Setting up new 75g tank... Adding Water Question

C5Chad · 02/07/2017, 05:27 PM

Hey guys I have a 75 gallon tank I bought off of Craigslist. I already checked it for leaks and wiped it down with a wet paper towel to sort of clean it up a bit. I bought an AquaticLife RO Buddie +DI ro & deionization system to fill my tank with. It only does 50 gpd and I only have a few Home Depot 5 gallon buckets.

Can I fill one or two buckets a day up and pour them in and just keep doing so over the course of a week or so until my tank is filled and then pour my salt mixture in? Will there be any issue with doing it that way? Or do I need to basically have all 70+ gallons made up and ready to pour in all at once for any particular reason??

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Didnt know if doing only 5 to 10 gallons a day and it sitting in my tank for a week or so before salt mixture and cycle process to start would defeat the purpose of having my ro filter system... such as house particles or whatever contaminating my purified water in my tank. I of course would have my glass lid on the tank. Just being very anal about this setup. Want to do it right. Thanks for any help!!

vcc.edu · 02/07/2017, 05:34 PM

my suggestion would be to but some rodi water from your local pet store to get it filled up on day one, also you could use distilled water either in the gallon form or my Publix sells 5-gallon jugs for 1.33 cents its essentially the same thing can't see any harm in that sense you need to cycle your tank for a while, i would not add little at a time because until you get to minimum of half way you would not be able to turn on the pumps and stuff so it would be stagnant.

Ou8me2 · 02/07/2017, 06:31 PM

I just added 5 gallons at a time when I did mine and had no problems. It should only take an hour or so for each 5 gallons so I just did other things around the house and emptied each buck over a couple days. The water isn't going to get that stagnant if you keep adding water.

C5Chad · 02/07/2017, 08:19 PM

Thanks for the input guys...I may consider going to the local pet store although I'd almost feel weird going in asking for 70+ gallons of water from them but it definitely sounds like a not bad idea. Not that I'm against filling it up 5 gallon bucket by bucket out of my own rodi system, just would take awhile and concerned about the quality of the water once I finally have it all filled up.

Anyone else have any input on this? Would be greatly appreciated!

Ou8me2 · 02/07/2017, 08:52 PM

I'm not sure what would concern you about water quality slowly filling it up vs buying it. I did it over 3 days and nothing bad happened.

The problem with going and buying it is either you may have to buy lots of 5-gallon buckets or the store's containers and then cart them all the way home, unload into the house. Sounds like a lot of work to me.

That's if you can find a pet store who sells it. Where I live none of the pet stores sell RO/DI water here. I wouldn't trust a grocery store unless you can verify when they last changed filters and did maintenance. Which a lot of stores slack on.

You could always go purchase a food grade Brute trash can and make RO/DI water that way in larger batches.

f3honda4me · 02/07/2017, 08:58 PM

I'd just buy enough RODI tubing to go from the system to your tank and just let it run. 50' of rodi tubing will run you like $12 on BRS.

kelp47 · 02/07/2017, 10:51 PM

+1 to f3honda4me. You can also buy tubing for this at Home Depot.

C5Chad · 02/08/2017, 04:56 AM

I'd go with that idea except for the fact that my system is located in my basement laundry room whereas my tank is upstairs in my living room. I'd say it's probably over 50'. Maybe70-80'. Do you guys think running that long of tubing it would still work? Having to flow it up a staircase and into my living room that far? I wouldn't have thought so considering how slow it fills my buckets up just being right there.

MG98 · 02/08/2017, 01:13 PM

Why not get an adapter for kitchen sink and run tubing all on the same floor?

f3honda4me · 02/08/2017, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C5Chad

I'd go with that idea except for the fact that my system is located in my basement laundry room whereas my tank is upstairs in my living room. I'd say it's probably over 50'. Maybe70-80'. Do you guys think running that long of tubing it would still work? Having to flow it up a staircase and into my living room that far? I wouldn't have thought so considering how slow it fills my buckets up just being right there.

If you have good water pressure that's not too far at all. I run mine over 60 feet.

Diana A · 02/08/2017, 02:08 PM

Add water to your tank When you get up to 50 gallons in the tank...add salt mix into a buck with RODI and mix well. Add it to the tank and mix it...have your powerhead running. After a few minutes use your refractometer. Repeat as you add more 5 gallons of RODI. you water isn't going to become stagnant

C5Chad · 02/08/2017, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3honda4me

If you have good water pressure that's not too far at all. I run mine over 60 feet.

I may try that.... should I move my DI portion of my rodi to near the tank so that it isn't building up any kind of pressure by having to go that far from the units current location to my tank? Or would it be fine?

f3honda4me · 02/08/2017, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C5Chad

I may try that.... should I move my DI portion of my rodi to near the tank so that it isn't building up any kind of pressure by having to go that far from the units current location to my tank? Or would it be fine?

Should be fine.

C5Chad · 02/08/2017, 04:54 PM

Turns out it will only take 38' of 1/4" tubing to get from where my rodi system is in the basement to upstairs in my living room. Just has to go up about 7' to get upstairs and then is a pretty level flat run until it gets to my tank where it has to go up again to empty into my tank. Hoping this method works pretty well.

f3honda4me · 02/08/2017, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C5Chad

Turns out it will only take 38' of 1/4" tubing to get from where my rodi system is in the basement to upstairs in my living room. Just has to go up about 7' to get upstairs and then is a pretty level flat run until it gets to my tank where it has to go up again to empty into my tank. Hoping this method works pretty well.

So long as your water pressure is good it will work great!

jewlz · 02/08/2017, 06:30 PM

Your RO water is moving so slowly that there are nearly negligible friction losses in the tubing. The only thing you have to think about is the head pressure that you lose going upstairs. If you're trying to determine whether the water will still flow upstairs, ask yourself this, "when I open the tap upstairs, does water flow". If the answer is yes, no problem!

C5Chad · 02/08/2017, 06:38 PM

Thanks guys.... got it all set up from my basement with 1/4" tubing coming from my rodi setup I got at my local fish store and ran it 38' just taped to the floor. Only a temporary setup just using to fill my 75 gallon with nothing but good rodi water. Will set it up back to just having the output line filling 5 gallon buckets in my laundry tub once my tank is filled. Slow steady water flow going into my tank now as I type. Guess I'll just let it run overnight and hopefully by the time get home from work it'll almost be ready to the point of mixing in my salt

02/07/2017, 05:27 PM	#1
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	Setting up new 75g tank... Adding Water Question Hey guys I have a 75 gallon tank I bought off of Craigslist. I already checked it for leaks and wiped it down with a wet paper towel to sort of clean it up a bit. I bought an AquaticLife RO Buddie +DI ro & deionization system to fill my tank with. It only does 50 gpd and I only have a few Home Depot 5 gallon buckets. Can I fill one or two buckets a day up and pour them in and just keep doing so over the course of a week or so until my tank is filled and then pour my salt mixture in? Will there be any issue with doing it that way? Or do I need to basically have all 70+ gallons made up and ready to pour in all at once for any particular reason?? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Didnt know if doing only 5 to 10 gallons a day and it sitting in my tank for a week or so before salt mixture and cycle process to start would defeat the purpose of having my ro filter system... such as house particles or whatever contaminating my purified water in my tank. I of course would have my glass lid on the tank. Just being very anal about this setup. Want to do it right. Thanks for any help!!

02/07/2017, 10:51 PM	#7
kelp47 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Central Alabama Posts: 473	+1 to f3honda4me. You can also buy tubing for this at Home Depot. __________________ Kelley 75 gal mixed reef

02/08/2017, 02:08 PM	#11
Diana A Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: New Jersey Posts: 682	Add water to your tank When you get up to 50 gallons in the tank...add salt mix into a buck with RODI and mix well. Add it to the tank and mix it...have your powerhead running. After a few minutes use your refractometer. Repeat as you add more 5 gallons of RODI. you water isn't going to become stagnant __________________ diana

02/07/2017, 05:34 PM	#2
vcc.edu Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Jacksonville Posts: 12	my suggestion would be to but some rodi water from your local pet store to get it filled up on day one, also you could use distilled water either in the gallon form or my Publix sells 5-gallon jugs for 1.33 cents its essentially the same thing can't see any harm in that sense you need to cycle your tank for a while, i would not add little at a time because until you get to minimum of half way you would not be able to turn on the pumps and stuff so it would be stagnant.

02/07/2017, 06:31 PM	#3
Ou8me2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 743	I just added 5 gallons at a time when I did mine and had no problems. It should only take an hour or so for each 5 gallons so I just did other things around the house and emptied each buck over a couple days. The water isn't going to get that stagnant if you keep adding water.

02/07/2017, 08:19 PM	#4
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	Thanks for the input guys...I may consider going to the local pet store although I'd almost feel weird going in asking for 70+ gallons of water from them but it definitely sounds like a not bad idea. Not that I'm against filling it up 5 gallon bucket by bucket out of my own rodi system, just would take awhile and concerned about the quality of the water once I finally have it all filled up. Anyone else have any input on this? Would be greatly appreciated!

02/07/2017, 08:52 PM	#5
Ou8me2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 743	I'm not sure what would concern you about water quality slowly filling it up vs buying it. I did it over 3 days and nothing bad happened. The problem with going and buying it is either you may have to buy lots of 5-gallon buckets or the store's containers and then cart them all the way home, unload into the house. Sounds like a lot of work to me. That's if you can find a pet store who sells it. Where I live none of the pet stores sell RO/DI water here. I wouldn't trust a grocery store unless you can verify when they last changed filters and did maintenance. Which a lot of stores slack on. You could always go purchase a food grade Brute trash can and make RO/DI water that way in larger batches.

02/07/2017, 08:58 PM	#6
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	I'd just buy enough RODI tubing to go from the system to your tank and just let it run. 50' of rodi tubing will run you like $12 on BRS.

02/08/2017, 04:56 AM	#8
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	I'd go with that idea except for the fact that my system is located in my basement laundry room whereas my tank is upstairs in my living room. I'd say it's probably over 50'. Maybe70-80'. Do you guys think running that long of tubing it would still work? Having to flow it up a staircase and into my living room that far? I wouldn't have thought so considering how slow it fills my buckets up just being right there.

02/08/2017, 01:13 PM	#9
MG98 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 81	Why not get an adapter for kitchen sink and run tubing all on the same floor?

02/08/2017, 04:54 PM	#14
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	Turns out it will only take 38' of 1/4" tubing to get from where my rodi system is in the basement to upstairs in my living room. Just has to go up about 7' to get upstairs and then is a pretty level flat run until it gets to my tank where it has to go up again to empty into my tank. Hoping this method works pretty well.

02/08/2017, 06:30 PM	#16
jewlz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: North America Posts: 116	Your RO water is moving so slowly that there are nearly negligible friction losses in the tubing. The only thing you have to think about is the head pressure that you lose going upstairs. If you're trying to determine whether the water will still flow upstairs, ask yourself this, "when I open the tap upstairs, does water flow". If the answer is yes, no problem!

02/08/2017, 06:38 PM	#17
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	Thanks guys.... got it all set up from my basement with 1/4" tubing coming from my rodi setup I got at my local fish store and ran it 38' just taped to the floor. Only a temporary setup just using to fill my 75 gallon with nothing but good rodi water. Will set it up back to just having the output line filling 5 gallon buckets in my laundry tub once my tank is filled. Slow steady water flow going into my tank now as I type. Guess I'll just let it run overnight and hopefully by the time get home from work it'll almost be ready to the point of mixing in my salt