Using Drink Container for Tank

[Tyler]

Does anybody have an idea of how many times I should rinse out a container of arizona iced tea before it’s safe to use on my tank? I made a simple siphon powered kalk dripper out of it to keep under my sump in order to keep up with my calcium/alkalinity demands with the most stability I can come up with (obviously other than 2 part for more precision). It still smells like tea but I just finished it maybe 30 minutes ago so I’m hoping it’ll be gone by the morning. In case anybody is interested in my design here are some pictures.

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[Sunny]

First of all there is no thing as "how many times". It is very subjective. Second if you do not smell foul after rinsing you are done.

Third - If you are so paranoid about it, why will you not buy a 1 Gallon water bottle (jug) from your local shoprite or stop&shop for a $1 and use that?

 

[Mrx7899x]

Looks good I would just rinse it out with rodi water couple times and call it good. If you have an auto top I would just mix the kalkwasser in there makes it easier.

 

[Sunny]

Looks good I would just rinse it out with rodi water couple times and call it good. If you have an auto top I would just mix the kalkwasser in there makes it easier.

Would you please care to explain why he needs to rinse with rodi water? Why would rinsing under regular tap water and then using it would not suffice?

I ask since you said couple of times and to make 2 gallon RO water you waste 4 gallons of water. Just trying to understand the rational behind it.

 

[Mrx7899x]

Your going to fill it with rodi water anyway and I m not worried about wasting a quarter gallon of rodi water if I run out I just make more.

 

[Tyler]

First of all there is no thing as "how many times". It is very subjective. Second if you do not smell foul after rinsing you are done.

Third - If you are so paranoid about it, why will you not buy a 1 Gallon water bottle (jug) from your local shoprite or stop&shop for a $1 and use that?

I’m not too paranoid about it, was just curious if anybody had some kind of idea. I’m still not old enough to drive and I would have to wait until my mom goes shopping again so in the meantime I figured it would be nice to help stop the manual dosing. Now I just need an idea of how fast it’ll empty soI know how much kalk to put in to keep up with my consumption.


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[Trio91]

You could dose kalk into your ATO. (It's what I do) i generally just rinse out my bucket after its empty.

You could rinse maybe with a lil vinegar if your looking to get the smell out

 

[Tyler]

You could dose kalk into your ATO. (It's what I do) i generally just rinse out my bucket after its empty.

You could rinse maybe with a lil vinegar if your looking to get the smell out

If I had an ATO I would do that but I don’t have one, I’ve been doing manual top offs with every tank I’ve ever had; just been more consistent with my reef tanks lol.


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[Trio91]

Ok, gotcha. At one point I was doing the same with my Kalk but I had a glass container. I would just use a lil vinegar and water, fill it, give it a couple of shakes and rinse. Repeat if necessary

 

[Mrx7899x]

It depends on how big your tank is and how many and what kind of coral you have. I would test alk before you start dripping and I would start with half a table spoon of kalk and set it to drip like one drop a second and then when it runs out test alk again. If your levels went down then I would add another half table spoon let it empty out again test alk again and repeat till you get it where you want it. I would make another one so you don't have to fill it everyday. I'd pick up an ato would make your like a lot easier

 

[Tyler]

It depends on how big your tank is and how many and what kind of coral you have. I would test alk before you start dripping and I would start with half a table spoon of kalk and set it to drip like one drop a second and then when it runs out test alk again. If your levels went down then I would add another half table spoon let it empty out again test alk again and repeat till you get it where you want it. I would make another one so you don't have to fill it everyday. I'd pick up an ato would make your like a lot easier

I don’t have money for an ATO right now since I don’t have a job with the school year going on, I don’t really want to work until the summer comes around. When I get money it typically goes towards more acros and flow upgrades. My system is about 110 gallons and stocked with almost all SPS, a few LPS and some different zoas and a toadstool. I’m more concerned about keeping my alk consistent than the Ca part so I’m sure 2 part is the better option but I definitely don’t have a few hundred to drop on a high end doser.


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[horseplay]

I would say if you can drink from it more than likely it’s safe for the tank. Think about diluting 5ml of residual Arizona ice tea in a big tank of salt water.

 

[Mark_C]

Heya T!
Hope all's well.
Personally I wouldn't sweat it. I'd just rinse the container out well, maybe put in some warm water and vinegar and let it sit for an hour, rinse again and use.
If I was lazy I'd skip the vinegar step.
Then again I use a meat thermometer (that I use for steaks) to occasionally test my water temps.
Found an old 5g water container in garage filled with dust. Quick rinse and it became my ATO container 8 months ago.
If I see a coral knocked down I'll reach in to fix it, oft with Bread Guyz 25 Beard Balm residuals on my hand.
I've cycled tanks by peeing in them.
Oft, when feeding white worms, potting soil residuals enter the tank with them.
And I'm growing softies and SPS with no concerns for a number of years.
Tanks are tough. Don't stress about the little things.
Agree with Joe (horseplay), if you can drink from it, its safe for the tank.