Mixing Bucket?

[Rcpilot]

So, I'm using an 8g Rubbermaid trashcan for my mixing bucket. It's black. It has slowly built up a layer of calcium/scaly stuff. I keep a cheap 60gph powerhead and a visi-therm 25w heater in the bucket.

The sides of the bucket are so encrusted with calcium and hard water scale, that my powerhead and heater won't stick to the sides anymore. I want them stuck to the side. I don't want them free-floating in the bucket. I measure my water and dose it all week long to slowly adjust it to the tank conditions. I'm going for ultra stability. I don't want the electric devices floating around because I stir it with a plastic spoon when I dose the water or make any adjustments.

I've rinsed the bucket in hot tap water about every 60 days. I clean the pump and the heater. The whole thing just seams to build up slime and hard water deposits. I can't understand why things inside the bucket get slimy.

Is it time to toss the bucket and get a new one? I have old salt buckets. Anybody used an old Kent or Oceanic bucket for mix water? How is the plastic? Will it leach into the saltwater? I know that seams like a silly question, because it does hold the powdered salt, after all. But it's not WET. Will these plastic buckets leach when full of water?

Probably sounds like a newb question. Just tired of a slimy mixing bucket. Need some help from more experienced reefers.

 

[reeffreak]

I clean out my 40g. tub with a few drops of bleach and water once a month.Rinse and rinse some more.I don't get a slime or calcium/hard water stain but a little brown diatom to the walls of the bucket.The first batch of makeup water will get a capful of Prime just incase there is any lingering chlorine.

It's safe to use the leftover salt buckets.I use one for drip acclimation and the others as stools.Rinse it out well.

 

[Piggy]

I use my salt buckets for my top off water. They fit perfect in my cabinet so when one empties I replace it with another one. I also use them to mix my saltwater. I'm getting a pretty good collection of them. I clean mine with vinegar water when needed.

 

[Rcpilot]

I got 2 buckets that could be used for mixing or storing RO water.

How much work/water does it take to rinse out the vinegar? Will vinegar leave a residue behind that is harmful to my reef?

Thanks

 

[yote]

Just rinse untill the vinegar smell is gone.Usually just a couple of times will get it.
I'm using a salt bucket for mt ATO holding tank,plus a lot of times I'll take some other empty salt buckets to wal-mart or the LFS for RO water.

 

[Bifferwine]

My trash cans are covered in white crust. Like yours, nothing will stick to the sides. So my heater and powerhead for mixing water sit on the bottom.

 

[Rcpilot]

I'm switching to salt buckets. I can put a lid on them and keep the salt spray from getting out. All I need to do is hack a 1/2" hole in the side of the lid for the cords to pass through.

The Rubbermaid trash can did the job for 18 months. It's time to retire it. I am going to start keeping one bucket full of RO water and one full of saltwater for the next week. I'll use the RO water to top off through the week. I won't use all that water for top off though. After my Sunday water change, the mixing bucket will be empty, so I'll dump whats left of the RO water in there and make more saltwater. Then fill my RO bucket again. That way, the RO water never sits in the bucket for more than a week and it'll be covered all the time anyway. My saltwater always sits around for a week anyway. I buffer it and adjust it during the week so that it's the same as the tank on Sunday afternoon.

 

[Piggy]

That's what I did. I drilled a hole in the lid for my tubing. So all I have to do is take out empty bucket and replace it with a full one and sit lid on top. All the RO and saltwater I make is stored in salt buckets.

 

[Reefrookie]

When I started out, I used Instant Ocean, and developed crust on my holding tank. I since changed to Oceanic and have had very minor filming on the sides of the tank, Plus my coralline growth has picked up

 

[Rcpilot]

When I put salt into the RO/DI water, it forms a haze or scum on top of the water for the first 18-24hrs. It seems like maybe the trace elements aren't mixing up right away. I don't know what causes it. Within 24hrs it's all mixed and no more scum on the surface.

Anybody else have that issue? Oceanic salt.

 

[daugherty]

i have no issues with oceanic. it looks milky for a bit but in about 15 20 min it is clear

 

[Reefrookie]

When I put salt into the RO/DI water, it forms a haze or scum on top of the water for the first 18-24hrs. It seems like maybe the trace elements aren't mixing up right away. I don't know what causes it. Within 24hrs it's all mixed and no more scum on the surface.

Anybody else have that issue? Oceanic salt.

I have my power head on the bottom of my holding tank and there is not much surface movement. I wonder if I should point it up to the surface?

 

[Rcpilot]

I think "milky" would be a better way to describe it.

My powerhead is on the bottom of the bucket too. I've tried stirring the water with my plastic spoon. Tried putting the powerhead up higher and even mounted it on the side pointing straight up. It was about 8" under the water so it wasn't spraying out, but it was sure boiling the surface of the water. Doesn't do any good. It's as if the floaties need to get water logged before they become soluble.

I guess if others have similar experience there's nothing to worry about.

 

[Bifferwine]

I have the same problem. When I do water changes, I use a pump and vinyl tubing to move the new water from my trash can to the tank. With NDB's help, we take a rubber band and attach a small cloth to the end of the tubing. Then hold the cloth on so the water is forced through the cloth before it gets to the tank. This traps any gunk or detritus that has landed in the water while it was mixing. This is a pretty big problem for me, since we run AC pretty much 24/7 here, and the AC register is right above the trash cans for making water, and there's a ceiling fan right in front of it. Basically, the AC blows crap out, which gets directed into the water by the ceiling fan. And any dust or dog hair, the same thing happens.

 

[Rcpilot]

I wonder if it would be beneficial to run the Magnum HOT canister on the mixing bucket? If you used the paper filter, it would trap those particles. Just clean it every time you do a water change so it never has a chance to build an aerobic bacteria colony. More work though.

 

[dustin_P74]

i keep my trash cans full of water in my garage so i just put a lid on top of it 24/7 unless i take it off to get water out, and that keeps my water clean