Mixing Station operation

[bob88884]

Are your mixing vats outside and very cold? Just curious why you’re always heating them. If you’re exchanging 3.8 gallons/day, it’s probably a large system. That’s not going to fluctuate temp in your tank especially over a 24 hour transfer period.

I drip about 2 gallons/day of room temp (65*F) Kalkwasser over 12 hours in my roughly 220g system.

Just throwing it out there. I’m cheap and energy’s expensive.

My mixing station is in my basement, and it is probably 50 to 60 degrees at the coldest. I never thought about the temp not being an issue with that small water change. I am going to take your advice and stop heating and see what happens.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

If you are using a hydrometer (either swing arm or glass) be certain to correct your specific gravity for the water temperature. Some swing arm hydrometers have a ppt scale. Do not be mislead! That scale is only good for a certain temperature.
Side note: warm water will make for easier mixing. You can allow it to cool down afterward. This may or may not be an issue for you.

 

[bob88884]

If you are using a hydrometer (either swing arm or glass) be certain to correct your specific gravity for the water temperature. Some swing arm hydrometers have a ppt scale. Do not be mislead! That scale is only good for a certain temperature.
Side note: warm water will make for easier mixing. You can allow it to cool down afterward. This may or may not be an issue for you.

I always warm the water before mixing. We were talking about heating it 24/7. I use a Hanna Digitel Pen.

 

[PPBlimpy]

Finally got to test out the mixing station. Had one small leak which I knew about but had to drain it to get to it. In the freshwater side of things.

I mixed with the main pump for a couple hours, had a heater inside the vat and once it was mixed well I dropped in a small powerhead to keep things flowing a bit. This will be the way i run it from now on. I mixed salt last
Wed and just finally had time to do the water change Sunday.

Also built a Water change stick. This made things much easier, still a bit clunky but will improve. Need a more flexible hose and hose reel of some sort.
This allows me to easily syphon 50G out and breaks flow when gets down to level, then attach hose to mixing station and fill it back up. Will ad another T and hose to the output so I do not have to disconnect the hose at all since that makes a bit of a mess.

My mixing station is about 50ft from my tank. Ideally/ eventually I will run hard lines under the house.

When I disassemble to fix the leak I will let the stand dry and give it a coat of exterior paint. Next is to finalize the Rodi plumbing.