Initial fill questions - will this work?

[Aggie1978]

Red Sea Peninsula 500 initial fill question. Please bear with me as I am a newbie. So I am ready to fill my tank! After reading many articles here is what I am planning to do - PLEASE CRITIQUE and let me know if this will work or if there is a better way.

1. Tank has about 175 lbs of dry Marco rock and 1 1/2" of dry sand (Caribe Sea Special Grade)
2. I plan to begin this initial fill by adding RODI directly into the display. Fill until it begins to drain into the sump.
3. Continue to fill until the sump fills up - QUESTION: fill until what level? How high should the waterline be in the sump?

4. Then turn on return pump. Make adjustments until running properly - eg. steady circulation with the waterline in the overflow weir about 1/2" below the smaller overflow pipe.

5. Then I plan to add salt (Tropic Marin Classic) directly into the sump. Tropic Marin instructions calls for 73.9 cups for 132 gal (volume of the display + sump). Which compartment in the sump? Does it make a difference. I will add slowly, on-half cup at a time, over several hours until about 65 cup (taking account for water displacement from rocks and sand). I would test salinity then, then slowly add more salt until it reached the target of 1.025 -1.027.

Then start the cycle process - which will be the subject of my next postings with questions! Thanks in advance everyone for helping me out!

 

[Philly Reefer]

Good plan. Keep adding water until the return chamber filled with water. Until the return pump is fully submerged. Then add couple more inches.
Prepare couple gallons of rodi water.
Run the return pump.
The water in your sump should decreased until the water overflow from the DT.
Keep adding the water so your pump is not exposed to air.

When adding the salt, turned your powerhead to max. Even if the sands are blowing all over the tank. I rather have the salt fully dissolved than them sinking in the sand.
Then I would stir the sands the next day. Just to be safe

 

[mike550]

Red Sea Peninsula 500 initial fill question. Please bear with me as I am a newbie. So I am ready to fill my tank! After reading many articles here is what I am planning to do - PLEASE CRITIQUE and let me know if this will work or if there is a better way.

1. Tank has about 175 lbs of dry Marco rock and 1 1/2" of dry sand (Caribe Sea Special Grade)
2. I plan to begin this initial fill by adding RODI directly into the display. Fill until it begins to drain into the sump.
3. Continue to fill until the sump fills up - QUESTION: fill until what level? How high should the waterline be in the sump?

4. Then turn on return pump. Make adjustments until running properly - eg. steady circulation with the waterline in the overflow weir about 1/2" below the smaller overflow pipe.

5. Then I plan to add salt (Tropic Marin Classic) directly into the sump. Tropic Marin instructions calls for 73.9 cups for 132 gal (volume of the display + sump). Which compartment in the sump? Does it make a difference. I will add slowly, on-half cup at a time, over several hours until about 65 cup (taking account for water displacement from rocks and sand). I would test salinity then, then slowly add more salt until it reached the target of 1.025 -1.027.

Then start the cycle process - which will be the subject of my next postings with questions! Thanks in advance everyone for helping me out!

I can't speak to the materials and any specifics about the Red Sea, but I have seen a lot of folks add RODI to the tank and then add salt too. But some folks end up having issues getting the salt to mix, stirring up / silting out the tank, etc. What is the capacity of your mixing station? I'm guessing you'll need around 100G or less of saltwater, so maybe mixing it in portions and adding it to your tank is a possibility?

As for how "full" to fill the sump, couple of thoughts. Find out how deep in the water your skimmer needs to sit. This might establish the water level in your sump. Then it's a bit of adjusting pump speed to get the right balance between "filling" and "draining". Personally, I tried to max out the pump until the water returning in the sump couldn't get through the filter fast enough, and then backed off from there. So I am pretty close to "max" flow for my system.

 

[Aggie1978]

I can't speak to the materials and any specifics about the Red Sea, but I have seen a lot of folks add RODI to the tank and then add salt too. But some folks end up having issues getting the salt to mix, stirring up / silting out the tank, etc. What is the capacity of your mixing station? I'm guessing you'll need around 100G or less of saltwater, so maybe mixing it in portions and adding it to your tank is a possibility?

As for how "full" to fill the sump, couple of thoughts. Find out how deep in the water your skimmer needs to sit. This might establish the water level in your sump. Then it's a bit of adjusting pump speed to get the right balance between "filling" and "draining". Personally, I tried to max out the pump until the water returning in the sump couldn't get through the filter fast enough, and then backed off from there. So I am pretty close to "max" flow for my system.

Thanks, yes I've had several people say that mixing salt directly in the sump/tank is no problem, and others who say not to. Since I have all dry rock and no livestock I am leaning to mixing slowly directly into the sump.

 

[Potatohead]

Nothing wrong with mixing in the sump and/or display.

Just fill until the sump is pretty darn full, how much water the system will use is very dependant on your return pump and the flow rate, that will easily be a gallon or two difference. So better to overshoot a bit and fine tune it later once you have a skimmer. Typically you want the water level in the return chamber to be about 1/2" lower than the rest of the sump with the return pump running.

 

[daybreaksky]

I would not recommend. Salts do not desolve instantly

How long do I mix saltwater? - BRStv Investigates

We are expanding our investigative testing on some of our most popular salt mixes by seeking to answer two questions about how long to mix saltwater. 1. Do salt mixes fully dissolve in less than one hour? 2. Does the speed at which it mixes clear really matter? For those of

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Don't skip steps, mix and fill after a couple hours of mixing with powerhead

 

[daybreaksky]

I mean you can put a 30g trashcan next to the tank, full ro in there , then salt then mix then pump in to display. Don't take shortcuts in this hobby

 

[Philly Reefer]

No livestocks in the tank and it will be way longer before livestocks is added.
Lots of ppl started their tank that way. And they are fine until now. I did too
That video is directed towards water change. Not initial fill

 

[derekgoude]

I'd love to see peoples sources on why is a horrible thing to mix in the tank.

Mixing saltwater outside of the tank on start up is the dumbest thing I've heard of... So much easy to fill it with filtered water then add salt.

Any pics of your sump?

 

[daybreaksky]

2 main reasons is salt in concentration precipitates calcium in the sump and on pump impeller. it leaves acrylic sumps with white haze and pump impellers with sandpaper-like coat of carbonate as it passes through. this is a very old debate. like decades old

 

[Potatohead]

I mean you can put a 30g trashcan next to the tank, full ro in there , then salt then mix then pump in to display. Don't take shortcuts in this hobby

What shortcut?

If the salt dissolves in an hour or two days, who cares, the tank will be cycling for the next 1-2 months anyway.

 

[Potatohead]

2 main reasons is salt in concentration precipitates calcium in the sump and on pump impeller. it leaves acrylic sumps with white haze and pump impellers with sandpaper-like coat of carbonate as it passes through. this is a very old debate. like decades old

You put the salt in after the water. Not before.

 

[Aggie1978]

I'd love to see peoples sources on why is a horrible thing to mix in the tank.

Mixing saltwater outside of the tank on start up is the dumbest thing I've heard of... So much easy to fill it with filtered water then add salt.

Any pics of your sump?

See? Lots of people on both sides of this topic! Here is my sump:

 

[rmay6850]

Why wouldn’t you mix the salt water prior to adding to the tank?
Maybe a silly question

 

[Aggie1978]

So let me ask this. Here is my mixing station below. I can mix 35 gal of SW at a time. I can pump directly into my display. So...can I pump 35 gal of mixed SW into the display, wait another 8 hours (to make RODI), then mix and pump another 35 Gal into the display, repeat, etc until everything is full, then turn on the return pump? Is it OK for mixed SW to sit in the tank for a couple of days until I have enough to turn the return pump on and begin circulation in the system?

 

[Philly Reefer]

So let me ask this. Here is my mixing station below. I can mix 35 gal of SW at a time. I can pump directly into my display. So...can I pump 35 gal of mixed SW into the display, wait another 8 hours (to make RODI), then mix and pump another 35 Gal into the display, repeat, etc until everything is full, then turn on the return pump? Is it OK for mixed SW to sit in the tank for a couple of days until I have enough to turn the return pump on and begin circulation in the system?

Yes. Its ok. If you are worried with stagnant saltwater. Just put a powerhead on it.

I still think it's a waste of time.

Would have been better if you didn't have sand and rocks in. But as I mentioned, that's how I did it too.
My tank is not old(4mths+) but "knock on wood" everything seems to be alive and well.

 

[Potatohead]

This is seriously overthinking

Everyone I have ever known has filled the tank with RO and then just put the salt in the tank when it's full.

I don't see any issue with pre-mixing if you want to, but I probably wouldn't let the mixed water sit stagnant in the tank, put a powerhead in there

In the end it will make no difference but the latter seems like a lot more work

 

[Aggie1978]

Why wouldn’t you mix the salt water prior to adding to the tank?
Maybe a silly question

See my post/question above - is it all right for mixed SW to sit in the tank w/o circulation until the system is full? Because of the limitations of my mixing station it will take 2 days to make enough SW.

 

[mike550]

So let me ask this. Here is my mixing station below. I can mix 35 gal of SW at a time. I can pump directly into my display. So...can I pump 35 gal of mixed SW into the display, wait another 8 hours (to make RODI), then mix and pump another 35 Gal into the display, repeat, etc until everything is full, then turn on the return pump? Is it OK for mixed SW to sit in the tank for a couple of days until I have enough to turn the return pump on and begin circulation in the system?

Okay. So you’re got a solid mixing station and you don’t want to use it?

Looks like you have two 35G tanks. So why not make 70G to start, make 35 RODI and drop it into your saltwater tank, and make another 35. Then mix 35 into salt, and add it to the tank. Empty the other 35 of RODI into your salt tank and start that. TM Classic will be fully mixed in less than an hour. So you’d have 70G as a starting point.

To your question, people store RODI and fresh saltwater all the time. What is your concern over letting it sit in the tank?

 

[daybreaksky]

you can take as long as you wish, circulating through sump is only needed to send water through the filter sock and to place unsightly accessories like skimmer, heater and so on. with livestock, it also adds oxygenation and additional circulation in display via return

Edit: as I mentioned above, why ruin your return pump by pumping salt slurry through it and have it precipitate on in due to heat the pump generates. the sump doesn't have enough flow through to mix it well enough without sending undissolved salt though the pump