at diy. The bucket shouldn't be too far away from the tank so it's not so bad, a pump and heater should do the trick and the amount of salt to be mixed should be relatively small and shouldn't take too long to mix. I just need to work out what size pump I need.
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bertie 83
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Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis
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Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by bertie 83 »

sarahnya wrote:Would this be a cheapo pump you refer to?
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUBMERSIBLE-WAT ... iid%253A23

What kinda power do I need and what other equipment shall I get?
Yup, those are the ones. I can often be a snob for equipment but these are actually quite good.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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bertie 83
Moderator
Posts: 5298
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
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Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis
Location (country): Brighton, England
Location: brighton , england

Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by bertie 83 »

If you are pumping from one place to another the only real thing to consider is the height it will have to push up.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
sarahnya
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
Location (country): United Kingdom

Re: Mixing Salt/Tank Maintenance

Post by sarahnya »

It's actually really not far, I'm gonna squidgy that bucket in the corner of the room next to the tank. The tank isn't that high up at all, I've got it on a side board. Does this mean I don't need a kick buttocks pump?
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