Mixing station holding bench ideas?

[Broutilde]

Hello,
So this is a bit weird of a project, please bear with me.
We have a 400 gallon tank at work on the first level. It was there before I was hired, and the company that set it up didn't know what they were doing. Long story short, after many years of zero water changes (yes you read me well,zero water changes), I decided to hire someone else who has been amazing and completely transformed the tank.
Now we have to figure out something: the mixing station for water changes. There is no other possibility than having it on the side of the tank, and do the salt dosing manually. Right now we're using a Brute bin (32 gallons) hooked up to the RO/DI water but it's an eyesore. So I'm looking at transforming that bin into something nice and permanent.
My idea is to build (or buy) and big flat bottomed chest that can contain a 40 gallons tank. This chest would have a lid and on top of that lid, pillows for people to sit down and enjoy the tank. Tank would also have a lid and would be hooked to the RO/DI line with a float valve. So I would just have to add the salt. It would also have a permanent heater and a wavemaker for the mixing. So I would need holes in the chest to hook up those to the wall outlet. I was also thinking about lining up the chest with pond liner in case of a leak (my boss would kill me if I ruin his hardwood floor).
This is what I have so far (see the beautiful drawing below) and would gladly welcome any suggestions. I'm handy but not that handy...
Thank you

 

[Philly Reefer]

I think we need more information on this. You just want a mixing station? no ATO? budget?
The bench/chest, is that something you will make yourself?
My 1st suggestion would be a utility tank rather than an aquarium.
52 GALLON NORWESCO WHITE UTILITY TANK
DIMENSIONS 43" Length x 24" Width x 17" Height

you wont have any risk of its blowing up. or you can just use tote box.

I also would suggest a drain on the bottom of that chest. You never know if the float valve failed for your ATO. You can close it of course. but it would make it easier for you to drain it.

BTW instead of a wavemaker just get a return pump, it will mix the salt still and you can just connect it to a hose when you need to fill the DT

 

[siggy]

Hey any chance you can buy pre-mix salt water and set the 5 gallon jugs in the bench? the water would be room temp, no mixing needed, just a pump. $10-15. or mix in your brut can and fill 2 or three for the week or so. best of luck

 

[Broutilde]

I think we need more information on this. You just want a mixing station? no ATO? budget?
The bench/chest, is that something you will make yourself?
My 1st suggestion would be a utility tank rather than an aquarium.
52 GALLON NORWESCO WHITE UTILITY TANK
DIMENSIONS 43" Length x 24" Width x 17" Height

you wont have any risk of its blowing up. or you can just use tote box.

I also would suggest a drain on the bottom of that chest. You never know if the float valve failed for your ATO. You can close it of course. but it would make it easier for you to drain it.

BTW instead of a wavemaker just get a return pump, it will mix the salt still and you can just connect it to a hose when you need to fill the DT

I don't need an ato, I'll just fill up when needed. Tank has been setup for five years, it's a 400 gallons and we're doing 10% water change every two weeks. I would show you a picture but I'm at home at the moment..
I'll look into it this utility tank, hopefully I can find that in Canada.
My budget is not very high, hence me wanting to build it. Unfortunately I'm a corporate chef, not a carpenter :/
I'm also looking online for used wooden trunk/chest with flat bottom. I really wanted to have this transformed into a bench but if it's not possible, I won't do it.
Drain sounds like a good idea, I'll look into it.
Great idea for the pump instead of the wavemaker, thank you !

 

[Broutilde]

Hey any chance you can buy pre-mix salt water and set the 5 gallon jugs in the bench? the water would be room temp, no mixing needed, just a pump. $10-15. or mix in your brut can and fill 2 or three for the week or so. best of luck

Well considering that I'll need to do at least 40 gallons of water change every two weeks, it think it would cost too much in the long run.
Also the other issue is that the closest reef lfs that we have is 30mn away. I would have to find someone willing to go buy that premixed saltwater every two weeks, and honestly noone at work cares that much except me...

 

[siggy]

honestly noone at work cares that much except me...

Lucky you, I would love to have a tank at work. If you can do a bench, go vertical and forget the seating. It sounds like you need to make a choice.I would look for a closet, or truck water every month. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Broutilde]

Lucky you, I would love to have a tank at work. If you can do a bench, go vertical and forget the seating. It sounds like you need to make a choice.I would look for a closet, or truck water every month. Let us know how it turns out.

Unfortunately I can't go vertical as there is a window there.
I asked my landlord who's a carpenter if he can help us with the project. Might take a while, but we'll try!