Moving food grade barrels for water

[jeff12]

What do you guys use to wheel those 55 gallon food barrels in and out of the house? I found some 55 gallon blue food grade barrels that I am going to use to age water. Since I have to get the water from the backyard, I am probably going to leave the barrel outside and wheel them inside when I am doing a water change.

[Jack L]

What do you guys use to wheel those 55 gallon food barrels in and out of the house? I found some 55 gallon blue food grade barrels that I am going to use to age water. Since I have to get the water from the backyard, I am probably going to leave the barrel outside and wheel them inside when I am doing a water change.

umm....that is like a 1/4ton... i'd find a way to leave them put and use a hose/pump to move water.

[DJW]

You need to heat the water too... and its winter time. Did you measure your PH swing to see if the water needs to be aged?

[Keith Perkins]

umm....that is like a 1/4ton... i'd find a way to leave them put and use a hose/pump to move water.

No doubt,

[The Irons]

To answer the OP's question, a good four wheel movers dolly will handle a 1000 lb plus. Don't get the cheap Box Store Dolly with the 3" wheels, look online for a professional dolly with 4" wheels- cost around $50 plus shipping. They are only good on hard surfaces though. You will not be able to move a full 55G barrel over anything but manmade surfaces with these- they'll sink in a second on grass. If you plan to keep the barrels on grass, you'll need to look at a landscapers handtruck -prob about $300, to move a full 55 barrel, but these won't fit through a regular door- the tires are really wide to take the weight.

[Woodduck]

umm....that is like a 1/4ton... i'd find a way to leave them put and use a hose/pump to move water.

+1.

[The Irons]

You need to heat the water too... and its winter time. Did you measure your PH swing to see if the water needs to be aged?
Why are you assuming the OP is not aware of either of these? The question was how to move the water, not how to prep it before doing a WC & the OP even mentions aging the water.

[MendoMan]

As mentioned before PUMP it. The only way to do it.

[DJW]

Why are you assuming the OP is not aware of either of these? The question was how to move the water, not how to prep it before doing a WC & the OP even mentions aging the water.

I am assuming that because the OP has asked other water-related questions recently and this thread is almost a continuation of another thread in the water works section from yesterday.

[The Irons]

I am assuming that because the OP has asked other water-related questions recently and this thread is almost a continuation of another thread in the water works section from yesterday.
So those questions weren't answered in those earlier water related threads? They had to again be asked/answered here? The OP was pretty specific with the question in this post. Just trying to figure what pH & temp has to do with moving 500lb of water

[Akili]

So those questions weren't answered in those earlier water related threads? They had to again be asked/answered here? The OP was pretty specific with the question in this post. Just trying to figure what pH & temp has to do with moving 500lb of waterIn his other thread the issue is to get water that has not gone through a waterer softener . OP has his house on a water softener except for one outlet on the outside OP mentions that in his other thread.

[navarro1950]

How far are the barrels away from your home? I have another way to move the water by using a pond pump with a high amount of head pressure. I also had the same problem so I bought a pump with 53' head pressure and it will move the water for without braking your back.

[jeff12]

What, the water is that heavy? I just don't want to leave a big barrel in the house.


You need to heat the water too... and its winter time. Did you measure your PH swing to see if the water needs to be aged?

About the aged water...I don't know why I do it. I just do it because I have been doing it for years for other fish. I remember hearing about it from a LFS that water needs to be age with the water conditioner for a few days to remove stuff from the water LOL. What I have been doing for my current tanks is that I fill up those 1 gallon bottles and bring them into the house...yes not a effective process but since I don't need to do a lot of water changes it works. Since discus involve daily water changes I need to upgrade to the big barrels.

So this PH swing? What is this about?

I have ordered a pump. I was gonna pump the water from the barrel to the tank.

Also sorry for the thread spam...too many factors that go into discus and too much problems that can occur that I wouldn't like to get started on the wrong foot.

[navarro1950]

jeff12 water weighs 8.5 lbs. per gallon and at 55 gals that = 467.5 lbs. Plus the water slashing around will make seem even heavier. The pump I was talking about is the Life Guard 1hp pump which has 53lbs of head pressure. The pump cost 299.99 on Foster & Smith, think about it.

[Filip]

I think that the easiest way out of your problem would be to measure. Ph out of backyard tap and 24 hours after ageing.

If the Ph difference (swing) isn't that big(more than 0.5) go with straight yard tap water and save your self a longlasting hardwork.
That is only in case if you have a hot water.

[DJW]

Jeff12,

If the PH of your water doesn't change much after it comes out of the tap you might be able to eliminate the barrel entirely, which is why I asked about PH swing. In that case you could do water changes directly from an inside faucet with the temperature adjusted to the tank. In this scenario you could use all softened water, or install a simple bypass on the softener, in which case only about 1/4th of the water would be softened, the portion coming from the water heater.

You would still need to use Safe or Prime to neutralize the chlorine/chloramine.

If the PH rises by more than 0.3 or so, then it needs to be aged. The backyard hose wouldn't be connected to the water heater, right? You could run the hose through the window to fill the barrel, and maybe add some hot water from the house so you aren't always waiting for the heater to catch up.

Just some thoughts. There are several ways to do it, but how easy it is depends on the PH swing.

Hope this helps,

Dan

[Larry Bugg]

Back when I used 44 gallon brutes I used $20 furniture dollies from Home Deopt. http://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Material-Handling-Equipment-Platform-Trucks-Dollies/N-5yc1vZca3k/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-furniture+dolly%27?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5

[jeff12]

For the pH swing test do I test the water after 24 hours with or without dechlorator?

[Filip]

For the pH swing test do I test the water after 24 hours with or without dechlorator?

I doubt that dechlorinator affects Ph, but just to be on the safe side and get most accurate results I would do the test without it.

[Boyd Luth]

Keeping it simple :-) I live in Sunny Florida, have tile, and carpeted floors. It does drop below 82 degrees ambient temperature where my 275 gallon water tote is located outside. I have used the blue 55 gallon barrels insulated, and good quality 4 wheeled furniture dolly from Craigslist. I bring the barrels inside next to the tank the day before, fill, air stone, dechlor, and a few hours prior to change, plug in the heaters. Run my hose outside to empty, then fill with slightly warmer barrel water to tank. Lots of good suggestions....trial, and error....hopefully you won't spill too much water in the process :-).

[rickztahone]

For the pH swing test do I test the water after 24 hours with or without dechlorator?

Get a jug of water, measure the pH. Add an airstone in there and wait 24hrs. After 24hrs, check pH again. If it is the same, then you can do WC's directly from tap, but I would avoid the softner, so use the bypass.

I keep my aging barrel next to my tank. It is an eye sore for sure, but it is a necessity for me. I have my lines hard plumbed right next to the aging barrel and when I fill up the barrel, I let the heater warm it up for the day. The only bad thing about this is that if you need water a few hours after a wc, you may not have it up to temp on time. That is a problem I face in case of an emergency. Such is life though.

You can heat the barrel outdoors though, but in a shed or something where it isn't directly affected by the elements and pump it in to the tank directly. I like hard plumbing stuff so that it simply ends up where it needs to go to make life easier.

[Jack L]

buy safe over prime, reason...safe is MUCH more concentrated than prime.

safe says 1/4 tsp for 300 gals water, prime is 5ml for ONLY 50 gals.

[Jack L]

Jeff12,

If the PH of your water doesn't change much after it comes out of the tap you might be able to eliminate the barrel entirely, which is why I asked about PH swing. In that case you could do water changes directly from an inside faucet with the temperature adjusted to the tank. In this scenario you could use all softened water, or install a simple bypass on the softener, in which case only about 1/4th of the water would be softened, the portion coming from the water heater.

You would still need to use Safe or Prime to neutralize the chlorine/chloramine.

If the PH rises by more than 0.3 or so, then it needs to be aged. The backyard hose wouldn't be connected to the water heater, right? You could run the hose through the window to fill the barrel, and maybe add some hot water from the house so you aren't always waiting for the heater to catch up.

Just some thoughts. There are several ways to do it, but how easy it is depends on the PH swing.

Hope this helps,

Dan

your softener might have built in bypass too that you could use, mine does.

[Jack L]

For the pH swing test do I test the water after 24 hours with or without dechlorator?

in case to you don't know, the water need exposed to air when its "aging" if you were to put a lid on the vessel, the ph stays what it came out of the tap at.

[Woodduck]

You can get a 1300 gallon per hour pump on ebay from an American seller for less than $40. It will push a 13' head. I've got one in each of my IBCs.

[jeff12]

pH test was the same. Thats a relief.

Now if you guys fill the tank directly during water changes, how does heating and adding the dechlorator work?

[Filip]

pH test was the same. Thats a relief.

Now if you guys fill the tank directly during water changes, how does heating and adding the dechlorator work?

i do straight tap WC . I run the water from tap with same temp. (closest to tank temp.) , put the Seachem Safe in tank right before i start the tap , and i have a prefilter drilled bottle full of poret foam and filter floss atached at the end of the hose that fills the tank (to eliminate the micro gas bubbles).

[Jack L]

i use this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IJR5F6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
takes the water all way to the bottom after removing float
and
this thanks to RICARDO
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q9EFUK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

[jeff12]

i do straight tap WC . I run the water from tap with same temp. (closest to tank temp.) , put the Seachem Safe in tank right before i start the tap , and i have a prefilter drilled bottle full of poret foam and filter floss atached at the end of the hose that fills the tank (to eliminate the micro gas bubbles).

I can't do tap because I have the water softner. I am going to have to use my front yard hose to fill the tank. I cant set the temperature for the hose so I am wondering how I can get the water to be the same temperature as the tank. Maybe I could get a bucket and fill it up then throw a heater in there and use a pump to get the water into the tank. I wouldnt have to leave the bucket in the house and only pull it out during water changes. Any other ideas?

Now for example if I am doing a 50% water change do I add the amount of seachem safe for the 50% or for the whole tank?

[Filip]

I can't do tap because I have the water softner. I am going to have to use my front yard hose to fill the tank. I cant set the temperature for the hose so I am wondering how I can get the water to be the same temperature as the tank. Maybe I could get a bucket and fill it up then throw a heater in there and use a pump to get the water into the tank. I wouldnt have to leave the bucket in the house and only pull it out during water changes. Any other ideas?

Now for example if I am doing a 50% water change do I add the amount of seachem safe for the 50% or for the whole tank?

If you go with a bucket first maybe if you pour gallon or two 100c boiling water from tap you'll get instant warm water. Heather would take more time and electricity to warm the cold yard water to 28-9 C.

You also would pour seachem safe in the bucket and you calculate dose according to amount of Wc water you do at the moment, not according tank amount.

I guess you still have a strong pump which will pump out your prepared water from your bucket to your tank.

[Filip]

i use this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IJR5F6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
takes the water all way to the bottom after removing float
and
this thanks to RICARDO
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q9EFUK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Jack, I don't understand what are this gadgets for?
First should be a pump that gets your aged water from bucket to the tank, maybe? How many Gph power it is?

what's the purpose of the second gadget?

[Jack L]

I can't do tap because I have the water softner. I am going to have to use my front yard hose to fill the tank. I cant set the temperature for the hose so I am wondering how I can get the water to be the same temperature as the tank. Maybe I could get a bucket and fill it up then throw a heater in there and use a pump to get the water into the tank. I wouldnt have to leave the bucket in the house and only pull it out during water changes. Any other ideas?

Now for example if I am doing a 50% water change do I add the amount of seachem safe for the 50% or for the whole tank?

have you checked it your water softener has a built i bypass? some do. you can use the regular kitchen faucet, but it bypasses the softener, then when you are done with WC, you can set it back to "soft" mode

[DJW]

Now for example if I am doing a 50% water change do I add the amount of seachem safe for the 50% or for the whole tank?

If you are preparing the water beforehand in a barrel, you dose the Safe for the amount in the barrel. If you are adding water directly from the tap to the fish tank, you dose for the capacity of the entire fish tank. This is because the organic compounds in the aquarium water gobble up some of the Safe.

[Jack L]

Jack, I don't understand what are this gadgets for?
First should be a pump that gets your aged water from bucket to the tank, maybe? How many Gph power it is?

what's the purpose of the second gadget?

pump is rated 1800 gph, w/ garden hose up steps, no where near that, but plenty still.

the other is a used as remote on/off switch for the pump.

[jeff12]

have you checked it your water softener has a built i bypass? some do. you can use the regular kitchen faucet, but it bypasses the softener, then when you are done with WC, you can set it back to "soft" mode

I do have a bypass but if I bypass it how long do I have to wait until the softened water clean out? I also found out that there is a chance that the water also runs through a central water filtration system from Kenmore. I think it runs on charcoal. Is this going to be a problem?

What do you use to hook a hose to the faucet to run the water into the tank?

[Jack L]

depends on length of pipe between unit and sink, but not long in a normal house. it would just be the water in that pipe.

i think python has an adapter. i used a garden hose to sink adapter from hardware store.


search the board for opinions on carbon, i'm sure you'd find both sides. i personally don't use it now, but i used it before an had no issues either way.

[Boyd Luth]

I bought some used furniture 4 wheeled dollies, ruggedly built from 2by4's easy to move through my tile, and carpet Home....look into it :-)

[Cosmo]

I use a product moving Diaphram pump to pump my water straight up around 25 feet to the tank on the second floor - it would go to about 60ft up per Aquatec. I was using a Shureflo that had a flow of 1.5gpm but just got an Aquatec 505 that's rated at 3.5gal/min (haven't hooked it up yet). If your moving the water mostly horizontally the range is probably near unlimited. Hope I didn't repeat someone's answer but I'm in the middle of a WC lol