how do you do a water change?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ok. I have tanks on the main floor of the house, the basement, and in the garage.

I used to siphon them all into buckets and dump in the toilet. Refill bucket in tub and carry to the tank. When I got my 300 that got old....

I then invested in entire rolls of 1/2 inch hose from Lowe's to reach all the way outside or to the basement sump for those tanks down there. Still filling via buckets. That got old...

I ended up with a spare utility pump and started using it along with my hoses to pump water in/out of the tanks. Having to unplug the pump, wait to drip dry the wet end and switch the pump from tank to sink, sink to tank, and don't forget the hose! That got old!...

What I am currently doing is a pump in the tank with hose to the sink, and a pump in 5 gal bucket in sink with hose out to the tank. (I'm on a well and don't require water treatment!) It's pretty simple. Set up hoses and pumps, pump out tank, turn off that pump, go turn on sink side pump, wait 15-20 to fill, move pump and fill hose to next tank, repeat. It's still not the best setup in the world.

Moving to a new house soon with LARGE basement!!!! Plan to build dedicated water treatment station in one corner with one LARGE pump. I'm going to run PVC to all tanks with ball valve located at each tank. Each tank will have a siphon set up on it to drain off waste water. All I will have to is spin ball valve when ready to refill the tank!
 
I siphon out windows and out the slider door and fill with a python, this allows me to empty one while filling another. the yard is fully french drained all the way around the house. i live in western Washington.
 
Don't scatter your tanks all over the house and water changes will be a breeze and even 100x better if you have all your tanks in the basement. Not to mention safer if you spill water or break a tank.
 
bah. 5 tanks in my living room. I like to live with my fish, 580g total. Oscar watches football with me. :nilly:

Oscar wants to know if its game time yet.
 
Pops,how about a room shot of your tank layout?
 
External pump that hooks up to a hose and pumps half of my 180 in about 15 mins. Then fills it up in about the same time. Pretty awesome. Works well.

I cant believe with my old 55s I use to just syphon half the tank. Took about the same amount of time but the water difference is substantial.
 
I will take one tomorrow, getting a jump on water changes tonight. 180 filling, siphoning the 90 atm.
 
piranhaman00 said:
External pump that hooks up to a hose and pumps half of my 180 in about 15 mins. Then fills it up in about the same time. Pretty awesome. Works well.

I cant believe with my old 55s I use to just syphon half the tank. Took about the same amount of time but the water difference is substantial.
Click to expand...
180 in 15 minutes? how do you keep the fish from sticking to the tube? let alone sucking up everything else.
 
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