Quote:
Originally Posted by
gcgrad http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today/220#post_3365990
Gotcha Joe and Corey. Next question, I know I am full of them, but do you all use the rubber made brute trash cans to make up your saltwater? I checked them out at Lowes and they had the brute ones which were $30 for a 32 gallon. The basic 32 gallon rubber mades were only $14. I would like to save money when I can, but do you think the heavy duty ones are worth the extra cost? I guess it couldn't hurt considering I would want a container that would last in the long run. And while I'm mentioning it, for a 125 gal tank, how much water should be changed out and how often? Thanks again for your patience with me. Hope you all don't mind all the questions!
Dean, I did pick up a 32g brute can for the 120. When it was running I was doing 15G water changes every two weeks or roughly 25% a month. Now for my 50g, I just do 2.5g water changes once a week because I find it to just be easier doing small ones once a week with a 5g bucket on that tank as apposed to larger ones every two to four weeks. But for the brute I used to just set it up next to the tank the day before a water change and have it mix overnight so that I could add it to the tank the next evening.
I would recommend the brute simply because many people use those as well as the cheaper rubbermaids. Although, to the best of my knowledge I have never heard of a brute can failing or cracking on someone. But I can think of at least 3 people that I can recal whom have had the cheaper rubbermaids fail on them. They just weren't designed for that kind of thing. So in my case I guess you could say that since I was using mine in the house and on carpet that I felt the extra $15 or so was worth the peace of mind. If all you ever did was small water changes with it then it might be ok to go with a cheap one. But it's a risk we take when playing with water in the house. Perhaps you should ask yourself,....Am I feeling lucky???
Remember though, that water changes are going to be determined by what's going on with your system at any given point in time. A new tank is going to go through changes after being set up. And it takes months for a tank to really stabilize as long as you're not making a bunch of major changes along the way. Take it slow, don't rush it. You're trying to replicate a miniature, thriving eco system in your house and it takes time to do it right.
Oh, and I spent a couple extra bucks for the lid that goes with the can for when I'm not using it.
