220 Gallon Tank in a room with no plumbing

[spitz006]

Two things are happening to me at once. I’m moving into my sister’s finished pole barn for a year, and I’m being gifted a 220 gallon tank with stand and glass tops.

Currently I run a couple 40-breeder sized tanks, with some medium sized fish, and I’m going to get rid of the tanks and throw them all in the 220 and have my first monster tank!

Now this pole barn does not have plumbing. (I’ll be going inside my sister’s house to use the bathroom). So what am I gonna do about water changes? I can run the garden hose in there I guess, but is that safe? I’ve heard you aren’t supposed to drink from some hoses. And also I’ll have to warm the water somehow first, because it will be ice cold from the garden hose (I live in Michigan)

ANY advice (except life advice about why I’m living in a pole barn) will be accepted and appreciated!

 

[Kput]

A hose isn't a lot different than clear vinyl tubing, it's just a matter of making sure it doesn't have stagnant water, or start molding inside the hose. I'd probably do clear vinyl, to be honest. So you can at least keep tracking of how the inside looks.

Honeslty what you should do is have some sort of holding tank for water, that you can add a heater to. Pump water over into the tank, heat it to temp, then do your water changes.

 

[dr exum]

drip in little water continuous or fill a reservoir - treat,heat, and pump

congrats n GL!

 

[Ogertron3000]

Apparently you can get food grade hoses if you are concerned. I agree with everyone else, get a way to hold the water and warm it before you need to do a water change. As for getting the water out the tank, I hope you like carrying buckets!

 

[fishhead0103666]

Why would he need buckets? All he needs is a 2” diameter hose and enough lung power to get the siphon going. I’ve done that on a tank that day basically on the floor. If he can’t do that then I say get several hoses each in smaller diameter by a bit, wedge them inside each other, then wedge it over or into the original hose and you have a funnel basically where you can suck on a small diameter hose for longer to create the suction

 

[Rob909]

I use clear vinyl tube out the window to drain my tank, then the garden hose to refill it. Dose the full tank volume with seachem safe as it refills. When I do water changes in the winter, I bring in two large barrels And fill them next to the tank. I can either fill them with half hose water and half hot water from the sink (carrying buckets) or drop a heater in and wait until it comes up to temp. Then, a submersible pump takes the water from the barrels to the tank. Repeat as necessary until the tank is full.

 

[BizTodd]

Why would he need buckets? All he needs is a 2” diameter hose and enough lung power to get the siphon going. I’ve done that on a tank that day basically on the floor. If he can’t do that then I say get several hoses each in smaller diameter by a bit, wedge them inside each other, then wedge it over or into the original hose and you have a funnel basically where you can suck on a small diameter hose for longer to create the suction

Better yet, put a coupe ball valves in there, and you only have to create the syphon once.

 

[Rass]

I use a 25 foot vinyl hose to drain, and a pvc hanger section that is cut to length with a strainer on the end that hangs on the tank so I can walk away and it breaks it's own siphon at 50% water level. Then I have a 6 foot section of garden hose that is adapted to a barb fitting that plugs into my vinyl hose in order to fill through the same setup. I bucket my hot water in to balance temp but that admittedly is the hard way to do it. If you have room for a temp controlled holding tank that would be the way to go because you could fill that back up with cold hose water and it would be up to temp by the next water change.

 

[BIG-G]

I have 15 aquarium in a building that doesn’t have water.
One of which is a 220.
I use a python to siphon water to the yard and refill with a normal garden hose.
I’ve been doing this for 10 years without any problems.
I do have a couple tanks on a sump system that I have plumbed with a drain line.
I only have to open a valve to do a change on those. Then refill the same way.
If you’re concerned you can buy hoses that are made for campers and such design for potable water.
I’ve read that some garden hoses have anti mold and mildew coatings on the inside.
Like I said, I’ve never had any problems though.

 

[deeda]

I use a drinking water safe RV hose for filling my tanks and a sump pump hose to drain.

I think the issues will be the OP lives in Michigan which gets cold in winter. A hose can be used to fill containers in the building and then heated prior to refilling the tanks. Draining the tanks when it's freezing out and snowy will take a bit of thought to avoid slick spots on walkways or near the foundation of the pole barn.

I can't imagine having to get dressed in a hurry to walk to the house to use the bathroom when it's freezing outside. Maybe consider a composting toilet or similar convenience in the pole barn.

My prior home had a large finished pole barn for storing equipment, vehicles and a work shop and we did add a woodburning stove for when we needed to work during the winter months. The woodstove helped but it was still a breezy building.