Pump for Water Changes

[fisheb]

This is probably a stupid question but I cant figure it out and my LFS's have been no help, so seeking help from MFKers...

I do water changes on my 650 gallon tank by running a hose from the tank to a bath tub and I put a Python tube on the end of the hose to vacuum the gravel. However, I don't get much draw on the water since the bath tub isn't that much lower than the tank. Can you please advise how to get a stronger pull on the water suction on the hose? I thought about connecting a pump on the end of the hose in the bath tub but can't figure out how to connect the pump to the hose or how to get the pump to pull water in the right direction (ie: from the tank to the tub). I am not able to use the Python connection on the sink because it simply wastes too much water for a tank this size. Thanks in advance.

 

[David R]

I'm guessing your 650g probably isn't on the second floor, so getting the end of the siphon hose lower probably isn't an option...

What you need is a pump that will work inline so you can attach the siphon hose to the intake. If you're going to use it for gravel siphoning it should also be a "solids handling" pump to deal with the bits of crud in the water. IIRC my Laguna pond pump can handle solids up to 10mm diameter.

I you just want to remove more water quickly you could also invest in a larger diameter siphon hose.

 

[administrator]

Try a Submersible Utility Pumps from Home Depot to drain the water. They come in different sizes and almost all have adapters to screw in a standard garden hose.

For the gravel vac you can try a Transfer Utility Pump to boost the flow but it may not be able to handle the gunk. It also might be too much flow and try to suck out the substrate as well. It may be possible but I am not sure.

Any pics of the tank?

 

[Grinch]

There are a few options here.

If you are gravel vaccing, I'd stick with the gravity method.

If you are just pumping water out you could build a little PVC hanger and dangle a submersible pump into the tank. This has the benefit of draining your tank to a set level, but running dry could hurt the pump, depending on the type.

In our fish room we use a diaphram pump (in line) for WC and sink python for gravel vac. The diaphram pump is a wall mounted transfer pump designed for use in an RV... it normally pumps water from a holding tank to the faucet/toilet/etc. The diaphram pump is nice because it is quiet and can run dry with no damage. It can get gunked up easily though, so I use a screen pre-filter. It can also be cranky with respect to priming, but with just one tank, this shouldn't be much of an issue for you.

 

[jaws7777]

I use an internal pump (spare jebao dct 12000) connected to a pool filter hose and drain out the window.

Just plop the pump in and turn it on...drains my 300 gal in 7 to 8 min.

I would look for the cheapest pump that has a decent flow rate.

 

[imabot]

Some cheap pump from ebay or amazon will work.

 

[duanes]

Is your tank on a sump?
I put Tee on all return lines to my tanks from the sump, and run an extra PVC line to the yard, so when I want to do a water change, I simply open a valve which sends old water outside, and when enough water is drained, just close that valve and water again returns to the tank.
No extra pump, just some extra PVC, and a well watered garden, using the old fish water once again..

 

[millerkid519]

This is what I made to hook to my return pump for gravel vac because I run a drip and to lazy to get the python out. You could buy a cheap quiet one (lifeguard aquatics) 500gph pump and build something like this to connect to the input of the pump for cleaning. I did at one time have a hose on the other end with a vacume tube. By the time you are done cleaning you will be ready to refill. Pot scrubbies fit in it perfect

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

I would just gravel vac and drain the tank separately. Gravel vac using gravity into a bucket/tub. Then, use a pump to pump water out to a drain or outside.

Like J jaws7777 I use a pump to drain my 220. I use a Rio 20HF rated at 1290gph and hook it to a 50ft length of 1" vinyl tubing. I run that out to my driveway and my tank is drained in less than ten minutes.

 

[fisheb]

Thanks to everyone for their ideas. I didn't expect such a large number of responses so quickly!

After reading these, I have few additional points that I should have made in my initial post but was trying to keep it brief in fear that people wouldn't read it if it was too long:
1) The tank is in the basement and I am running garden hoses to a bathtub that is also in the basement. So there is not much pull being generated by gravity, though it's sufficient for removing water if I add 2-3 hoses, it isn't as strong enough for gravel vacuuming purposes. It doesn't pull up much of the debris from the gravel; quick removal of water is less of a concern but would be a bonus.
2) It is running on a sump but not sure how I would rig up the sump for vacuuming purposes
3) I have two spare pumps (Danner Supreme Classic 9.5 and Rio+ 2100) but not sure how to use them for vacuuming either. It seems like the debris would ruin the pump and don't know what type of hoses to fit the connections either, since I use normal garden hoses to fill and empty the tank. Also, these pumps need to run underwater so that is another complicating factor.

Thanks once again for all of the responses. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can try given the additional info shared above.