that sounds much more convenient to me. Rather than adding de-chlor in a bucket. I'll try that next time.
How do YOU clean your tanks?
- Thread starter MonitorSpiderCichlid
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that sounds much more convenient to me. Rather than adding de-chlor in a bucket. I'll try that next time.
I use a modded siphon tube on a garden hose to drain my 180 quickly, siphon out the door and then hook my fill hose to the kitchen sink, adjust temp and fill. I have a well and my ph is about 6.8-7.2 straight from the tap. I do 50-75% wc once a week, every 2 weeks I clean my canisters and once a month I pull the entire tank down and clean my dw and siphon my sand. I usually rearrange once a week. A half hour before I drain the tank I run a 400 gph submersible pump in the tank to stir up sediment to be sucked in by the filters. Oh ya I wipe the glass anytime I see anything on it.
I run a python(aqueon) from one centralized sink and change my 300, then the 135, then the 90 and finally the 60 all from the same sink. I usually start the siphon with water on then turn it off and let the siphon do most of the work. I mix Safe(powdered prime) in a pitcher and pour it in the mix water as it enters the tank. I usually start the water change about 15 minutes before the early football games on Sunday and just move the hose from tank to tank. All tanks are on remotes so it's really easy. My wife even does it for me while I travel..........
garden hose too my rank and sump pump it shoots it outside
Then i take the big siphon off of the tubing and take a 5 gallon bucket and take some sand out and rinse it.
At the same time i take all the bio load out.
Garden hose is then reconnected to the faucet and put the water back into the tank
Then i take the big siphon off of the tubing and take a 5 gallon bucket and take some sand out and rinse it.
At the same time i take all the bio load out.
Garden hose is then reconnected to the faucet and put the water back into the tank
Siphon/Bucket, if I'm being impatient I'll chain gang 2 siphons, one into the bucket, one out the door.
I rigged up the spare outlet on my FX5 with some pond hose and just connect and turn it on. It pumps out 50% from my 100G in no time at all.
I pass the outlet hose to the outside drain. I stir up the gravel as the tank drains to get the crap out.
Fill up straight from the garden hose and add Prime as it fills on a steady basis (I use a syringe to add the prime as the tank fills).
I pass the outlet hose to the outside drain. I stir up the gravel as the tank drains to get the crap out.
Fill up straight from the garden hose and add Prime as it fills on a steady basis (I use a syringe to add the prime as the tank fills).
I used to use a siphon & buckets for decades. I recently made my own Python type cleaner out of my existing siphon and about $7 worth of parts from Home Depot. I was afraid to give up the bucket brigade because it was something I knew so well. Granted, I would spill some pretty nasty water here and there every few months but it was a known evil. I wish I had switched my cleaning style sooner. It wasn't until about half a year of owning a 75gal tank versus the 55gal I had forever that the additional water changes were starting to get to me. I also recently injured my shoulder so the switch to this method couldn't have come any sooner. I drain into my kitchen sink which isn't too far away and then I add Seachem Prime or Safe directly to the tank water. I then get the tap water to the same temp as the tank water and reverse flow back into the tank to fill it up by closing the valve near the faucet on the Python I made. The whole process takes me less time, it's less effort plus now I don't have to worry about re injuring my shoulder carrying buckets around. I'm proof that even though you've been doing it one way for a decade there are better ways out there and most times change is good.
Make the change now and you won't regret it.
Make the change now and you won't regret it.
DIY 25 foot hose to the tub (it's lower than the sink so It drains faster). Then I hook it up to the kitchen sink to re-fill and regulate temp. It takes about 20 minutes to change out 30 gallons. I do one change in the morning before I head to work and one in the evening. My fish get 60-70 gallons of fresh water in their 100 gal every day. I periodically vacuum the sand about once a month. I'm so happy I dumped the buckets... they were such a pain in the neck.
