Water change/ RODI unit station

rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
hey guys, like i said before im getting back into my 125 gallon tank. Lets cut to the chase, i havent done a water change in about 3 months and i just recently purchased a RODI unit. ( the tank is 2 years old) . Now ive seen people and stores woth amazinglyyy clear water so im hoping the RODI Unit helps clear up the water. Previosly i just used a simple filter to filter the water.
Now like i said its been a while since i did a water change. Im looking to change a lot to get my tank back up. So i created a rodi station in my garage. Im looking to buy 2 garbage cans, probably 30 gallons each ; one to hold ro water and one to hold ro and salt mix.
Now do i need to buy a specific garbage can or anything? I dont want to buy 2 garbage cans and find out there poisonious lol.
My LFS guy suggested i change 20% of the water every 2 weeks and after 4 water changes my water should be in perfect condition... True or false?
Im excitedto get back into my tank and cant wait to start it up. Currently i have 2 cloens, blue hippo and uellow tang, and 2 foxfaces which ive had for a year! Any suggestions or tips for the whole "revive" process would be great help
 
icedtc

icedtc

Member
Hey there,
I have used the Rubbermaid Brute trash cans. I went with two 20 gallons myself and believe they come in larger sizes. I believe that they are considered "food safe" storage containers which is what your looking for. Don't quote me on this but I assume as long as they are deemed "food safe" you should be good to go.
Just starting my first sw tank so I can't answer the other questions yet but good luck!
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Icedtc http:///t/390556/water-change-rodi-unit-station#post_3459585
Hey there,
I have used the Rubbermaid Brute trash cans. I went with two 20 gallons myself and believe they come in larger sizes. I believe that they are considered "food safe" storage containers which is what your looking for. Don't quote me on this but I assume as long as they are deemed "food safe" you should be good to go.
Just starting my first sw tank so I can't answer the other questions yet but good luck!
I have 2 of the 44 Gallon ones, I think.... Also make sure you purchase the dollies for them. Makes moving them effortless.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by rcdude1990 http:///t/390556/water-change-rodi-unit-station#post_3459627
well i would keep the cans in the garage and syphone out the water into a 5 gallon bucket for when i do a water change
I would get a pump, like a mag drive, and some tubing to pump the water to where you need it. I used to do the 5 gallon bucket thing but my back thanked me once I started using the pump.
I have 3 trash cans: one for mixing salt, one for my ATO, and one for the tank water siphoned from the tank during water changes. Having a container of mixing saltwater and an identical container for old water makes it much easier for me to know I'm taking out the exact amount of water that will be replaced.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
just went out and purchased 2 32 gallon garbage cans, rubbermaid thule series.
again i plan to fill both containers with ro water and one with salt mix
when i do the water change process i would consider doing 15 gallon changes... again mines a 125 and im gonna do bi-weekly changes. 15 gallons is enough? i would fill a 5 gallon bucket 3 times basically and be sure to remove the same amount
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I have a 45G brute trash can that I make new water in......also a 12G trash can that I always keep full of RO/DI for top offs
ALSO.....a 10G trash can for water changes on my small tanks.
I also have a 1000gph pump with clear hosing attached......I put the end of the hose in my laundry drain and the pump in the tank....I have a black line marked on my tank so I know how much water to take out (YUP....I had to measure it of course LOL)
After removing the water....I put the pump in the can with the new SW and the hose end in the tank.....
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
The way I do mine is, I simply siphon out water, I have a little dot on the back side of my tank that shows where a full bucket it. I take the water out the tank, then fill it back up. If there is some left over, I go out and pump the water out of the RO/DI bucket into it and start mixing water for my next water change. It is always a good idea to have mixed water around. I always have 1 filled with saltwater and another with RO/DI water.
I think it's a absolute must. I don't even need to add a heater to mine, I simply roll the bucket in the house the day before, plug it in next to the tank, the tank is basically room temp and I pump the water in from there.
Like I said if there is water left in the bucket then I save it and pump RODI into it.
Also consider getting a small pump just to pump the RODI water into your mix can so that you don't add salt to your RODI water when refilling. Doesn't have to be expensive.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
awsome i feel good knowing i bought a safe garbage can lol looks like everyone has a thule, now i just bought them, i should just rinse them out with water right before i start the RODI system?
also in addition to this whole new transformation, im looking to add a wavebox so im guessing ill be taking out about say 3 gallons to ensure i can get a nice wave without water spilling out of the tank. i cant wait to start my RODI tonight!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/390556/water-change-rodi-unit-station#post_3459644
I have a 45G brute trash can that I make new water in......also a 12G trash can that I always keep full of RO/DI for top offs
ALSO.....a 10G trash can for water changes on my small tanks.
I also have a 1000gph pump with clear hosing attached......I put the end of the hose in my laundry drain and the pump in the tank....I have a black line marked on my tank so I know how much water to take out (YUP....I had to measure it of course LOL)
After removing the water....I put the pump in the can with the new SW and the hose end in the tank.....
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by rcdude1990 http:///t/390556/water-change-rodi-unit-station#post_3459646
awsome i feel good knowing i bought a safe garbage can lol looks like everyone has a thule, now i just bought them, i should just rinse them out with water right before i start the RODI system?
also in addition to this whole new transformation, im looking to add a wavebox so im guessing ill be taking out about say 3 gallons to ensure i can get a nice wave without water spilling out of the tank. i cant wait to start my RODI tonight!!
Remember to purge your RODI. The first couple gallons of water will not be usable. I would even advise to not let it go through your di resin either. Let the RO run for a while then when it is getting good TDS in the low single digits then hook to your DI and let that run a bit. It should read 0 after that.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
i did the purge and over night was able to fill up 1 garbage can, (didnt fill it to the tippy top, i prob have a good 6 inches from the top that i left)
gonna start filling up the other one tonight and tomorrow night i plan to add the salt mix.
now i need a quick opinion. im going to go out and buy 2 submersible pumps to just circulate the water inside the garbage can. again 1 is only for RODI and one is RODI and Salt. now for the garbage can with salt in it, do you think i should fill it up toe the top? im only planning to do a 15 gallon water change every 2 weeks. so if i fill it to the top it leaves me with 15 of water still in the can. your opinions? fill it to about 30 gallons or fill it to about 15 gallons and just start the rodi a few nights before the water change?
also do you think its necessary to have a circulating pump in the RO only garbage can? i know some people would say its good to have so u can easily pump water out, but i usually top off my tank every other night with a gallon of water.
thanks for your help guys
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by rcdude1990 http:///t/390556/water-change-rodi-unit-station#post_3459747
i did the purge and over night was able to fill up 1 garbage can, (didnt fill it to the tippy top, i prob have a good 6 inches from the top that i left)
gonna start filling up the other one tonight and tomorrow night i plan to add the salt mix.
now i need a quick opinion. im going to go out and buy 2 submersible pumps to just circulate the water inside the garbage can. again 1 is only for RODI and one is RODI and Salt. now for the garbage can with salt in it, do you think i should fill it up toe the top? im only planning to do a 15 gallon water change every 2 weeks. so if i fill it to the top it leaves me with 15 of water still in the can. your opinions? fill it to about 30 gallons or fill it to about 15 gallons and just start the rodi a few nights before the water change?
also do you think its necessary to have a circulating pump in the RO only garbage can? i know some people would say its good to have so u can easily pump water out, but i usually top off my tank every other night with a gallon of water.
thanks for your help guys
I see no harm in having excessive Mixed water. You need some type of water movement in the buckets. Still water it a for sure way to breed bacteria, I keep a pump in both running.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
got it, thanks xcali, i commented on the post "water on the floor" and saw pictures of your tank... man thats exactly how i want my tank to be set up! thanks for the help. what salt do you use? everyone is suggestion tropic marine pro reef. im not looking to get all reefy but im looking to get like some xenia and stuff... corals that like flow in the breeze type of corals. basically the left side of your tank is how i want my tank to be. i think you have the pom pom xenias?
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Yes Pom Pom Xenia! I used for that tank Brightwell Aquatics salt. People swear against it. However, I used it for over a year on it and never dosed anything. I started with Reef Crystals but struggled to keep levels where I wanted them.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
quick questions guys... i did my water change last night and scraped my tank nice and clean! it looks like a brand new tank.
i placed my power heads and pumps into the new Thule garbage cans to circulate the water and i placed my heater in the garbage can for RO only water because i figured when i top off my water in the tank, it might as well be the same temperature as my tank. i just went into the garage to check the pumps and notice a lot of condensation on the lid of the garbage can with the heater in it. is this ok? should i shut the heater off? is the water that was on the lid no longer RO water? opinions and help please
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
Condensation is fine. It's just a result of evaporation in a closed environment. The water is still RODI water. Just try to keep the temp of the water the same as the temp of your tank. Also, you will want to check the salinity of the saltwater to make sure you are not getting any water lost to evaporation and therefore higher SG than desired.
 
rcdude1990

rcdude1990

Active Member
Awsome thanks i just wanted to make sure, i plugged my heater back in and i plan to pick up a bucket of tropic marine reef pro tomorrow and start mixing
 
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