Sanity-check my saltwater-creation logistics?

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

Cksnffr

AC Members
Aug 5, 2013
202
0
0
I can't believe I'm even posting about this, having never considered doing a marine tank before. But last week I got the green light to set up a new 200g tank in the living room. And then the ol' lady, out of nowhere, asked "Hey, could it be saltwater?"

Why yes--yes it could. :)

So here I am, reading everything I can find. It looks like it'll be a FOWLR tank. I figure with the sheer volume needed for water changes, I'll need a RO/DI system. My house is pretty small, though--the washer/dryer are in a closet in the kitchen, not a proper laundry room--so I'm trying to figure out the best way to arrange a top-off container and manage my mixing container(s). (I don't see a convenient way to set up automatic top-off into the sump--there's no good way to plumb water into the living room.)

Since the house is small, I don't have a good place to keep a 55-gallon Brute container inside. But I can keep it in the garage, with door access to the kitchen. The plan is to bring it inside 1.5 days before a scheduled water change, fill it overnight from the RO/DI system, add the salt in the morning, and let it mix up for a day. Then I can wheel it (all 40 heavy gallons or so) into or close to the living room, add the water, and put the container back in the garage.

But I get ahead of myself. I'm wondering if it's feasible to install the RO/DI system in the kitchen closet where the clothes washer and dryer are. I figure I can branch off of the washer water source for input into the RO/DI. And I'm hoping there's some way to route the RO/DI wastewater into the outgoing pipe that the clothes washer uses. Has anyone done that? If so, I could keep a 5-gallon container on top of the clothes dryer (not enough room on the floor) and keep it filled for top-off duty. I would either set up the bucket with an automatic-stop floater thing or just produce 5 gallons on demand as needed. (I guess a 100-gpd RO/DI system would take about 90 minutes to fill that bucket?)

Continuing with my water-changing thoughts, I originally figured I'd need two 55-gallon Brutes--one for mixing and dispensing new saltwater, and one to catch the ~40 gallons of used water I remove for each water change. BUT maybe I don't really need a receptacle for the waste water even though the living room is too far from a sink to use a Python. After all, the living room is in the front of the house right by the entrance door, so: Could I use a Python-like siphon, powered by a pump or powerhead, to extract the old tank water and run it out the door? I assume it's not good for grass and plants, but I could just run it to the driveway.

So, those are my thoughts for saltwater changes.... Pump (not siphon) the old water from the living room tank out the front door; add new water from a wheeled 55-gallon Brute that is brought inside to make saltwater from a RO/DI system kept in washer/dryer closet. Set up that RO/DI system to be fed from the clothes washer input and (somehow) dump wastewater into the clothes washer output. (If that's impossible, I could probably set up the RO/DI under the kitchen sink.) Does this sound feasible? What else should I be thinking about?

Bonus question: If the RO/DI unit is under the kitchen sink, can it deliver water 3 feet up into the top of the 55-gallon brute? Or must its purified water receptacle be lower than the RO/DI unit itself?

Thanks for your patience. :)
 

OrionGirl

No freelancing!
Aug 14, 2001
14,053
342
143
Poconos
Real Name
Sheila
Down the driveway would work, but keep in mind it won't be good for the cars...and would kill a garden/lawn. I'd run some freshwater over to rinse off the sw, or you'll have salt stains as well. No reason you can't siphon it, unless that would be uphill?

You should be able to route the waste water without too much of a problem. Just stick the waste water hose into the same drain. It should be able to push the water up...but that will slow it down some. It's based more on the pressure from your pipes than the RO/DI, since it's usually passive. IE, water pressure from the tap pushes water through. I wouldn't want to run water in from a hotwater tap, either.
 

TL1000RSquid

AC Members
Apr 6, 2011
2,364
1
38
46
NY
laundry room or under sink will work fine, laundry room likely being easiest to setup.

I route my water changes out the window into what use to be a plant bed I filled with gravel.
 

Cksnffr

AC Members
Aug 5, 2013
202
0
0
The path from tank to outside isn't uphill, but it's pretty close to level. I'm wondering if it's technically feasible to created a "powered Python," so to speak, with a Maxi-Jet pump and tubing. I don't see why not, but then again I don't know what I'm talking about. :)
 

OrionGirl

No freelancing!
Aug 14, 2001
14,053
342
143
Poconos
Real Name
Sheila
You can quite easily do that. No need to buy a python, go to the local hardware store and get food-grade tubing (nothing with anti-microbial treatments), and PVC fittings.
 

greech

AC Moderators
May 13, 2009
4,193
1
38
52
Tallahassee, FL
Real Name
Graham
What you are proposing and what others have mentioned will all work. You'll probably want to siphon now and then to help with detrtius removal. Then again, you can take the pump and blow it over the rocks before you connect it to the tubing and start pumping water out of the tank. Don't siphon/pump saltwater down your drains if you are on a septic system.

Lots of people use the waste water to wash clothes but if you can get the waste water line to feed down the drain or securely tap into the drain line, you should have no problem. +1 to not feeding the RO/DI unit with hot water.

Bonus answer: It should reach the 3 ft height eventually but water presuure in the house will dictate the rate.

Congrats on the approval. A 200G is a nice size tank and will allow you to keep a lot of nice fish. I suspect a coral or two will sneak in there somehow ;).

Welcome to the addiction!
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store