If you own a saltwater mixing station, please share your pictures & ideas?

[FLSharkvictim]

Updated a lot of changes to my saltwater mixing station with a better quality DC pump. I got a VarioS4 DC Controllable pump and added an extra Cepex ball Valve.

These pumps run so quite it's amazing. I mean you can't even tell that the pump is on and running. I have hear of the VarioS losing a little of it's flow after about 6 months but I am ok with it, since they blows away them panworld pumps.

 

[Averhoeven]

Not the cheapest but good for saving space. Both reservoirs were advertised as 55 gallons. I'm just about finished with it, just need to add the hose adapter,and I haven't water tested it yet.

Where did you get your tanks from and how much were they? I love their stackability.

 

[Richards_reef]

I found them on Amazon. They were 300 for the two of them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0785BHYFG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_aN2rBbJZN8WKC

 

[Cyked1]

Some of you guys' setups are like a Walter White cook setup, just with more plastic.

 

[Drauka99]

here is mine,

All 1" pipe. Iwaki 70rt (I think can't remember model number exactly)
20 long ATO res below, takes around 2 minutes to refill WITHOUT the pump on.
2- 55 gallon food safe barrels, both open top for ease of salt mixing.
on a stand that about 40" tall.

that's the return section on my sump you see on the left side of the pic.

2018-07-09_12-41-33 by drauka99, on Flickr

 

[CDavmd]

Here's mine-

 

[john.m.cole3]

I have the 50 gallon barrels, stand, pump, RODI unit, and all. Looking for plumbing ideas so I'll follow along!

 

[User]

For all you guys using the cheap HD/Lowe’s ball valves- do they loosen up over time to make them easier, or do they have an adjustment?

I have tried dozens in store and can’t find one that I can turn without really cranking it. I use either cepex or the white union valves from Lowe’s instead, but the price adds up if you think about how many valves we need.

Cheers

 

[electricreef]

Finished up my mixing station a little over a month ago. Lines the wall leading into my soon to be fish room in the basement. I can Switch between tanks. Run both at the same time. Can pump everything out into the utility sink. Best part is when I’m able to turn a valve and do an automatic water change without moving hoses and buckets. The easier something is, the more likely you are to do it.

 

[BOWHUNTER4250]

A little hard to see but i have a 55 gallon tank on the bottom left which is my top off ( R/O ) and a 75 gallon tank on the bottom right ( my mix tank ) . I have a pump in my sump and a pump in my mix tank and every Sunday morning i do a 30 gallon water change automatically thru my Apex ! once a month i refill the 75 and start over i just make sure my salinity is as close as possible in both display and mix tank.

 

[wangspeed]

I pump from my basement to my sump upstairs. No bucket carrying. There is a drain next to the sump too, so I can pump directly from the sump without bucket carrying there too.

 

[Hnguyen]

Here's mine. (2) 65 gallon tanks. Top tank holds RODI water and gravity fed into the bottom tank which holds and mixes salt water. Bottom tank is plumbed to recirculate within itself and will also pump new salt water upstairs to my display tank during a WC by turning a valve to redirect water flow. RO tank is filled using my 800 GPD RODI unit. I need to install an overflow pipe into the RODI tank because uve flooded this area 3 times now due to having the RODI unit on too long.

 

[ReefWithCare]

Not the cheapest but good for saving space. Both reservoirs were advertised as 55 gallons. I'm just about finished with it, just need to add the hose adapter,and I haven't water tested it yet.

Used Brute cans for mine. I would say the best advice is to use schedule 80 bulkheads instead of uniseals. I replaced the uniseals severa Times until I get the schedule 80s. Also - use barb instead of the junk that HD sells. My hose will leaks every now and then because I didn’t use a barb

 

[Sirwin007]

I had a tight fit into a closet the size of an optional bathtub. My DT is behind these tanks. Next to this closet is a 1/2 bath. I ran a drain line (for the DT, sump and waterstation), RO/DI tap line, ATO fill line, and a line to fill/pull water to/from the DT. My fresh water tank doubles as my ATO storage using a gravity feed Apex solenoid coupled to my ATO sensors. I added 2 optical sensors that open the RO/DI main line (pre filters) to fill the fresh tank when it gets low (bottom). Open the solenoid, turns on the RO/DI step-up pump. The pressure switch is there, but coupled with the float into the fresh tank are my secondary cut-offs. Even if those fail, there is a drain line at the very top of the fresh tank. I also added a split and valves to dump RO/DI water from the fresh line to the drain during back flushes. Their is also a fresh manual TO line to my QT tank if needed. There are valves to direct the water from this tank either into the salt tank, or down the drain.

When I want to make saltwater, I open a valve and it fills the bottom tank. This tank has the pump that pushes water to either; drain, circulate back, QT fill, DT fill. Also running through this stack I can open DT valves and this stack to push water from my DT to the QT. So for my QT, I can either use fresh to DT water. The DT has a valve to direct fresh water right up in the return. I also added salinity and temp probs to my salt tank. The temp/heater is for feeding my QT and optionally run. No hoses or buckets for me!

This is all theory as this is my first salt tank, still under construction. I've tested this water room and it all works. I'll be filling my DT in a few weeks to start cycling.

 

[SteveD]

I simply have two 100litre water butts, RODI into one that also serves as ato reservoir, and the other for salt mix. Due to close proximity to the display tank there is no need for hard plumbing.

 

[brett98xj]

Here's my current setup

 

[Richards_reef]

Used Brute cans for mine. I would say the best advice is to use schedule 80 bulkheads instead of uniseals. I replaced the uniseals severa Times until I get the schedule 80s. Also - use barb instead of the junk that HD sells. My hose will leaks every now and then because I didn’t use a barb

Thanks for the advice. Only reason I used the uniseal at the top is because I assumed these would flex when filled with water, and I don't want to put that extra pressure on the volute of the pump, the bottom fittings are bulkheads.

I don't plan on disconnecting the hose. If I get a leak I have plenty of unions and don't mind putting a barb on it at a later point. It's already built so I'm going to use it as is until I decide to fiddle with it.

I appreciate your input from your experience, I'm sure it will come in handy when Murphy shows up.

 

[Headhunter]

Updated my saltwater mixing station with a better quality - the Reef Octo VarioS4 DC Controlable pump and added an extra Cepex ball Valve. These pumps run so quite it's amazing.. I mean you can't even tell that the pump is on and running...

This setup looks great...I ordered my supplies, just awaiting arrival. Can you use your pump to take water out of DT? I'm wondering if I add a few more ball valves I can make that work. My DT is on the main floor, and SW is downstairs in the laundry room in my basement. Otherwise, I guess I just use gravity?

 

[FLSharkvictim]

This setup looks great...I ordered my supplies, just awaiting arrival. Can you use your pump to take water out of DT? I'm wondering if I add a few more ball valves I can make that work. My DT is on the main floor, and SW is downstairs in the laundry room in my basement. Otherwise, I guess I just use gravity?

@Headhunter, thanks! What I do is use my GHL #MaxiSA doser to do my water changes for me - (HANDS FREE) I have my MaxiSA doser do all of my transferring of the NSW and the OSW. It's all connected to the Salt barrel and I have it all running off my ProfiLucx4 controller. I actually got my new 6 BRS RODI system w/ a 2nd membrane upgrade along with the Booster pump! As we all know, most RO membranes produce waste-water in a 3:1 ratio to filtered water. This ratio only worsens over time as your sediment and carbon filters begin to clog and the pressure of the water reaching the membrane begins to drop. What''s awesome about adding a 2nd membrane, is you produce double the amount of product water and produce a lot less waste water. In my opinion it's a no brainier upgrade if you run any RODI system. Also you must have sufficient tap water pressure is the major caveat of this approach. Most vendors recommend that the first RO membrane should be receiving at least 65 PSI for a dual membrane setup to work properly. I just need to do a little wire management and this mixing station project will be finally completed.

FLShark 120 build:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flsharks-120-build.427360/

 

[Headhunter]

@Headhunter, thanks! What I do is use my GHL #MaxiSA doser to do my water changes for me - (HANDS FREE) I have my MaxiSA doser do all of my transferring of the NSW and the OSW. It's all connected to the Salt barrel and I have it all running off my ProfiLucx4 controller. I actually got my new 6 BRS RODI system w/ a 2nd membrane upgrade along with the Booster pump! As we all know, most RO membranes produce waste-water in a 3:1 ratio to filtered water. This ratio only worsens over time as your sediment and carbon filters begin to clog and the pressure of the water reaching the membrane begins to drop. What''s awesome about adding a 2nd membrane, is you produce double the amount of product water and produce a lot less waste water. In my opinion it's a no brainier upgrade if you run any RODI system. Also you must have sufficient tap water pressure is the major caveat of this approach. Most vendors recommend that the first RO membrane should be receiving at least 65 PSI for a dual membrane setup to work properly. I just need to do a little wire management and this mixing station project will be finally completed.

FLShark 120 build:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flsharks-120-build.427360/

Wow...I dream of AWC (hands free)...I'm still a newbie and have to get this mixing station done ASAP or my head will explode and/or my wife kills me.

I 95% done finalizing my plans, but struggling with a few things...
1) Best method for circulating new SW in tank - powerhead vs external pump. pump seems like total overkill. I was thinking via timer running powerhead for 15mins every 60 mins or something
2) Quick connects:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/barb-x-shutoff-push-lock-coupler.html
or
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/male-thread-cam-lever-quick-connect-coupling-b.html
3) how to shut off pump (in laundry room) when my DT if full - wemo remote switch or can I just turn off a ball valve on the DT side of my hose? Would that damage pump or add too much pressure to force a leak in a weak spot?

Thank you in advance.