Question about Water Changes in my Fishroom

[APAC]

-So I have my basement fish room near completion. Nothin fancy, only 4 tanks (125, 110, 55, 20) and I have always done water changes with 4-5 six gallon gas cans. I am so tired of using the bucket method and spending so much time on my water changes that I have finally started thinking about alternatives.
-I bought a garden hose to hook up to my gravel vac so that I can drain my tanks at a good rate into the drain in my basement.
-I plan on buying two 55 gallon barrels to store freshwater under my stairway.
My questions are:
1. How do I pump the freshwater from the barrels back into my fish tanks?
2. Can I use the same hose I drain them with?
3. Is there any way to heat this water in the barrels?
-Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kjfan1]

A big ole pump in the buckets would do a good job at pumping the water into the tanks. I am guessing you could use the same hose but some may disagree. I would just use submersible heaters in the 55 gallon buckets Maybe let it heater up over a day or two. I would put a power head in there to help speed up the process. just my thoughts.

 

[Conner]

Same as above. Use a 500-600gph pump, and you should be able to empty the drum in 1/2 hour or less, depending on how far/high you have to pump the water.

You should be able to use the same hose for draining and filling, assuming that the pump you buy fits the hose (i.e. 3/4" threads or 1/2" threads or whatever).

You might keep a second hose for draining handy, just in case one of your tanks gets ich. You will want to separate that tank from the others, using a separate hose at least for draining, and probably filling as well.

Just place a 100-200w heater in each tub, and that will keep heat the water to whatever you want it to be for water changes. Are you planning on using a conditioner to remove chlorine, or just letting the water gas it off over time? Either way, a powerhead placed in the bottom of the barrel to help agitate the water would be a good idea (also good for heating more evenly).

 

[TwistedPenguin]

kjfan1 pretty much said it all. That's how I used to do it several years ago when I was still aging my water. I've got well water though (no chlorine) so I quit aging it & just used a python hose to fill directly.