Yea it's impossible not to lose some over time. I put a little more sand in mine than I wanted too so it should work out in the long run.
question for Python users with sand
- Thread starter adamsfishes
- Start date
I think it's inevitable that I'm going to swap substrated. Just not happy with it. It's just a matter of when.
How do you guys remove your sand? We have a plastic kids snow shovel that looks like it would be perfect for the job. Unfortunately I have 200 pounds of it, so it's not going to be fun!
How do you guys remove your sand? We have a plastic kids snow shovel that looks like it would be perfect for the job. Unfortunately I have 200 pounds of it, so it's not going to be fun!
Honestly what's worked best for me ( I did it twice recently ) was a large fish net from my lfs. Drains all the water out of the sand so your just moving the substrate and is somewhat flexible to get the corners. Might be better ways but it's cheap and worked for me.
I'm not sure what you're saying, but it sounds interesting. What specifically do you do with the net?
Thank you Duanes for saving me a lot of typing.
Basement situation:
One (or more) of those short 6 or 8 foot siphon hoses or a homemade version. This will get the water from your tank into a trash barrel/giant bucket (we all have one (or many), right?)
Water pump powerful enough to either push the water from the barrel to the sink, or from the barrel to your lawn. The pump will sit inside the barrel. Note: only worth going to the lawn if your water changes involve a lot of water.
For regulating flow, a python does have an adjustment lever on it. Otherwise, add one or "kink" it.
As for you using the Python as its designed - running the tap to create suction - a horrible waste of water.
I hope this is useful. I am sure there are a lot of DIY water changers in the DIY section.
Basement situation:
One (or more) of those short 6 or 8 foot siphon hoses or a homemade version. This will get the water from your tank into a trash barrel/giant bucket (we all have one (or many), right?)
Water pump powerful enough to either push the water from the barrel to the sink, or from the barrel to your lawn. The pump will sit inside the barrel. Note: only worth going to the lawn if your water changes involve a lot of water.
For regulating flow, a python does have an adjustment lever on it. Otherwise, add one or "kink" it.
As for you using the Python as its designed - running the tap to create suction - a horrible waste of water.
I hope this is useful. I am sure there are a lot of DIY water changers in the DIY section.
Nvm, my mind was distracted ... I see, you use a fish net to scoop out the sand, removing the water in the process. That makes sense. It would take longer that way, but it may be worth the effort.
It is a waste of water. I don't like it, but it's the simplest solution for me right now. Where I live, water is relatively cheap, and wastewater is recycled back into the system.
I could look at using a pump with a bucket... that's something to think about for sure. And I could re-use the python tubing, so it wouldn't be wasted. Thanks for all the ideas, you guys are awesome.
That's actually not bad. You're probably not as lazy as me though.
I get a strong enough suction created using the Python Squeeze that I don't need to run my water any more when doing water changes. I could definitely suck up all the sand in the tanks if I wanted. My python hose is about 50 feet long.
