Tub of RO/DI water?

an411 · 07/31/2007, 11:15 AM

Does my Brute container containing my RO/DI water need a power head or should it be fine just sitting?

FZ1Rider · 07/31/2007, 11:18 AM

I leave mine just sitting. The only pump I have is my ATO pump.

Peter

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 11:20 AM

Sitting is totally fine.

You might want to keep it covered, just to keep dust and stray junk out - but it doesn't need to be airtight or anything special.

reelsteel · 07/31/2007, 11:22 AM

It will be fine as long as your cat, dog or kids stay out of it!! lol

an411 · 07/31/2007, 11:24 AM

alright I was just checking cause I am going to order a powerhead for my saltwater tub that I am going to be using for my water changes. I wasn't sure if I should order a second one but I will hold off and go with the one for now.

reef3r · 07/31/2007, 11:40 AM

yeah, keep your pets out of it... my cat's crazy, I left a bucket of saltwater out (1.026) and he was drinking it!!!

RO water probably isn't bad for them, but you never know what else could be in their mouth, lol.

reelsteel · 07/31/2007, 11:47 AM

I had a friend, that his kids or neighbor kids threw pennies in his RO water, he threw it away cause he wasn't sure about the copper in the pennies and he wasn't going to take the chance. Good thing they didn't throw them in his display tank.
My cat likes to look at my RO tub cause it can hear the water going into it and they love drinking out of moving water.

an411 · 07/31/2007, 12:09 PM

Yeah I am luck I keep in in my basement and i have no cats or kids just a dog and I keep a cover on just to keep the dust and dog hair out of there

reelsteel · 07/31/2007, 12:11 PM

You'll be good than. Now you just need to get a dosing pump to top off you water by it's self.

an411 · 07/31/2007, 12:15 PM

Yeah that is on the list of things to do cause I am sick of lugging jugs up the stirs from the basement. Does this hobby ever give the wallet a break.

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 12:15 PM

No need for an expensive dosing pump. Float switches can do auto topoff with any pump, and if you can store the water above the tank, a manual float valve will do it even more cheaply/simply.

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by an411
Yeah that is on the list of things to do cause I am sick of lugging jugs up the stirs from the basement. Does this hobby ever give the wallet a break.

Can you drill a tiny hole in the floor and run an RO/DI line right to the sump? In that case, one of the Kent float valves ($20 or so) will handle your topoff without even any need for a holding vessel.

an411 · 07/31/2007, 12:23 PM

Just looked this kent float valve up. For mounting you need to drill through your sump mine is glass is there an alternative to drilling through the glass I wouldn't mine doing this if I could get the sump out with ease but I would be in for a project I think to drill a hole through my sump.

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 12:25 PM

You can get an acrylic bracket to hang over the lip of your sump, then attach the float valve to that. Obviously, you need to make sure that the bracket is firmly fixed to your sump, if it moves around at all it'll change the water level and could cause more serious problems if it comes totally loose.

As far as making or getting a bracket, ask in the DIY forum. There are lots of creative people in there.

Alternately, you can get some float switches - i.e. electronic liquid level switches - and use those to either turn a pump on and off to control the level, or open and close a solenoid valve on your RO line. The Kent valve is probably a little more failsafe than electric float switches, unless you build a rather complicated system with multiple switches to act as failsafes.

an411 · 07/31/2007, 12:32 PM

alright I will look into something like this I guess in reality if I had a pump to just pump the water up to the sump from the RO/DI container that would be more efficient then lugging jugs up the stairs

reelsteel · 07/31/2007, 12:49 PM

You can get dosing pumps pretty cheap these days, or if you know someone that works at a hospital, they usally have to replace their dosers every so often, even if they work. Float switches work great too. I just happen to get a dsoing pump with a used tank I bought, so I ended up using it. One guy I know went and bought one of those garden hose timers and hooked it to his RO unit(he is using a garden hose spicket to run his RO unit) and it pumps directly into his tank a couple times a day. One to think about there is always a chance of it getting out of control, so get a cheap water alert, which will wake the neighbors when your tank starts to over flow. lol

der_wille_zur_macht · 07/31/2007, 12:53 PM

IMHO, dosing pumps are pretty useless unless they are run by a float switch - otherwise, it's just a "best guess" proposition, because evaporation will not be EXACTLY the same every day. In essence, you'll be making little corrections here and there anyways.

And if you're gonna run it with a float switch, might as well just use a cheap $10 powerhead instead. Even the cheapest dosing pumps are many times that used.

If someone already has a dosing pump, there are far better things to do with it IMHO than try to pass it off as an auto-topoff device. My first choice would be to use it to dose 2-part or another ca/alk supplement, with topoff controlled by one of the other schemes mentioned in this thread.

07/31/2007, 11:15 AM	#1
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	Tub of RO/DI water? Does my Brute container containing my RO/DI water need a power head or should it be fine just sitting?

07/31/2007, 11:20 AM	#3
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Sitting is totally fine. You might want to keep it covered, just to keep dust and stray junk out - but it doesn't need to be airtight or anything special. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 12:15 PM	#11
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	No need for an expensive dosing pump. Float switches can do auto topoff with any pump, and if you can store the water above the tank, a manual float valve will do it even more cheaply/simply. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 12:25 PM	#14
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	You can get an acrylic bracket to hang over the lip of your sump, then attach the float valve to that. Obviously, you need to make sure that the bracket is firmly fixed to your sump, if it moves around at all it'll change the water level and could cause more serious problems if it comes totally loose. As far as making or getting a bracket, ask in the DIY forum. There are lots of creative people in there. Alternately, you can get some float switches - i.e. electronic liquid level switches - and use those to either turn a pump on and off to control the level, or open and close a solenoid valve on your RO line. The Kent valve is probably a little more failsafe than electric float switches, unless you build a rather complicated system with multiple switches to act as failsafes. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 12:53 PM	#17
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	IMHO, dosing pumps are pretty useless unless they are run by a float switch - otherwise, it's just a "best guess" proposition, because evaporation will not be EXACTLY the same every day. In essence, you'll be making little corrections here and there anyways. And if you're gonna run it with a float switch, might as well just use a cheap $10 powerhead instead. Even the cheapest dosing pumps are many times that used. If someone already has a dosing pump, there are far better things to do with it IMHO than try to pass it off as an auto-topoff device. My first choice would be to use it to dose 2-part or another ca/alk supplement, with topoff controlled by one of the other schemes mentioned in this thread. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

07/31/2007, 11:18 AM	#2
FZ1Rider Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alexandria Posts: 210	I leave mine just sitting. The only pump I have is my ATO pump. Peter

07/31/2007, 11:22 AM	#4
reelsteel Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 73	It will be fine as long as your cat, dog or kids stay out of it!! lol

07/31/2007, 11:24 AM	#5
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	alright I was just checking cause I am going to order a powerhead for my saltwater tub that I am going to be using for my water changes. I wasn't sure if I should order a second one but I will hold off and go with the one for now.

07/31/2007, 11:40 AM	#6
reef3r Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: pittsburgh Posts: 471	yeah, keep your pets out of it... my cat's crazy, I left a bucket of saltwater out (1.026) and he was drinking it!!! RO water probably isn't bad for them, but you never know what else could be in their mouth, lol.

07/31/2007, 11:47 AM	#7
reelsteel Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 73	I had a friend, that his kids or neighbor kids threw pennies in his RO water, he threw it away cause he wasn't sure about the copper in the pennies and he wasn't going to take the chance. Good thing they didn't throw them in his display tank. My cat likes to look at my RO tub cause it can hear the water going into it and they love drinking out of moving water.

07/31/2007, 12:09 PM	#8
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	Yeah I am luck I keep in in my basement and i have no cats or kids just a dog and I keep a cover on just to keep the dust and dog hair out of there

07/31/2007, 12:11 PM	#9
reelsteel Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 73	You'll be good than. Now you just need to get a dosing pump to top off you water by it's self.

07/31/2007, 12:23 PM	#13
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	Just looked this kent float valve up. For mounting you need to drill through your sump mine is glass is there an alternative to drilling through the glass I wouldn't mine doing this if I could get the sump out with ease but I would be in for a project I think to drill a hole through my sump.

07/31/2007, 12:32 PM	#15
an411 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Derby CT Posts: 2,861	alright I will look into something like this I guess in reality if I had a pump to just pump the water up to the sump from the RO/DI container that would be more efficient then lugging jugs up the stairs

07/31/2007, 12:49 PM	#16
reelsteel Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 73	You can get dosing pumps pretty cheap these days, or if you know someone that works at a hospital, they usally have to replace their dosers every so often, even if they work. Float switches work great too. I just happen to get a dsoing pump with a used tank I bought, so I ended up using it. One guy I know went and bought one of those garden hose timers and hooked it to his RO unit(he is using a garden hose spicket to run his RO unit) and it pumps directly into his tank a couple times a day. One to think about there is always a chance of it getting out of control, so get a cheap water alert, which will wake the neighbors when your tank starts to over flow. lol