I have a 60g holding bin for R/O water. I need to purify all my incomming well-water. I also have a 40g saltwater bin that I use to hold/mix saltwater. These bins are in a storage area of the basement, away from the tanks. A mag 9.5 is attached to these and plumbing is run through the ceiling/walls to each area where the tanks are found. I simply flip a switch for the pump, and open the valve over the selected tank/sump to top-off or refill. To drain the systems, I have a 15g square plastic bin with a drain-hole and a line running through walls to the house floor drain. I just syphon water out of the tank right into the bin, where it drains right to the floor. This means I can use a short hose, and I also use a 1" hose to drain the tanks into the bin. I can suck out 35gallons of water in about 1-2 minutes. Very quick and easy. The bin is there not only to catch the water, but also to act as a space to hold the water so I can clean out mechanical filter media in the tank water, so it has a valve on the drain line to maintain the water level if nessesary.
Chris
I do own a python... but its WAYY too slow. I hate it. 1" spaflex all the way, lol., and for gravel vaccuming, all my substrate in all my tanks get agitated constantly by either the fish or my hands, so i dont have to directly vaccume, and I just use a smaller hose to quickly suck up any surface poop if its present.
