Draining a lower tank

[Drayven]

I ended up spending a bit more than $25, like over twice as much, but I think it's a good investment. I used it last night on the low tank and it worked amazing. I didn't have any issues with it draining too slow like i've seen people say but that might be because I had it hooked to the utility sink in the basement which has tons of pressure. We'll see how it goes with the kitchen sink this weekend

 

[Drayven]

Just wanted to post one more time to say how awesome this thing is. I just did my 55 gallon and was able to do a 50% water change in like no time. I usually only do 1 5 gallon bucket a week so I think this is gonna end up being much healthier for my fish. What's really awesome is that I got a 50' version because the runs to each tank from any given sink was about 26' so I went bigger to be safe. The awesome thing is that the 50' will actually reach from the utility sink in my basement to the upstairs tank. This means I can just keep the thing hooked up all the time since I never erally use that sink for anything. Should help the plastic screw thing last quite a bit longer.

Thanks again all for the suggestion.

 

[mfdrookie516]

One thing that you might want to start doing, at least its what i do, is to save water, do your vac, then just detach the hose and run it out the window or in the shower... i save about $10 a month by doing this because when it comes to doing a 50% pwc on all my tanks (150g, 55g, two 10g) thats alot of water required to run the python the whole time...

 

[brimac41]

I love my python . I use it and my regular gravel vac so I can get my buckets of aquarium water for my plants .

 

[Viper]

I'm not sure what the chlorine levels are where you live, but where I live, I'm able to fill my tank up with my python after a PWC and THEN add the dechlorinator. I've had no problems for the few years that I've been doing it that way. I figure that the fish are able to withstand the chlorine for the 15 minutes that it takes me to fill my tank. Adding that dechlorinator is the FIRST thing that I do though after a PWC.

I once forgot to add the dechlorinator when I first started fishkeeping and well, you can imagine how that turned out...

EDIT: Depending on how delicate your fish are though, this may not be a valid option.

 

[7Enigma]

I'm not sure what the chlorine levels are where you live, but where I live, I'm able to fill my tank up with my python after a PWC and THEN add the dechlorinator. I've had no problems for the few years that I've been doing it that way. I figure that the fish are able to withstand the chlorine for the 15 minutes that it takes me to fill my tank. Adding that dechlorinator is the FIRST thing that I do though after a PWC though.

I once forgot to add the dechlorinator when I first started fishkeeping and well, you can imagine how that turned out...

EDIT: Depending on how delicate your fish are though, this may not be a valid option.

I don't know why you wouldn't add it after the drain but before the fill. Do you turn your filter off during this time? I'm glad it's worked out for you in the past but tap/well water can change (big storm, the local water treatment plant accidentally dumped twice the chlorine/chloramine in, etc) and I'd hate for you to lose your tank/filter due to it.

 

[Viper]

I don't know why you wouldn't add it after the drain but before the fill. Do you turn your filter off during this time? I'm glad it's worked out for you in the past but tap/well water can change (big storm, the local water treatment plant accidentally dumped twice the chlorine/chloramine in, etc) and I'd hate for you to lose your tank/filter due to it.

That's true that there's no guarantee that the chlorine levels will stay the same. I do turn off my filter during the time it takes me to do a water change. I'm also doing a 50% water change so there is still de-chlorinated water in there while refilling. I've read that it takes a few hours to kill the fish in your standard chlorinated tap water (not willing to test it to see how true it is). So I figure that the 10-15 minutes that it takes me to fill it all the way back up isn't bad (No problems thus far after a couple years).

EDIT: It also probably helps that I've always kept hardy fish. I'm sure if I had more delicate species', this wouldn't work out so well.

 

[7Enigma]

A good bit of your beneficial bacteria are housed on the substrate, decorations, and tank walls. I just wouldn't chance it in my tank as it's just a matter of adding it before rather than after the fill. To each his own I guess.

 

[Viper]

A good bit of your beneficial bacteria are housed on the substrate, decorations, and tank walls. I just wouldn't chance it in my tank as it's just a matter of adding it before rather than after the fill. To each his own I guess.

I assume then that there is no harm in adding more de-chlorinator than is actually needed?

 

[7Enigma]

None at all within reason. People that use pythons and other methods that don't have a bucket or other container dose their dechlorinators to tank volume. So if you have a 20 gallon tank but only change out 50% of the water, you dose your dechlor for 20 gallons of water.

 

[Viper]

None at all within reason. People that use pythons and other methods that don't have a bucket or other container dose their dechlorinators to tank volume. So if you have a 20 gallon tank but only change out 50% of the water, you dose your dechlor for 20 gallons of water.

Yeah that is what I was figuring. Actually I just started using my python to return water to the tank during a water change. Since my bathroom sink is so old, it doesn't have threads to screw the faucet attachment to it. For the longest time I was just refilling by hauling buckets back and forth from the bathtub to my room. The reason I started adding the de-chlorinator after the refill is because I found that I would go through the stuff much more quickly by adding some to each bucket. So basically to save me the money from having to buy more de-chlorinator than I should be, I started to just dose the tank after the refill.

I've since put sand in the tank as my substrate (as witnessed here: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/my-new-tank-setup-with-diy-background-126101.html ). I do not want to use the buckets anymore because that will stir up the sand way too much so I've started running my 50' python to my kitchen to refill the tank. I'm going to start putting the de-chlorinator in before I refill it. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Hey man, if you haven't sucked in a mouthful of tank water, then you can't call yourself a true aquarium lover!!!

But seriously, if you're siphoning into a bucket, then you can get the entire hose full (if it's a short one) but submerging it in the water and then putting your thumb over the end and lifting it out, then put it in the bucket and let go, gravity will take over.

Also as far as the sucking the hose part, what I do (to clean SW sumps, which are usually just a few inches off the ground) it suck in the hose and get enough water in it (about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way) and then lower the end of the hose down so the end is near the water level and let off and on until it gets to the end, then put it in the bucket.

Also, if your tank is full (sump is 1/2 full) then you could put one end in the water, suck really hard on the other end briefly and then point that end back into the tank, momentum will carry the water to the end of the hose, then thumb it and move it.

Hope this helps. But there's just no substitute for sucking.

Then i am a true aquariam lover as because i sucked a mouth full of water and it tasted horiible