Got the itch again...Have a question

[fatboy8]

Had a 20 gallon tank for around a year with some live rock in it two damsal's a clownfish and goby. I'm looking to upgrade to a 75 gallon and have a dwarf lionfish and some type of scorpion fish. Now with the 20 gallon I bought premixed RO saltwater from my local fish store. I have to say I hated lugging in multiple 5 gallon buckets and jugs to fill. Does everyone prefer buying it premixed or mixing it themselves?

 

[BIG-G]

I would mix if it were me. lot easier to set up a storage container with a heater and powerhead once then carrying water and running out to buy every time you need to do a water change.
Even if you had to purchase an RO unit the convenience would be worth the investment.

 

[fatboy8]

I would mix if it were me. lot easier to set up a storage container with a heater and powerhead once then carrying water and running out to buy every time you need to do a water change.
Even if you had to purchase an RO unit the convenience would be worth the investment.

That's the way I am leaning. I couldn't stand the constant driving to get more water and it was the worse when they ran out.

 

[tlindsey]

I agree with BIG-G if its not a reef setup just premix like stated.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Had a 20 gallon tank for around a year with some live rock in it two damsal's a clownfish and goby. I'm looking to upgrade to a 75 gallon and have a dwarf lionfish and some type of scorpion fish. Now with the 20 gallon I bought premixed RO saltwater from my local fish store. I have to say I hated lugging in multiple 5 gallon buckets and jugs to fill. Does everyone prefer buying it premixed or mixing it themselves?

I'm refer to buy water on weekend and take that change to look around LFS in my free time.
However, I do have a bag of salt and storage RO water for mixing if any issue come up. In my area buying water cost vs buying salt and mix by myself won't give me any advantage over buying water from the store, the cost pretty much same +/- 1 or 2 dollars different.
Edit:
I just redo my math, it's cheaper to buy water from LFS than buy salt and using my RO water to mix my own saltwater.

 

[Fizzicks]

I use a 4 stage RODI unit from BRS with the sink faucet attachment. I picked up two 20 gal rubbermaid trash cans with lids (white for RODI, blue for saltwater) and dolly/caster bottoms so I can roll them around. I have a 43 gallon reef so I generally just need about 15 gallons each of saltwater(waterchanges) and RODI(ATO and 2 part dose mix). I hook up my RODI unit to the sink and I put the buckets into my bath tub and let them fill over the course of a few hours. I set a timer and walk away. My unit does 3 gallons a hour. Putting them in the bathtub while filling is just an overflow precaution.

I like this set up because its not permanent and has an over flow safety. Ive seen awesome set ups with apex controllers that hard plumbs your RODI straight to the tanks ATO and mixing containers with float switches. It is completely automated except for adding the salt. Although there are precautions with this set up because you're plumbing an essentially unlimited water source into your tank. But I think this can be a decently reliable system as long as you have programming in place to kill your RODI line if it gets stuck open by monitoring a major salinity drop on the apex probe.

I would say the 75 gallon you're thinking of getting is right around the size I myself would consider hard plumbing a RODI unit with mixing cans and fill pumps to the aquarium. How much you automate it is up to you. But it is without question cheaper to have your own mixing set up vs buying from LFS.

 

[puffy127]

Agree with RODI unit and mix it yourself.