Water changes with buckets UGH!

[Racersk]

you know how some carpet cleaners attach to the sink, but also suck up the soap through a small hose and mix with the water? I wonder if its possible to make a similar setup, but with water conditioner!

Your referring to a siphon set up, in theory you can accurately dose as needed with this. Maybe look into a garden hose fertilizer sprayer, screw on your bottle of Prime onto the dosing part that has a small 1/4" hose on it, and it'll pull in any additives you want, you would need a resrictor on that pickup hose to dose in the small amounts needed in this set up.

Another way would be to add a small section (3-4") of tubing inline with your gravel vacuum/water hose(Python set-up). ie: 1/2" tubing reduced to 7/16". Add your 1/4" or even smaller 1/8" pickup tube in that reduced section...The main diameter reduction will cause the same 'eductor' action and will siphon in whatever you wanted, or leave nothing on the tube and it'll draw in air with your fresh water, helping with chlorine reduction as well.

For gravel vacuuming it would have to be removed though...

 

[pcfriedrich]

I use a python. I attached another 25 feet of clear pvc hose i bought bulk. I used just a brass garden hose repair kit. also, after a couple of years, the part that attached to the sink broke, and i replaced that with a brass one. I just use the suction of the syphon, into the back yard. I only hook the hose up to the sink to fill the tanks. I use prime in half doses as the aquarium fills.

 

[Fat Homer]

The way i change water on my tank is syphon the "gunk" off the bottom of the tank into a bucket and dump it in the toilet, then once all the gunk is off the bottom i hook up a hose to the tank and let gravity do its work taking the water out the tank into a special water outlet i have just for disposing of tank water... then when it comes time to fill i hook up a hose to the tap and fill the tank...

So all in all, i'm only ever really carrying maybe at most 4-6 buckets of water to the toilet, although if i really wanted to i could just use the hose method for syphoning as well....

 

[Darth Scohin]

Pythons are fantastic I don't think i'd have a big tank without one. Just dose the tank before(as said a little bit more than usual) with Prime, and watch her fill back up Peice of Cake

 

[Chicklette]

I could not do water changes without my python. I have to many tank, my back would break. You will love it. It hooks up to the sink and is SOOOOO much easier. You need to get one for sure. It will save you a lot of pain.

 

[asm129]

I'm a big fan of big pool hose streached out to the grass. A faucet adapter and garden hose to the sink. Put water conditioner in after you drain and before you fill. My 210 takes me 20min.75%.

Can someone explain how to do this? Do you mean you hook the nozzle part of the python to a 2 headed adapter and to the sink and then pool hose to the other head of the adapter? The python has just one part to attach to a sink so not sure what you mean. I want my python to have greater vacuuming force because it's pretty slow. Sometimes it doesn't even lift any of the craps out.

 

[Richie_ELP]

I drain the water out the window, then fill the tanks with the water hose.

 

[Richie_ELP]

I use a little fuel pump, sucks it right out the window and into the yard. Felt I had to mention HOW it gets out there. No water waste, I hate the python for that reason.

 

[sunvalley aquarist]

I wouldn't discount the drip system so quickly. If plumbed and metered correctly through a series of filters, you'll never have to touch another bucket or wipe up spilled water again!

 

[sashimimaster]

I used to be a bucket man until a light bulb went off and now I've got it down to 15mins start to finish.

I got one of those vacuum pipes from Petsmart with the flapper check valve on it. I've got it hooked up to a mag drive 3 and put the outlet into the sink. When I do vacuuming I shake the pipe and the siphon starts. Then I turn on the mag drive and it takes over. Continuous flow without stopping! I fill my flower watering can with the waste water and water my plants.

When it's time to refill I have a garden hose and attach that to the sink faucet then add dechlorinator as the tank is refilling. I have three tanks a 30g, 40g and a 150g. I can do all three in 15-20 mins.