Vertical Mixing Station

[John Bolden]

So I'm looking to not buy RO/DI and salt water from my LFS as it will save gas and money. I don't have much horizontal space but I do have vertical. I'm thinking 55 gallon poly drums Ro above and salt below. Ill have 2 spouts coming out of ro one directly below feeding into salt for easy salt water mixing and one to the side going into the pump.

So I have a few questions:

1. Will this work at all?

2. Can you drill poly drums on or on bottom?

3. How thick of a sheet of wood do I need to support 55 gallons?

 

[John Bolden]

Also what pumps do you guys use?

 

[ryanjohn1]

3/4 plywood
Be liberal with your 2X4’When you build stand. 55 gallons of water is pretty heavy.
And you can drill and install bulkhead fittings on them brute cans. Look on YouTube I know I saw a guy make what you are talking about. Can remember what the title was

 

[John Bolden]

This a good one?https://fishtanksdirect.com/pan-wor...inceIbORdWejNwNfX1Imwbw9rSarbY5MaAl3GEALw_wcB

 

[JGT]

So I'm looking to not buy RO/DI and salt water from my LFS as it will save gas and money. I don't have much horizontal space but I do have vertical. I'm thinking 55 gallon poly drums Ro above and salt below. Ill have 2 spouts coming out of ro one directly below feeding into salt for easy salt water mixing and one to the side going into the pump.

So I have a few questions:

1. Will this work at all?

2. Can you drill poly drums on or on bottom?

3. How thick of a sheet of wood do I need to support 55 gallons?

Yes, how I built out mine. Used some scrap wood I had for the frame and 3/4” plywood on top.
Use gravity for moving the RO water to the bottom can where I mix the saltwater.
Have an internal Sicce utility pump in the bottom for mixing and run pvc to my sump for quick water changes.
Also added hoses coming off each can so I can use for RO or SW fill ups of other containers, QT tanks, etc.

 

[John Bolden]

Yes, how I built out mine. Used some scrap wood I had for the frame and 3/4” plywood on top.
Use gravity for moving the RO water to the bottom can where I mix the saltwater.
Have an internal Sicce utility pump in the bottom for mixing and run pvc to my sump for quick water changes.
Also added hoses coming off each can so I can use for RO or SW fill ups of other containers, QT tanks, etc.

Can I see a pic?

 

[JGT]

Can take a completed one but here it was a couple years back when I first set it up. Was still a WIP at the time.

 

[John Bolden]

Well this is my goal for it!

 

[Just started reefing]

How do you mix the salt into the drum?

 

[jelazar]

I did mine vertically to save on footprint. The top one is RODI and my ATO pulls from it. I can turn the ball valve to make it gravity drain into the bottom container, which is where I mix my saltwater. I cut half of the "lid" away to make it easier to add salt mix. There's a gravity drain from the saltwater tank. There's also a pump that can mix the saltwater, or pump it through an RV hose, depending on how I align the valves. The pump switch is inside the gray waterproof near the top shelf. I used uniseals.