Overstocked?

[adamsfishes]

Changing water with buckets isn't sustainable. You should be changing about 50 gallons of water, and you will get sick of that. When you get sick of it, your water quality will suffer, and you fish will get sick and die.

I personally don't like the Python Clean and Fill system because it requires that the water be running to create suction. That wastes a lot of water, and I don't like wasting water unnecessarily. It works though if it's your best option.

That's why I use a pump. If your tube run isn't too long, you can do it without a pump by sucking on the tube to create suction. My tube run is almost 40', so I have to use a pump. I tried; I just don't suck hard enough.

 

[Rocksor]

My python suction is started with gravity. No issues sending it out to the garden.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

I use gravity for all of my tanks. The ones upstairs drains very fast as the other end of the tube is thrown out the window which causes a ton of suction. Unfortunately my larger tank downstairs drains very slow this way as the direction change is only a few feet. I'm looking into using a pump for downstairs. Something I can mount underneat the tank and feed to a standard filter intake that will pull the water out and expel it outside.

 

[Sarahmander]

Changing water with buckets isn't sustainable. You should be changing about 50 gallons of water, and you will get sick of that. When you get sick of it, your water quality will suffer, and you fish will get sick and die.

I personally don't like the Python Clean and Fill system because it requires that the water be running to create suction. That wastes a lot of water, and I don't like wasting water unnecessarily. It works though if it's your best option.

That's why I use a pump. If your tube run isn't too long, you can do it without a pump by sucking on the tube to create suction. My tube run is almost 40', so I have to use a pump. I tried; I just don't suck hard enough.

Yeah... exactly the issue. It takes me 2 hours to do the 30% and it's a workout hauling water to the bathtub and back. I just want to make sure that the water is safe when I put it in the tank because I use tap

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

Some people may scoff at this but I put tap water directly into my tank. I dose the tank a minute or so before I start running the tap water in with prime (enough for the entire tank volume) and then start running the tap directly in. I've done this for years and never killed my cycle.

 

[Sarahmander]

Some people may scoff at this but I put tap water directly into my tank. I dose the tank a minute or so before I start running the tap water in with prime (enough for the entire tank volume) and then start running the tap directly in. I've done this for years and never killed my cycle.

Yeah I've read that you can't OD on Prime, so you can drop it in beforehand and it'll treat the tap you add. I'm going to look into getting a pump. Probably cheaper than a python anyway

 

[fishhead0103666]

Your thoughts on the trash can method?

 

[adamsfishes]

I put the Prime in my tank as I start refilling. I just put the full amount in the tank all at once, in my case 4 capfuls. For your tank, just add two capfuls to the tank as you start refilling. It'll do its job, no worries.

 

[Rocksor]

Yeah I've read that you can't OD on Prime, so you can drop it in beforehand and it'll treat the tap you add. I'm going to look into getting a pump. Probably cheaper than a python anyway

Well, you can overdose. The first symptoms will be fish gasping for air because Prime has reduced the oxygen in the water. But it takes more than 5x dosage for entire tank volume for water temperatures less than 86F. If over that temperature (86f), you should only use 1/2 dose of Prime for the entire tank volume.

 

[Sarahmander]

Your thoughts on the trash can method?

I don't really have space for a trash can in my situation. Not only that, but I would need a pump to fill it and get it back out again