Do You Suck?

[Trouser Cough]

There are thousands upon thousands of WC's that have been done by the collective here and I'm guessing that one of you may have sorted it out. I've got a long history of starting WC's in one of two ways...

1 - I've got a homegrown U shaped PVC adapter I hang over the lip of the tank and connect a 3/4" (never a 5/8" as they're far slower) garden hose to it. I'll wander outside and give the other end of the hose a mighty suck, lay it down and let the WC commence, or

2 - I'll connect that same PVC adapter to the tank and connect the other end to a faucet, fill the hose until I hear a change in internal flow then disconnect the hose from the faucet, fold it a couple times to keep the water from drooling out and then waltz that end of the hose outside and lay it down for the WC to begin.

What I'd like is some way of starting that process w/ a 3/4" siphon bulb adapter or maybe magic of some kind. I would prefer to avoid yet another motor and pump and suck starting that siphon is just a bit gross. There's got to be a better way..

Got a cool setup? Talk to me.

 

[jjohnwm]

All my basement tanks...i.e. almost all my tanks...are permanently linked into a ridiculous network of hoses that run to a utility pump that ejects the waste water through more hoses up and out of my basement, directing it to various place outdoors depending upon the season and upon where I can use water for gardening, etc. Each tank can be easily isolated via valves. Each is re-filled either by gravity from a couple large water storage containers in my basement crawlspace, or by still more permanently-mounted hoses fed from a pressure-balancing mixing valve. Combined with an on-demand water heater, I can draw as much water as I want while maintaining a stable temperature. A water change never requires any siphoning, any sucking or any other unpleasantness; everything is done by opening and closing valves.

BUT...I have a 30-ish gallon tank in my den, housing a Musk Turtle who is the apple of my wife's eye (I kinda like him too...). I do at least one change of 100% per week, sometimes more often...and yes, every GD time I am running a hose out the patio door and then doing the Mighty Suck to get it going. I need to build myself a PVC U-fixture like yours to make this a bit easier; I've been saying that since I got the turtle 6 years ago. Filling the tank is done with a 5-gallon bucket filled in the bathroom, then carried down the hallway and poured manually into the tank; makes me feel like a Neanderthal. That miserable turtle takes up more time and effort than more than 1000 gallons of tanks in the basement.

There has got to be a better way.

 

[Midwater]

I do WC by continuous drip and overflow in sump.

But on occasions when I have to empty a tank quickly with a tube as siphon, there is only one sure way to get it started, and that is to suck.

Not very nice, but I don't think I have suffered any ill effects.

 

[Joshuakahan]

There are thousands upon thousands of WC's that have been done by the collective here and I'm guessing that one of you may have sorted it out. I've got a long history of starting WC's in one of two ways...

1 - I've got a homegrown U shaped PVC adapter I hang over the lip of the tank and connect a 3/4" (never a 5/8" as they're far slower) garden hose to it. I'll wander outside and give the other end of the hose a mighty suck, lay it down and let the WC commence, or

2 - I'll connect that same PVC adapter to the tank and connect the other end to a faucet, fill the hose until I hear a change in internal flow then disconnect the hose from the faucet, fold it a couple times to keep the water from drooling out and then waltz that end of the hose outside and lay it down for the WC to begin.

What I'd like is some way of starting that process w/ a 3/4" siphon bulb adapter or maybe magic of some kind. I would prefer to avoid yet another motor and pump and suck starting that siphon is just a bit gross. There's got to be a better way..

Got a cool setup? Talk to me.

I just use a Python lol but up until 3-ish years ago, I sucked literally….mouth siphon and a bucket

 

[Friller2009]

All the tanks at my house are manual suck siphoned.
At work only one rack isn't on a drain system. If I could convert my tanks at home they would all be on drain systems. So much easier, and I can do a whole rack at once. Hook it up to the tap, bam tanks filled. Best waterchange system i've ever used

 

[duanes]

While in the states, if I opened this 2" valve (below left)., old water from 20 tanks would ....


(Instead of going of sumps), be redirected to various spots in the garden.
When done draining, depending on whether for warm water fish, or cool water fish, parts of the manifold would send blended warm, or cold water to certain banks of tanks, with PVC permanently plumbed lines to sumps.




Once each sump was filled (it was fitted with a cattle trough type float/check valve) that would stop flow to that particular sump.
Its the red thing on the sump below, on the right.

When full, any tank, or pool (whatever), the water would press the red float up, stopping flow into that sump.
I needed this insurance because I'd easily get distracted, and over flow sumps.
When full , the water pressure would also create water hammer, and the sound would alert me that that individual sump was full, and the inflow line should be closed.

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

I know there's those fancy little overpriced siphons with plastic squeezing...bulb...things that move water at chain stores, but I just suck. Never really bothered to find an alternative; 'sides, fish tank water doesn't taste all that bad... though of course I don't willingly drink it...
I don't think it'd be too difficult to cut that bulb thing off and modify it somewhat to fit different-diameter pipes.
There's also that one trick with those siphons with the big gravel suction tube thing attachment, where you flip it upside-down and back again or something of that sort, but those siphons are both overpriced and far too short IMO.

 

[Cal Amari]

Well I do have an easier way, but it is not faster. I know you've mentioned before you run FX6s on all your tanks. I use the bottom drain valve on my FX and run a 50 foot section of vinyl tubing out the back door. i simply attach the tubing, open the valve, and let the pump run it out, just have to keep an eye that the water level doesn't drop below the intake, or unplug the unit, and let it gravity flow which is even slower.

I then have a 50 foot drinking water safe hose that I run from my laundry sink to refill. Also slow, but easy. For 2 years I folded over the end of the hose once finished and dribbled it through my kitchen to get it outside to drain the standing water until I finally broke down and spent $1.99 on a plastic garden hose shut off valve. Now when the tank is full I shut the valve, take the non dribbling end outside and open the valve, then disconnect from the laundry sink, and start rolling from that end.

My process may be quicker with larger hoses, but I think the real limitation is the speed of the FX pump, and the flow rate from my laundry tap.

 

[JackEmerson]

Old school suck siphon and a bunch of buckets from Home Depot.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Well I do have an easier way, but it is not faster. I know you've mentioned before you run FX6s on all your tanks. I use the bottom drain valve on my FX and run a 50 foot section of vinyl tubing out the back door. i simply attach the tubing, open the valve, and let the pump run it out,

Hmmm, I don't have an fx6, on my fx5 that little valve is just a drain, it doesn't make any difference that I could tell if the pump is running or not.