filling my 180

[hackteck]

ive got the sand in my tank and the live rocks should arrive tuesday, the filtration is already in place and the lights are arriving tuesday as well, now i have a question. with my 55g i filled up a 5 gallon bucket with water mixed in salt and poured it in my tank a bucket at a time. with a 180 gallon tank this would take 2 days hehe would it kill the bacteria on my live from my 55g that i'm moving to the 180 if i fill the whole tank with freshwater then add the salt into the tank directly to bring it up to the correct salinity?

 

[Todd]

I just did the same thing. I filled my 150 with RO/DI water and mixed the salt in the tank. I did this a couple days before my LR came in.

 

[tjara03]

one thing you could do is run over to wal mart and buy one of those huge rubbermaids, i have one that holds 50 gallons... that might help you speed up the process... HTH

 

[Feelin_Salty]

i dont know if it'd kill your rock or not, but you'll want somethin better for the future. I have a few big rubbermaids in my garage, one with RODI and one with SW mixing in it...I'm considering adding a valve with hose to the bottom of them, so when i do water changes, it'll be that much easier to get it into my 5 gal bucket that I carry back and forth

 

[nsu7]

hackteck, I agree, I just went through a similar process moving my 75 into a 210 (congrats on your up also...) I used a 44 gallon rubbermaid brute trash can, they're food safe...

I was lucky enough to also get a RO/DI system and hooked up a float valve on the brute, so once it was full I brought it to temp/salinity and added the water thatway... I moved everything from the 75, plus the new base rock, new sand for DSB all at once, but I didn't have very much LR so with the water from the 75 I was able to keep everything covered that needed to be... I don't know, maybe you could use the 55 as a holding tank for the new LR while you fill up the 180.

I used a Mag drive with some tubing attached to move the water...

 

[hackteck]

yea i may try that i was just tryin to find an easier way of filling the tank besides carrying buckets or buying extra items

 

[cmor1701d]

Are you using a RODI unit for the fill? I'd hook that up and let the tank fill and add the salt mix in the tank.

 

[ColdFish]

I have to admit it. I took the fast track to getting my 90 gallon filled. I put my substrate in, filled the tank with a Python, treated with a water conditioner, then added my salt mix. Probably not the best idea being that you have live sand though. I then let the return pump run for 48 hours before I added my LR. I do have the luxery of little to no phophate in my tap water though.

 

[nsu7]

ColdFish, where do you live w/ no phosphate?

Hackteck, Totally agree with the not buying more stuff, my credit card company loves me right now...

 

[Nøjo]

I would mix the salt and the water in the tank before adding anything else, then threw in the live sand. It creates one hell of a mess but after it settles after a few days everything will be fine (just in time for your live rock to be added). It sounds like one hell of a chore, I'm looking forward to doing it when I get my big tank.

 

[hackteck]

the sand is already in the tank just waiting for the rocks

 

[reeling reefer]

I just ran an extra long tube from the ro/di unit and filled my 180 up with it then just let the salt mix right in the tank, gradually adding salt over a couple days until it was right . I had sand and base rock in the tank as well.

 

[zuzecawi]

I would really recommend the trash can. For one, you're going to need time for the salt to mix properly into the water, and to get up to temp. For two, you're not going to have the option of mixing in tank later down the road. I use a rubbermaid with a old p.o.c. rio and some tubing. I do water changes every week, all week long I fill the can with ro/di water, with a pump running in it and a heater, mixing the salt till it reads right on the refractometer. Then the day I do water change, I take my two 7 gallon water jugs, have my partner fill those from the tank with the python while I'm in the garage filling two other 7 gallon jugs with the pump from the can. By the time I get both jugs full and in the house, my partner is just finishing sucking the last of the second jug out. We have it timed, we can change out 14 gallons in 15 minutes like this. And 21 gallons in 18 minutes. Buckets really are a pain in the butt, and in my house, they're strictly forbidden because of baby-safety issues. I much prefer the 7 gallon blue drinking water jugs. Keeps idiot relatives from dumping Lysol into them too. (I thought that was a mop bucket).