Is there such a thing as too many water changes?

[mudbuttjones]

I have a U shaped tube on the siphon end so I can lazily fill and drain the tank with out worrying about it falling off. (Which happened once filling a tank) i used to have a gravel vaccum on it and the gravel vac lacked the suction to pick much of anything up without the sink being on. I didnt like running the water so much so I switched it out.

Im running it to the bathtub drain, I was hoping the low altitude would speed up the siphon some but the 35 foot run with lots of horizontal distance really slows it down.

It drains pretty slow. Takes about 15 minutes or so to drain my 75 half way... which was about how the storebought one operated. Im thinking about making a new one with 3/4 tube or 1" tubing instead of the 1/2" I used. I still gravel vac by hand the old fashioned way., the only tank I do it on religiously is my oscar tank. The others get it once a month.

I actually put a 10ft hose on my simple manual gravel vac. Its long enough to reach my window so I just drain my oscar tank outside while vaccuming in summer.

Sure as hell beats buckets though.

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[Jc1119]

We drip 30-50% tank volume daily on most tanks. We he also cut way back on filtration on those tanks and the "wastewater" waters our garden.




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[MarineMike]

Lol I wish it only took me 15 min to drain my tanks 300g 180g and 125g all take considerably longer even using 2 hoses. The worst is waiting for them to refill especially when I do a 60% - 80% change.

 

[Brad Wess]

Every time a toilet flushes in my house, it uses fish tank water, and any watering of the garden is fish water.
But that's nothing, I know some breeders that change 90% per day to promote rapid growth of fry.[/QUOTE]

freaking genius i need to know your ways!! lol my mother kills me for the water bills! lol

 

[duanes]

I'm interested in knowing how you system works duanes - I'd love for my old fish water not to go to waste!

Because my tanks are all on sumps, I split the line to the sump.
If I open a valve, water is sent by gravity, outside to the garden, instead of to the sump.
All of my 20 tanks are divided onto 3 sumps, 1 sump sends water to the front yard flower garden, 2 sumps send old water to a rain barrel, which is split between the backyard garden, and a pond.


Below, this refugium/sump, sends water to the front yard flowers, you can see the PVC line leading out the window.

 

[viejafish]

Your system looks complicated to me. I use a quick disconnect and a garden hose and hook up to my wash room faucet. Starting the siphon is simply filling up the hose with water from the faucet and move the ends to the siphoning and discharge points.

In Malaysia and Thailand, discus are raised in tanks without filtration and rely on daily WC to maintain pristine conditions. The source of water is well water, so there is no chemicals added. I don't see why you can't do the same, provided that you dechlor the tap water and adjust roughly to tank water temperature.

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

"In Malaysia and Thailand, discus are raised in tanks without filtration and rely on daily WC to maintain pristine conditions. The source of water is well water, so there is no chemicals added. I don't see why you can't do the same, provided that you dechlor the tap water and adjust roughly to tank water temperature.[/QUOTE]

No one here trusts my DIY plans (especially anything involving tubes) doesn't matter if I can show examples of awesome set ups- so I have to do it old school and it works well.
Buckets suck. I hate them. I try to treat it like a horrible kung-fu exercise
Nothing wrong with lot's of water changes but be careful with "weathering" your water outside unprotected. Leeches can be introduced from bird feet.

 

[Darth Nandopsis]

Make a video of this bad-boy in operation.....I have had to replace parts way too much over the years.....I have a Lowes near me, so I can easily get parts.

All depends on the species kept......you keep delicate dwarf cichlids, no more than 10-15% @ a time ever other day. You keep robust cichlids like Parachromis, as often & as much as possible.

 

[Dieboldly]

I built a diy python. Basically my store bought water changer systematically broke piece by piece until I had replaced the unit 100% with diy solutions. Its all hardware store parts. Some brass but imo the short contact time doesnt matter, just like your house's copper plumbing.

View attachment 1038362
35 foot hose on my bathroom sink. The discharge goes into the bathtub. It could easily go outside through a window or into a holding tank in the basement. But I rent. No such luck.

View attachment 1038365
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All in all it cost much more than my aqueoun unit. But it wont break. The hose wont collapse. It wont leak. Itll last years.

View attachment 1038367
Ahem. Cough. Cough.

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I really like your creativity here! this is awesome