Saltwater Mixing Station

[@hixyhicks]

Nice to see your doing OK Mark .

[@ramonperez5506]

Since I have only a 3/4” braided tube for water changes from my 20 gallon mixing station, I used a quick connect garden hose fitting from Ace Hardware. Not sure if they make quick connects for your giant braided tube, but it is super convenient!

[@davidhughes1843]

Nice one Mark thanks for keeping us educated hope everything is getting better nice to see Jack hope I got your names correct best wishes from the UK.

[@axlbrayan60]

I know im asking randomly but does someone know a tool to log back into an Instagram account? I was dumb forgot the account password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me

[@gerardoemiliano2245]

@Axl Brayan Instablaster =)

[@axlbrayan60]

@Gerardo Emiliano thanks so much for your reply. I found the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@RogueAquariums]

Nice setup Marc. Very cleanly done

[@seannunes2041]

Good video. We'll thought out process. Thank you.

[@pelagicswimmer]

You marching them little buckets of salt up to your mixing station reminded me of the broom scene in Disney The Sorcerer's Apprentice :) Great video :)

[@ReefingwithO]

Interesting mixing station, I like the 3 different discharge areas. Newly mixed saltwater doesn’t go “bad” unless there’s bacteria or something else is in it. I mixed saltwater and use it for 2 months at a time with no circulation and nothing happens, it doesn’t even smell.

[@melevsreef]

So far you’ve been lucky.

[@ReefingwithO]

@@melevsreef lucky for 8 years. I think that’s past luck at this point

[@melevsreef]

I don’t know anyone that does what you do, as a hobbyist or a professional (public aquarium).

[@ReefingwithO]

@@melevsreef The most public people I can think of that do it is the BRS team. I think they did an entire experiment series on mixing saltwater and then storing it for longer term use. They tested over a period of time with no heat and circulation and there wasn’t even any significant drop in alk, calcium or precipitation for most brands. I don’t know anyone who manages a public aquarium but I know a lot of reefers who do automatic water changes and they mix saltwater once a month with no heat or circulation and it doesn’t go bad. I’m still trying to figure out what would go bad with saltwater that sits - if regular plain water is covered properly and just sitting with no dust, bacteria, particulates, or organisms in it, it doesn’t go bad - I’m not saying it can sit indefinitely.

[@ReefingwithO]

@@melevsreef just texted and asked a few people - they’ve store even natural seawater even longer.

[@enzomontini758]

My man Marc has more SW in his house than the state of Texas good on ya dude I can only store 225 litres it’s always gd to store half ur tank volume 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧

[@Sedona_FD3S]

Loved this episode.

[@g-reef]

Perfect timing on this, thank you

[@zippyz3916]

Add a ball valve at the discharge end and you can control the flow and not risk a flood if the hose comes out you, will be at that end to control the flow. Shut off the discharge ball valve when almost full, then shut off the supply valve. Open the discharge valve to drain the hose and then disconnect. A little walking back and forth at the end, but security to keep an eye on the hose.

[@melevsreef]

That’s true.

[@DavidDavis311]

You could make a hook using pvc with two 90’s and whatever length you prefer on either side so you can hang the hose on the edge of the sump or tank when filling.

[@ldballoon4]

Water mixing stations, like this, are the difference to having a stress-free makeup water days.

[@UptownReef]

The intro music is on point

[@ryanreeves8931]

Thank you so much Brock!!

[@miltonenglish1679]

Marc, instead of counting cups, what i did was weigh the amt of salt i need to make a certain amt of gallons of water. I find that works better for me and it is usually very close

[@melevsreef]

Weighing the batch would be good. But I still have to scoop it with little cups into little buckets to get it in the vat. At least a pile at the right weight would avoid a goof.

[@anthonyhernandez7582]

I like your set up! Can you mix the salt in that quick because its such a large container? My hand gets tired from giggeling my salt into my rodi water.

[@melevsreef]

It takes me at least 15 minutes to add the salt to my barrel and is ready to use the next day.

[@apunderwaterdistractions9865]

Great job wish I had room for a large mixing container but for now I’ll keep my brute container 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@strat1960s]

Mark, What do you do to clean your mixing container? I've had my mixing station up and running for a little over a year. I was thinking I will need to drain the mixing tank, drag it outside and use a pressure washer to clean the inside of the tank and hand wash the mixing pump, transfer pump, heater, and Apex probes.

[@melevsreef]

That should work well. Cleaning products that work would be white vinegar, 30% peroxide (yes, lab grade), or muriatic acid (my preference). Once clean, rinse it well and put it back in use.

[@322sheffield]

@@melevsreef what ratios should be used to clean the mixing tank? I now came to this issue to clean my tank. My is almost as high as yours and dragging it out is not an option. I was thinking white vinegar but not sure on ratio for 150 gal tank. I was also thinking citric acid since it cleans the pumps so good

[@melevsreef]

@@322sheffield If you can get the 35% industrial Peroxide, you'll be very impressed. Or you can spray down the walls with muriatic acid (using a full facemask like painters use and putting the acid in a pressurize container like pest control guys use) to spray the walls clean. The acid melts it away rapidly, and a gallon would likely be plenty. Then rinse it very well to get all the acid out. That's it.

[@322sheffield]

@@melevsreef with the 35% peroxide what ratio should be used?

[@melevsreef]

@@322sheffield I just winged it, if I recall. I had a bottle full (maybe less than a quart) and I poured that into my huge poly tank with some water - but I don't think it was full of water to the top. /shrug sorry, I can't exactly remember how I did it that one time, but it worked.

[@maceysdaddy5150]

Nice video Marc! Tell Jack that Macey says “hi” and wants a play date. Love the dive of your mixing tank. I use 2 tanks in my mixing station. RODI that auto fills reservoirs on my 2 systems. The 2nd tank is for mixing salt water and daily AWC. Do you keep another tank for fresh RODI for top off? Also, we were shocked you shaved off your beard, but saw it again at the end. Whew 😅. Keep up the great work emptying your hard drive of footage.

[@maceysdaddy5150]

*size not dive.

[@chrismain91]

I liked the video in the intro

[@jaredengberg9295]

How did you get the 250 gallon water tank through the door. I am trying to add large tanks to my fish room like you have, but they wont fit through the door!

[@melevsreef]

I built the room around it. Lol. It can’t come out unless I chop it up.

[@jaredengberg9295]

@@melevsreef I actually just watched one of your videos where you said this! I am going to take the door frame off the wall and fingers crossed I have 32” to get the 250 gallon tank through.

[@Chief_of_the_reef]

What about a retractable hose reel?

[@melevsreef]

I thought about it ten times but that wasn’t a good choice for my needs.

[@miguelm4845]

Do you really need to keep new salt water circulating? I also have a DC pump in my mixing station but never thought about keeping it running. I just run it for a night when I mix saltwater and when I need to pump water out if the tank.

[@melevsreef]

Yes. Just like your aquarium. Ever notice how all the available saltwater at the LFS and public aquarium (back scene tours) have circulating saltwater ready to go?

[@theunbrokenaquarist]

Hoping you can help me, just bought a house and thinking about my auto water change, the mix station is in the garage (20ft away) my plan is to have a versa dosing pump run from my saltwater bin into the house through a wall, I don’t want pipes to be visible so I want to do it under the garden, next to my house I don’t have grass it has concrete and gravel on, will a 1/4 inch tubing be ok or should I go for 3/4 inch? Do I need to worry about it freezing? I can put it deep in the garden but once it gets close to the house it would have to come up out of the ground and hug the exterior wall and then through the wall ( I was thinking 4inch pipe through the wall on a 90degree pointing down towards the ground, I will probably have 3 pipes from tank to mixing station (ro, salt, waste) as it’s coming from a versa pump it would maybe have to be 1/4 or 3/4 tubing, can the versa work with 3/4? Any help or advise welcome, Thanks UK reefer

[@Mike__B]

So is the Vectra the only thing mixing the salt in there? I have something similar (although by the looks of it half the height) and I put an old Tunze pump in there to mix the water up. Oh and a physics level FYI on the power of the Vectra, the head height you were pumping wasn't from the floor, the water in the container actually adds pressure to the Vectra on the input side so the head height is effectively the distance from the top of the water in the container and how high you pump (Plus all the elbows etc), just a little helpful hint for anyone who wants to do something like this you don't need a super powerful pump to move water from the bottom to the top, unless you plan on mixing with the container mostly empty.

[@melevsreef]

Thanks!! Yes, just the one pump.

[@CtopW7]

nice setup! do you have any issues with water evaporation or salinity fluctuation?

[@melevsreef]

No because it is sealed.

[@ppsthlm]

Nice and very informative video. Thanks a lot. I have a couple of questions. 1. How du you heat the freshly mixed saltwater? You have an internal heater hanging inside the water vessel or what? 2. You treated the frag tank for Cyano bacteria. What do you use? My nano tank is a Cyano mess at the moment….😕

[@melevsreef]

1) only if necessary - usually in the winter months. Two 300w heaters hang down from the top overnight to match the reef. 2) RedCyano Rx - available on my website.

[@RichKnop]

Do you run a separate system for RODI storage?

[@melevsreef]

Yes. www.melevsreef.com/tanks/ato-reservoir

[@ryanrich06]

Thank god someone made bulkheads so easy otherwise this would be a nightmare.

[@g-reef]

Marc, how are you measuring you pvc, I am trying to plumb my sump and I need some advice on how to measure before glueing. Dry fit really doesn't work, your expertise is really appreciated.

[@melevsreef]

I tend to cut each piece as I go, instead of dry-fitting the puzzle pieces together. Once you use cleaner and solvent, the pipe sinks fully into the fitting, which isn't something you can predict accurately 100% of the time. You can measure the depth available in the Elbow, Tee, or Coupling but when you glue it, you'd have to sink it all the way in. I'd get everything as close as you can, and save those final sections as "cut on demand" to assure it all reaches properly. This article may help you, and coincidentally its for the exact same container back in 2010. www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/283-Plumbing-Primer-how-to-do-it-correctly/view/1

[@g-reef]

@@melevsreef thank you so much my reefer friend, I don't know what I would do without you in the hobby. hope you are doing ok, been thinking about you and I am happy you are putting these videos out

[@Elev8minh]

@melevsreef Sir where did you purchase your water container at? I actually live close to your area and I’m looking to build my own water station?

[@melevsreef]

I got it off Craig's List.

[@Saltwateraquariumdotcom]

Amazing Shirt!!!

[@johnbrooks8692]

The whole time I just kept thinking of what a pain it probably was to get the bulkhead out the bottom of the barrel. With the limited room from the top, I would only think makes it more complicated...lol

[@melevsreef]

I didn’t explain that part but yes it was tough. I turned the vessel on its side so I could remove the old one and insert the new one. There may have been a broom handle or Kent Scraper involved. 🤪

[@ethanspruiell2722]

Yeah just in time

[@kiddt1999]

That is weird. In the refining industry they teach us to never throttle a gate valve, it erodes the gate and when you need to isolate the line, the valve will leak by. I guess in this case, it doesn’t take alot of effort to replace it years down the line if you had to. Even waterbox sends you a gate valve to throttle your overflow. 🤷‍♂️

[@eillyacostandinides3344]

Where is the beareeeeeed

[@Mandymarie9498]

Possibly an old video!

[@melevsreef]

It appears toward the end of the video.

[@eillyacostandinides3344]

@@melevsreef yeayyyyyyy i saw ittttt. Amazing video. Also watched your video with Joey king of DIY, you rock man..

[@sjhall2009]

I have that red shirt

[@joemajor6066]

Once a month huh? Prove it!!! lol.

[@melevsreef]

Lol

[@Mandymarie9498]

First! Lol

[@maw1000]

ha ha ha