changing water on monster tanks
- Thread starter joedodge
- Start date
I theres anything that chatting with fishkeppers has taught me, its that there is no Right way. Not only one at least.
The place I moved into last year has no sink in the basement, where my two 120's are. There isn't enough pressure upstairs to make the python efficient, so I used the garden hose from my backyard to clean the tank.
That was fine before the -40 winters hit, and I didn't want to make my backyard a giant ice rink. I got so sick of wasting water with the low pressure that I now siphon and empty 5g jugs and use the python to fill up... the gravity works MUCH faster, and even though hauling the jugs is a pain, I couldn't handle wasting water like that.
But come spring, I'll be watering my garden with a nice fish water mix.
That was fine before the -40 winters hit, and I didn't want to make my backyard a giant ice rink. I got so sick of wasting water with the low pressure that I now siphon and empty 5g jugs and use the python to fill up... the gravity works MUCH faster, and even though hauling the jugs is a pain, I couldn't handle wasting water like that.
But come spring, I'll be watering my garden with a nice fish water mix.
joedodge;2530573; said:
Our tank is bare bottom for easy maintenance. The tank is plumbed with two additional uptakes just off the floor that quickly remove all debris/feces from the tank. In the nearly three years the tank has been running, there has been no debris/feces to vacuum out of the tank. We have extreme mechanical filtration with two spa filters run by a big Hammerhead pump (5800 gph). With additional pumbing and valves on both sides of every pipe, water changes are super easy to do. By opening/closing valves, the same "poop sucker" uptakes quickly siphon water from the tank to a pipe under the house that drains out on the patio. We drain out 200 gallons very quickly from our 300 gallon tank. In our filter room we have a 55 gallon tank sitting on a high shelf. Opening another valve sends the water into the main tank. During the week, it's easy to replace the water lost to fish splash or evaporation. On water change day, we add more conditioner to the tank and turn on the faucet from the utility sink which has a line up to the 55 gallon tank. In this manner, we keep adding water to the 55 g holding tank which is filling the main tank by gravity flow. Once the main mechanical uptake is under water again, we can turn the pump back on and very rapidly pump in the last hundred gallons. We also discovered that we can siphon water from the tank through the return line, which backwashes the spa filters before getting dumped outside. This is pretty limited, however, as the return nozzle is only a few inches from the top of the tank, so is quickly out of water when the tank is being drained. Our system works well for us, and we do not miss the daily vacuuming and water changes that we had to do on the 55 gallon tank our rescued fish came in.
Pumping water back into the tank. Our fish love the turbulent action.
I have two 75s. One is within 25 feet of the sink, so I use a 1/2 inch 25 foot hose. I drain it into the tub (pythons seem like a stupid waste of water to me) and then I attach the hose to the sink and refill. It takes about half an hour to do a 50% WC. My other one that I set up recently is too far away from the sink to use the hose, so I siphon water out the window and then refill with buckets. I'm gonna get a 50 foot hose though.
If your tank is really big, get a wide diameter hose. Filling will still take a while, but draining will be super quick.
If your tank is really big, get a wide diameter hose. Filling will still take a while, but draining will be super quick.
i use a method similar to others here, i start with a mag12 pump and a 30 foot piece of 1 1/4id vinyl tubing, i run this to bathtub(i live on major thoroughfare and on third floor so hanging hose out window is kind of out) i can drain my 125 tank in about 5 minutes, and the 135 in just over that, refilling tanks is with garden type hose, the refilling is rather slow because water pressure is low here, but lots easier than buckets!!!! i am also fortunate that i only need dechlorinator because water in my area is rather hard!!! Hope this gives someone at least some more ideas so you can taylor something that works for you!!!!
herb
herb
i use a python. but like someone else said-go to the hardware store and check out the hose on a roll in the plumbing section-its the same stuff pythons are made of and you can have it cut to whatever length you need!
i would use caution in using garden hoses to fill tanks-some of the new style of garden hoses actually have chemicals mixed in with the rubber inside to kill mold spores. id never use a garden hose to fill a tank.
pythons are expensive, especially if you are hard up on money-id go to the lhs and get hose cut to your needs..
i would use caution in using garden hoses to fill tanks-some of the new style of garden hoses actually have chemicals mixed in with the rubber inside to kill mold spores. id never use a garden hose to fill a tank.
pythons are expensive, especially if you are hard up on money-id go to the lhs and get hose cut to your needs..
No monster here yet, but when I had my 55 up and running I got tired of lifting buckets over my heard, so I dropped a pump in a bucket of water on the floor with some tubing attached to it.
And all of my tanks gravity drain out a window. Much easier that way! I'm thinking about moving my tanks when I set up my monster, and if I do that, I think I'm going to run some PVC pumbing through a wall to join with the bath tub drain. Then all I'll have to do is drop the end of a gravel vac down a piece of pipe, and never have to worry about it again.
And when I build the stand to hold monsters, I'm going to build it to hold some type of stock tank in the bottom for aging & warming water.
And all of my tanks gravity drain out a window. Much easier that way! I'm thinking about moving my tanks when I set up my monster, and if I do that, I think I'm going to run some PVC pumbing through a wall to join with the bath tub drain. Then all I'll have to do is drop the end of a gravel vac down a piece of pipe, and never have to worry about it again.
And when I build the stand to hold monsters, I'm going to build it to hold some type of stock tank in the bottom for aging & warming water.
