What is the easiest way to fill a tank for the first time?

[Endemion]

Hello,

I just purchased a custom made tank 30G rimless - 25x25x12, with a 20G sump. Soo, 50G total water volume. My tank prior to this was an old JBJ 12g nano tank that I had for about a year and a half. This is the first time I've ever had to come up with 50 gallons of saltwater at one time and I'm wondering what the best way to go about this is.

I live in a 4th floor apartment with 2 sinks (kitchen, bathroom). I have a 50g/day RO/DI unit that will hopefully hook up to one of the sinks (if it doesn't, I have no idea what to do). My tank is pretty close to the Kitchen, just on the other side of a kitchen bar. So, maybe 10' away in total. I have 2 5 gallon buckets that I used for my old tank, but waiting for these to filter and fill up 5 times over seems like an extremely long process.

Is there an easier way to do this? Can I just use tap water for the first time and throw in some kind of water tablet that will clean the water or something?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Definitely don't use tap water. I also have a 30g tank, and use the 5 gallon buckets. One way to speed it up is get some vinyl tubing large enough in dieameter to connect to a powerhead. Immerse the powerhead with the vinyl tubing attached into your bucket of saltwater. Place the other end in the tank and turn on the powerhead. A maxi-jet 1200 works well for this. It will quickly pump the water into your tank.

[cmbspd]

For a couple of dollars you can buy 25 or 50 feet of refrigerator line (home depot/lowes) that should run from your RODI to the tank. You can fill the tank directly with RODI and mix the salt in the tank only for this first fill!

[Allmost]

Hey,
it will take the RO/DI system 24 hours to make 50 G of water, so you need to wait 24 hours basically, and no, there arent any tablets that can turn tap water to RO/DI that's why we buy the RO/DI unit !

get a saddle valve, connect it to the COLD water under your kitchen sink, place the RO/DI unit right there too. get a RO tube, connect it to the output, and pull it all the way to the tank, and clip it on the side of the aquarium.

then kick back with some movies or .... for 24 hours till it fills up, place heaters and power heads in and mix the salt, let the salt mix for 24 hours to be 100% sure of salinity throughout the system. if you dont get it right at this point, it will be harder to correct it down the road, so use a refractometer as well.

I would also fill up the tank and sump with tap water first, run all eqipments to be sure no leaks and all equipment working, tap water leaking is better than salt water leacking good luck and have fun

[Endemion]

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it! I'll probably try and run the line all the way to the tank.

I'll use tap water for leak testing and then drain the tank - put in sand/aquascape, then refill with RO/DI water and add salt to sump to mixing.

[Sk8r]

Dry rock to future level of sand, then live rock, then sand, or dry rock, then sand, then a thin cap of live rock.

I put a sheet of eggcrate under the sand to take care of 'point load' on the glass. Burrowing creatures can topple rockwork that is set on the sand.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by Endemion

put in sand/aquascape, then refill with RO/DI water and add salt to sump to mixing.

NO NO !! there is no way you can MIX salt water when you have rocks and sand in there.

you need to fill up the SYSTEM (tank and sump) with RO/DI Water, let all PUMPS run, then add salt, let them mix, wait 24 hours, measure salinity, then measure again, and when you are 100% sure add rocks and sand.

[chimmike]

Originally Posted by Endemion

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it! I'll probably try and run the line all the way to the tank.

I'll use tap water for leak testing and then drain the tank - put in sand/aquascape, then refill with RO/DI water and add salt to sump to mixing.

tha's the way to do it!
Minus the sand as stated above, of course.

:thumbup:

[Endemion]

Ahh, I didn't realize that would be a problem with the salt mixing. I guess I'll have to guess how much water volume the sand/rock will take up and adjust after they have been added.

Good call on the eggcrate. I'm using all dry rock for aquascaping purposes, and I have some live rock left over from my small tank that will seed from the sump. I'm only going to have maybe 2 inches of sand and I was going to grab the sand/rocks from Marco Rocks.

Again, I appreciate the help!

[shifty51008]

Originally Posted by Allmost

NO NO !! there is no way you can MIX salt water when you have rocks and sand in there.

you need to fill up the SYSTEM (tank and sump) with RO/DI Water, let all PUMPS run, then add salt, let them mix, wait 24 hours, measure salinity, then measure again, and when you are 100% sure add rocks and sand.

if he is only putting in dry rocks and dry sand then yes he can mix the salt in the tank for the 1st time but after anything live enters the tank it will have to be premixed before entering the tank.

just so your clear if you do add salt to the tank with dry rock and sand make sure to blow around the rocks every now and then to make sure no salt settled in the rock

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by shifty51008

if he is only putting in dry rocks and dry sand then yes he can mix the salt in the tank for the 1st time but after anything live enters the tank it will have to be premixed before entering the tank.

just so your clear if you do add salt to the tank with dry rock and sand make sure to blow around the rocks every now and then to make sure no salt settled in the rock

right ... and how about the salt sitting on sand you have to make a sand storm to get some of the salt mixed in

sorry you are wrong on this, and there is no point arguing we can agree to disagree if you wish

[Toddrtrex]

Not saying this is the best way, but this is how I filled my 40 breeder recently.

First I had the sand in there -- already rinsed.

Had my RO/DI unit running, filling up 5 gallon containers, and I had planned ahead, and had 5 already filled. Poured it into my 5 gallon "salt making bucket" added the appropriate amount of salt, and let it mix for 2 hours with a heater. (( normally I will mix for 24 hours, but since there was no live stock 2 hours was enough )). Then I would put it into the tank. Repeat as needed. With only being able to do this in the evenings it took me 2 days to fill (( including 20 long sump )), after running for 3 days I added some live rock.

This is how I added the water itself -- didn't want it to because too cloudy.

[The Velvet Sea]

Originally Posted by Allmost

NO NO !! there is no way you can MIX salt water when you have rocks and sand in there.

you need to fill up the SYSTEM (tank and sump) with RO/DI Water, let all PUMPS run, then add salt, let them mix, wait 24 hours, measure salinity, then measure again, and when you are 100% sure add rocks and sand.

I mixed salt in a tank full of dry rock and sand. No problem. I think adding sand to a tank full of water will create more cloudy-ness than mixing salt in a tank with rock and sand already in it. Both ways work just fine though.

I also recommend buying a cheap length of RO tubing and filling the tank directly from the RO filter. Easiest way to go in my opinion.

[scadsobees]

If you are worried about sand mixing with salt, assuming there aren't any pumps in the sump that might suck up the salt, couldn't you just put the salt into the sand-free sump and let it mix up there where it will get pumped up and mixed with the main tank?

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by The Velvet Sea

I mixed salt in a tank full of dry rock and sand. No problem. I think adding sand to a tank full of water will create more cloudy-ness than mixing salt in a tank with rock and sand already in it. Both ways work just fine though.

I also recommend buying a cheap length of RO tubing and filling the tank directly from the RO filter. Easiest way to go in my opinion.

not something to argue about, sorry .... there is no possible way of mixing salt with water while there is sand at the bottom ... if you went against physical laws, then amazing. the salt is bound to sit at the bottom, on top of the sand.

anyways, what ever works for u I am assuming no side effects as well except a shift in salinity ... lol

[Endemion]

Thanks guys! You've all given me some great help on how I'll get this thing filled up and mixed up.

[The Velvet Sea]

Originally Posted by Allmost

not something to argue about, sorry .... there is no possible way of mixing salt with water while there is sand at the bottom ... if you went against physical laws, then amazing. the salt is bound to sit at the bottom, on top of the sand.

anyways, what ever works for u I am assuming no side effects as well except a shift in salinity ... lol

No side effects. No salinity shift. Amazingly enough, there is no salt sitting on my sand. Not trying to argue. Just stating my experience.

[Raggamuffin]

I have done it every way discribed so far and never had a problem. the easiest and fastest way I have found so far though is to get the dry rock in, fill the tank 1/2 way with ro/di, add the sand to the display, finish filling tank and sump. dumped my salt into the sump and just let the bugger go with a couple extra powerheads in the sump. 3 days later water was stable and temp was up. I normally ordered my live rock the day the tank finished filling, 1 day to order, 1 day to ship, 3rd day gets here and I clean it up, put it in and ta da I was done.

[hvacman250]

This is what I do and would recommend:

If glass, put egg crate on bottom. Place your rocks to your liking. Add sand around rocks. This lets you see your creation and make adjustments without making a mess underwater.

Add RODI water to the tank about half way, maybe 2/3. Fill the tank full with high SG saltwater. If the tank is full and you STILL need to add salt, replace the top-off/evaporated water with the high SG saltwater. Also, you could add salt to the sump to mix, just don't dump salt in the main tank.

Ive done both of my tanks this way and there was never a sandstorm. Water was clear immmediately.

[shifty51008]

Originally Posted by Allmost

not something to argue about, sorry .... there is no possible way of mixing salt with water while there is sand at the bottom ... if you went against physical laws, then amazing. the salt is bound to sit at the bottom, on top of the sand.

anyways, what ever works for u I am assuming no side effects as well except a shift in salinity ... lol

you do realize salt does mix in with water, just because salt makes it to the sand don't mean it won't mix in with the water.

look at your mixing container, when you put salt in there, some makes it to the bottom but even with no circulation it will get mixed in with the water. just because it lands on sand don't mean it will always stay salt.

and no I am not wrong, the way I said will work just fine, just the way you said will work just fine.

[RRaider]

Originally Posted by scadsobees

If you are worried about sand mixing with salt, assuming there aren't any pumps in the sump that might suck up the salt, couldn't you just put the salt into the sand-free sump and let it mix up there where it will get pumped up and mixed with the main tank?

That's what I did with my 156 when I filled it originally.