Is there a good thread/post out there on a more convenient method of doing water changes? Here's what I'm doing now:
For my 75g 1.010 sg in my living room, I have a 30g rubbermaid bin that I fill with my python that's attached to the sink in the basement below (I drilled a hole in the floor behind the tank for the hose to run through). I have the water a couple of degrees warmer to help the salt dissolve and allow for some cooling by the time I get to transfer the water from the bin to the tank. I add my salt, stress coat, a little Kent superbuffer dKh when needed, and let it mix with a Mag Drive 250 for about an hour. (In the meantime, I siphon the gravel/suction out some water, clean the glass, etc.) Then I hook up the the python to the mag drive and pump the water from the rubbermaid to the tank. I top off with tap water from the basement.
There has to be a better way.
I tried filling the rubbermaid in the basement, but my pump is no where near powerful enough to go up the 8 feet to the next floor, plus another 5 feet to the top of the tank. It would cost over $100 for a pump strong enough to handle that 13 foot "head". I used to commit the aquarist's sin of dissolving the salt directly in the outflow of the python while I was refilling, occaisionally resulting in some eye-cloud, which resolved itself in 2 days. (I'm sure Pufferpunk and the pros are cringing.) And I'd rather not leave the rubbermaid full in the living room overnight to "condition", because someone will probably knock it, and my wife won't like the way it looks. Plus, I'd have to buy another heater for it (I have a spare air pump and stone). Any words of wisdom?
For my 75g 1.010 sg in my living room, I have a 30g rubbermaid bin that I fill with my python that's attached to the sink in the basement below (I drilled a hole in the floor behind the tank for the hose to run through). I have the water a couple of degrees warmer to help the salt dissolve and allow for some cooling by the time I get to transfer the water from the bin to the tank. I add my salt, stress coat, a little Kent superbuffer dKh when needed, and let it mix with a Mag Drive 250 for about an hour. (In the meantime, I siphon the gravel/suction out some water, clean the glass, etc.) Then I hook up the the python to the mag drive and pump the water from the rubbermaid to the tank. I top off with tap water from the basement.
There has to be a better way.
I tried filling the rubbermaid in the basement, but my pump is no where near powerful enough to go up the 8 feet to the next floor, plus another 5 feet to the top of the tank. It would cost over $100 for a pump strong enough to handle that 13 foot "head". I used to commit the aquarist's sin of dissolving the salt directly in the outflow of the python while I was refilling, occaisionally resulting in some eye-cloud, which resolved itself in 2 days. (I'm sure Pufferpunk and the pros are cringing.) And I'd rather not leave the rubbermaid full in the living room overnight to "condition", because someone will probably knock it, and my wife won't like the way it looks. Plus, I'd have to buy another heater for it (I have a spare air pump and stone). Any words of wisdom?
Then you can mix in the basement & pump it up to the tank--easy! No need for Stresscoat or buffer, BTW. Dechlor with Prime.