Removable sump section for water easy water change

[paal]

I just bought a new house and have started to plan my next tank.
I am trying to figure out how to do the water changes quickly and with minimal risk for spilling. I wish I could get a dedicated sump room, but it looks like I’m stuck with hauling buckets (quite far actually)
I don’t really have a reefing community to discuss with, so I was hoping for some online input

The sketch below shows the basic idea.
The tank will be in the 100-150 gallon range and the “portable bucket” to the right roughly 10-15 gallons.

Depending a bit on the overflow design used, the main drain (siphon) will first enter the bucket and then overflow into the sump. Any trickling drain and/or emergency drain in use will just enter the main sump directly.

When doing a water change, I will open the red valve and close the pink one. The pink flexible pipe will be routed into main sump (just to prevent any tiny drips) and then the “bucket” can be removed.
The tank/sump is completely unaffected, and I can take my time to mix new salt directly in the bucket if I have not already prepared new water elsewhere (it could mix over night) Once mixed, the bucket will be carried back and reconnected to the system.

I will not get the benefit of siphoning the sand etc but this should not be required to do every time (not even sure if I will have sand in the first place) Depending on the flow-rate and the bucket’s layout, an added bonus is that the bucket will act like a small settling area for detritus that I will get rid of “for free” every water change.
I also like the fact that I will not have to stop any equipment when doing the water change, and there will be zero fluctuations in the sump’s water lever.

[AirForceAquariu]

A couple of thoughts:

1) 10 to 15 gallons is really heavy (80 to 120lbs) to be precise. That is a lot more that you want to be hauling around in any way shape or form.

2) The good engineer's mantra "K.I.S.S." aka Keep it simple stupid. The more pipes, junctions, and moving parts there are the more points of failure you have.

I would suggest sticking with smaller buckets (5gallons) at a time if you really have to haul buckets. It will be better for your body that way. Having the pink hose as a way to drain directly from the tank in to the buckets is certainly not a bad idea though.

[paal]

Thanks for the feedback, Mike.

The weight is no concern. (I used 2x110lb dumbbells for my sets of walking lunges in the gym yesterday) It will just be a matter of finding the right bucket with a strong handle that is also bulkhead friendly.

Also, having to close and reopen the valve multiple times to fill more than a single bucket would cause fluctuations in the water level and I would probably have to turn of some of the equipment. Not that it is a huge deal, but not having to "worry" about this was part of the idea in the first place.

Your KISS-point has me a bit worried though :/

[MaccaPopEye]

I think this is a really good idea. Only sizeable downside I can see is the super heavy bucket, it might not be to heavy to pick up and walk with but you will have to wrangle it out from under your stand too which I assume would be at least a little tight and the heavier the bucket is the harder that will be. Maybe put it on a sliding try with heavy duty drawer slides so it can slide in and out and simply be picked up? Also I think 15gal is about 50L, most buckets I have seen that might be able to hold that much would either have the sides bow too much or the handle bend when that full.

Eddit - as far as valves etc being ponts of failure KISS is generally a good mantra to use however I dont think ball vlaves are high failure points and the design looks quite simple to me. Throw some unions in there to ensure you can take it apart if needed but as long as there was no way for the pipe between the bucket and sump to get blocked then I would say it is pretty fail safe.

[paal]

All good points, MaccaPopEye. Thanks.

Depending on the cabinet layout and total space available I guess the rather heavy bucket could get troublesome to fine maneuver. i don't want that weight bumping into anything ever so slightly. I will seriously consider some sliding mechanism.

Unions should probably be added, yes.

As for the "bucket", I'm thinking something like this:
(Largest one is 60 liter / 16 gallon)

[Vinny Kreyling]

If you can use a hose to drain to the toilet or sink you eliminate 1/2 of your bucket lifting.
I have a mark on the side for the amount I want to drain.
Many here use "Brute" brand garbage cans to mix up new water & they can be fitted on a wheeled carriage.
Perhaps there is something similar you could use when needed & then, no lifting.
If you send me a PM with an email I will send a picture of a designated drain siphon that will drain only what you want & then stop.

[droog]

I had a couple of brute cans that I used when doing PWC's - my method was to drain DT into one bucket to the same level as the fresh water I had ready.

Now I use a tank maintenence service. The new guy just syphons from the tank using flexible tubing. Must go about 50m to my sink. All he uses is a plastic hose clip. Its amazing how far you can syphon the water with a standard hose.

The other cool trick for cleaning is the "false syphon" from DT to sump through a filter sock. Then all you need is a wheely brute can with pump and hose for replacing water.

-droog

[skeeter_ca]

I installed two 3/8" poly lines to my tank. Installed them up through the wall behind the tank into the attic and across to the garage. One has a powerhead attached to it in the sump and goes to the laundry drain and the other has a powerhead in a 55 gal can in my garage. I turn on one pump and it sucks out as much as 6 gals from my sump. Then I switch on the other and new salt water comes in from the garage to fill the sump back up. Takes about 10 minutes with no lifting or moving buckets. You could do that several times in a day to change larger amounts with shutting down the tanks pump.

[gmcpickup66]

Skeeter how far do the lines have to travel and what kind of pump do you use?

[kinnadian]

When moving water, horizontal distance is never really much of an issue, only vertical distance.

Even if vinyl tubing can't be installed in the walls, you can roll it out through your house and pump out of your bucket (with a float valve on a recirculation loop, to keep water in the bucket and not run your pump dry) and similarly pump out of your salt mixing bucket in your garage (or wherever).

[skeeter_ca]

My new saltwater line goes up about 10 feet into my attic across about 30 feet and then down 10 feet to my sump. I use a cheap Chinese pump I got off ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Submersi...xsBYmBYWy3YUKw

The old water line that goes to the drain goes up 10, across 15, then down 10 and is pumped by a Rio 2100.

It all works perfect, every time.

I am currently working on it being automatic and it will do a water change every day.

[gmcpickup66]

Ok thank you. I'm just trying to pump water from my laundry room to my tank which is 20 feet away and trying to figure out if the pump I have would do that and wondering if I could reduce it from 3/8 output to 1/4 to have smaller hose to keep up with. Because I would have to roll mine back up after use.

[skeeter_ca]

Right now every day or so I flip on the waste pump for about five minutes, turn it off and then flip on my New SW and it uses the ATO float switch to bring it right back up to the proper level and shuts off(that way I don't forget about it and overfill it). I then just flip the switch back to ATO and when it needs fresh water it works as normal. When I get the auto changer up and running I was thinking of doing a YouTube video on it so it would be easy to describe it.

[skeeter_ca]

It probably would have no problem doing it if it doesn't have to go up high first. A lot of people do the "roll out the hose bit" to do WC's. It makes it a lot easier than hauling buckets around. 1/4" tubing will just take much longer and you might forget to shut it off so I would suggest making some kind of safe way to make sure you turn it off or it shuts off automatically.

[gmcpickup66]

Ok cool. I only need to do 5 gallons of water. It would go up 4 feet then down hallway for 20 feet then up 4 feet