Drain tank Mega fast

[T]

use a powerhead or some sort of pump. just submerge it into your water. and connect tubing to the powerhead and the other side to the toilet. your tank will empty out fast.

 

[wow_it_esploded]

I'll give you a few of the problems I had to deal with using a 1" hose to drain my eighty freshwater.

Using a mesh system on one end of the tube simply is not effective. If there's any particle in the water is will jam up fast.

The last time I used it I had a neon dwarf gourami get stuck on the end and in less than ten seconds I had a fish with no scales left on one side. Secondary infection killed him and many of the fish in the tank were smaller. Not powered suction, just a suck at one end and cough out fishwater siphon.

I actually placed the hose into a 3 inch piece of pvc (that normally goes around the overflow to prevent little fish from being skimmed away) that has tons of little holes drilled in it.

I have never had a mouthful of fish water, suck at the end until you hear/feel the water flowing downwards and set the hose down... Pretty straightforward and fish-water-into-mouth-less if you ask me.

As fast as you can regulate a tank may not be fast enough. Remember stepping into a fridge is fine for you or I but an immediate +-10F change can kill a fish. Not including the acclimation time for a massive environment change. I don't care what you're using to treat, a great big lungful of chlorine is going to do damage even if it's got a chemical nutrilizer right behind it.

It is never a greater difference than 2-3*! It would be ridiculous to have a 10* shift in tank temp!

The effects on fish of chlorine are normally long term, unless in high amounts. Also, my tap water is low enough in chlorine to not need to treat at all, which is what I do in our pond, but I treat the tanks anyways, just in case.

Last (but certainly not least) if you screw up anywhere on the way it's no longer a small thing. If you drain to the tub, you lose a fish down the drain or stress it out very badly with a high velocity trip. If you drain it out a window you lose a fish and it's probably dead no matter what. One end comes loose and before you know it twenty gallons of water is on the floor and mum and dad not liking fish becomes no fish in our home.

Like I said before, no chance in losing fish in my situation. With the 3 inch PVC and all the holes (that are small enough for the fish not to fit through) half of the above para. is voided.

One end comes lose? If I drop the part that is in the tank I get a gallon or 2 on the floor. I can't drop the other part of the hose seeing as it is sitting outside the window with said window closed tight enough to hold it in place. There goes a quarter of the above para.

Even if I did somehow get 20 gallons of water on the floor, they do not mind as long as I clean it up. I was redesigning my sump a month or so back and, because of careless mistakes, flooded about 50 gallons of water... 3 times. I have a shop vac so I just clean it up and get on with my day.

I speak from experience moving five gallons at a time twice a month. Once to drain the tank (8 trips) and once to refill (8 trips plus temp balancing and water treating) FIVE GALLONS at a time. Remember it's not for your convenience, it is for the health and safety of the fish. Now I do sound like my hippy vegan father. Do the most responsible route for the fish and you'll be fine.

I do not see anything wrong with what I am doing right now. The fish are not in danger of being sucked up, nor are they in danger of large temperature pH, or TDS shifts. Not even in danger of "a lungfull of chlorine" seeing as we don't have any.

Swim on.

I think what he was using is sump drain tubing. It's thinner, lighter weight tubing than pond piping, and more flexible. I used it to make my DIY gravel vac. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/fo...d.php?t=209451

Yah that is what I am using. The only problem is that there were a bunch of pinholes in one end of mine, but it does not matter because I cut it down to about 10 feet for easy management... The rest went out to the shed.

 

[metalyx]

Sorry, thought fish being picked up by the line was a concern...

Still unless you're massively overstocked that large of a water change shouldn't be necessary that often. On the other hand I'd love to have that sort of constant water. Our ph and chlorine levels vary greatly from day to day. That being the case a strong dose of fluctuating water will kill fish very quickly.

I'm sorry that my advice was greeted with such play by play critical enthusiasm but if you don't see anything wrong with what you're doing right now, why ask in the first place?

 

[wow_it_esploded]

I was really asking about using the hose, or finding one at least... But ok.

I do love my constant water! It is amazing how much it easier it makes keeping fish... At my grandma's house (she is not on the same water system) she has to age the water and run various things to change the chemistry to match the tank.

I am not overstocked (6 tetras, 1 1 inch goldie that was stunted before I got him, and a ghost glass catfish that maxes out at 3 inches) at all, but I might as well keep the water as clean as possible. In the future I will be tapping into the laundry line that is caddy corner to this room... I would run it through the closet and into the tank, with an overflow in the sump. But for now this will work.

 

[unstopablepuffers]

wow you should be a mod! so wise and guru of all things fish!

 

[aquaman88]

i just connect my canister to python and it drains fast

 

[mikeymik'd]

I have a 75 gallon tank and, although it is nothing compared to some here, I want to speed up water changes. I cannot speed up filling as the water comes from the tap only as fast as it does, but draining could be improved quite a bit.

Agh! I keep missing posts when I respond!

About 85 gallons weekly to bi-weekly.

85 gallons from a 75 gallon tank?

 

[Dan F]

I use a 1.5" hose to drain my 300 gallon, it drains it down in minutes! It helps that I have about 8' of drop.

 

[wow_it_esploded]

wow you should be a mod! so wise and guru of all things fish!

Thank you, I am flattered! I do not know if I am mod-material (but I would be willing to give it a go, if I had any invitations)

 

[wow_it_esploded]

85 gallons from a 75 gallon tank?

Yes, I have over 15 gallons in the sump at any time. I run the pump until it sucks air and then I shut it off, effectively removing that 10-12 gallons of water.