Water Changing Idea - Similar to a bathtub..

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kevin007

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MFK Member
Dec 25, 2008
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Has anyone thought about this idea?

I will admit I am not a fan of water changes. I am planning a 400G Tanganyikan tank as the centerpiece of my house.

It will be built into a wall so i can hide all the sumps and equipment. I was also planning to see if I can do a drain? either on the tank bottom or on the back glass near the bottom. I'll also add a tap just like a bathtub to fill the water back up. It seems like an efficient way to do water changes. The drain will obviously have prefilters on it.
 
Why not just do a drip system? plumb the sump to the drain and use a large bucket to drip water into the sump every day all day long to do the water changes? You can use the bucket to treat the water before adding it to the aquarium.
 
we used to do water changes on a 1500g shark tank at a LFS where I used to work by using a 3" siphon hose and putting down a floor drain. hence the drain in the floor idea.

its quick and easy and when the hose is not in the tank there is no risk of draining the whole thing, as there would be in a bathtub type drain setup.
 
You worked at a big als? I think i remembered seeing a drain on the ground too but my tank will be a centerpiece of the living room so i can't have a drain on the ground.

I don't think the tank will drain 100% if i use like 3 ball valves?

The drip system sounds like a good idea too but I'm not sure how that will work?
 
Having hot & cold taps plumbed to the tank would make refilling very simple...

If you use a sump, you could have a drain plug in the bottom of the sump that is plumbed into your houses plumbing. When it's time to do a water change, turn off the sump's pump, drain the sump, refill the sump, turn on the sump's pump...
 
The drip is easy, place a 1" bulkhead at the desired water line in the sump. This will be the drain going to hopefully a whole in the floor. Then place a large bin that you can fill with water above the sump, tucked away in a corner of the storage room where the tank is behind the wall kind of thing. Then tap the barrel/bin at the bottom with a 1/4" line (ro fittings aka john guest) run a line to the sump to drip, and place a small valve on the end to control how much water is going in at a time. Done.
 
dr_sudz;4160867; said:
The drip is easy, place a 1" bulkhead at the desired water line in the sump. This will be the drain going to hopefully a whole in the floor. Then place a large bin that you can fill with water above the sump, tucked away in a corner of the storage room where the tank is behind the wall kind of thing. Then tap the barrel/bin at the bottom with a 1/4" line (ro fittings aka john guest) run a line to the sump to drip, and place a small valve on the end to control how much water is going in at a time. Done.
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I agree! If you already have a drain set up then the drip system is easy! You can put a fitting on your washer or any water line in your house really. I used my washing machine. Look for ice maker fittings or the R.O. fittings area of any hardware store. These fittings have valves on them and it's super easy to set the flow. Use PEX fittings, they just push together, no sweating copper pipes or anything. You just cut to fit with a utility knife. Run the 1/4" flexible line to your tank, under the edge of the carpet or behind a base board. Set the flow to something like 1 gallon an hour and your all set. No more evaporation issues no more water changes.
 
It would be tough to control how much water is going to be leaving the system and entering, no?

Also, is it possible to have 2 tanks share a sump? If I do go along with this water change system, I don't think I'll want more than one reservoir.
 
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