Water change made easy

[Jim B]

Just wanted to share some pictures of my completed water change project. Was taking 2.5 to 3 hrs with buckets and Python. Now about 1 to 1.5 hours depending on what I do.

Two pipes in lower left corner are the fill lines for my 90gal and 150 gal tanks


More pics to come of how I did two main display tanks. Use the hose to syphon back tanks and hard plumbed two main tanks


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[Brookster123]

Boooom! Innovation makes me happy. How proud are you when you fire that bad boy up?!?

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[scuba dude]

I need to come up with some type of setup for my saltwater, just went to a larger tank so now my work has doubled as far as the bucket luggin".

I can deal with my freshwater with the python I can run it to the kitchen sink to drain , add declorinator and refill without any issues. It is a little slow but no hauling buckets back and forth.

Now you got me thinking

 

[Brookster123]

I need to come up with some type of setup for my saltwater, just went to a larger tank so now my work has doubled as far as the bucket luggin".

I can deal with my freshwater with the python I can run it to the kitchen sink to drain , add declorinator and refill without any issues. It is a little slow but no hauling buckets back and forth.

Now you got me thinking

I have a bootleg system that works pretty well, not nearly as pretty as Jims but i did 3 tanks (50 gals) wc's in about an hour last night and the only cylindrical liquid holding object i touched was a guineas mug pm me if you want the details.

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[richie6]

Nice! Endless possibilities to do this..

 

[ShadowFox]

Great project. I would love to hear more details. Are these pretty much just dedicated water lines that you run a line from to your tanks to replace water? Then the clear hose is your return?

 

[KristaButler]

This is great. My water changes have been a real pain lately at my house.


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[fish wrangler]

I need to come up with some type of setup for my saltwater, just went to a larger tank so now my work has doubled as far as the bucket luggin".

I can deal with my freshwater with the python I can run it to the kitchen sink to drain , add declorinator and refill without any issues. It is a little slow but no hauling buckets back and forth.

Now you got me thinking

Rubbermaid garbage bins and a Tetra pond pump are how I mix and do my sw wcs. Takes me 20 minutes to drain and refill 25 gallons from my 75. Biggest thing imo is use a large siphon hose.

If I could hard plumb something like the OP has I would. That is a nice system!

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[Jim B]

Great project. I would love to hear more details. Are these pretty much just dedicated water lines that you run a line from to your tanks to replace water? Then the clear hose is your return?

I have a hard plumbed 3/4 pvc to each main display tank. I use water hose quick connect to go from 55 gal holding tank to the two main aquariums. The hose is used to syphon all other aquarium. The manifold is used to swap between each and goes under the house to a single drain.
I use a 5/8 hose to fill all other aquariums . I can fill the 55 gal holding tank in about 10 min and use the Y to set temperature correctly for each tank.

The suction pump came from Tractor Supply $89 been using it for two years just incorporated it into a stationary system. I use a $34 return pump from harbour freight 560GPH and two remote plugs $15 each you can stop start fill pump from anywhere in the house but the suction pump draws too many amps to shut off wit remote . I have added a switch on that one so I can just turn off and on. I'll post more pics once I get home to show plumbing to main tanks.




Jim B from Tennessee

 

[Jim B]

Remote set up


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[Jim B]

Didn't have outlet in closet so I hooked it though the light


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[ShadowFox]

This is awesome and has given me an idea. I have a 75 gallon FW built in aquarium in the master bedroom. Previous owners installed it, and I like it, but the master bathroom fixtures arent geared towards hooking up aquarium equipment for water changes, so I am running 75 ft of syphon hose from the kitchen to clean my tank. Luckily, directly behind the wall that has my aquarium in the master vanity sinks, and below my aquarium are sparingly used cabinets. I think I might cut a hole in the back side of my cabinet, tap in to the vanity water supply and drain, and set up my own dedicated aquarium water station.

Thanks for the motivation!

 

[Jim B]

This is awesome and has given me an idea. I have a 75 gallon FW built in aquarium in the master bedroom. Previous owners installed it, and I like it, but the master bathroom fixtures arent geared towards hooking up aquarium equipment for water changes, so I am running 75 ft of syphon hose from the kitchen to clean my tank. Luckily, directly behind the wall that has my aquarium in the master vanity sinks, and below my aquarium are sparingly used cabinets. I think I might cut a hole in the back side of my cabinet, tap in to the vanity water supply and drain, and set up my own dedicated aquarium water station.

Thanks for the motivation!

It makes things so much easier. If you find a better way to mix hot cold let me know.


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[scuba dude]

It makes things so much easier. If you find a better way to mix hot cold let me know.


Jim B from Tennessee

They sell adjustable mixing valves for hot/cold.

 

[Jim B]

They sell adjustable mixing valves for hot/cold.

I have looked into the ones that you set the Temp you want and it adjust for you. Main concern was price as well as flow. They range from $50-$200. I didn't want a regular faucet flow either so that's why I went with the water hose splitter.


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[scuba dude]

Install a valve after the valve or in this case your "Y" and you could hook to water lines and use the valve to control flow.

 

[Jim B]

Wife was having issues remembering to watch the water in the fill tank so I made an alarm with a float switch


Saved the floor twice already but now I have to build one for her 90 gal tank she always overflows it


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[scuba dude]

That's what I need to do for my DIRO water , don't want to tell you how many times I turned it on and forgot to set a timer and overflowed my jugs. Thankfully it is only in the basement so no damage but a real pain in the backside to clean up.

 

[Jim B]

You could easily connect it to a solenoid and a float switch that way never worry about it anymore. Hook it up just like a ATO system


Jim B from Tennessee

 

[scuba dude]

You could easily connect it to a solenoid and a float switch that way never worry about it anymore. Hook it up just like a ATO system


Jim B from Tennessee

My thought exactly and wiring it up is no problem for me , certainly have the ability. Can you tell me where you got the float switch? Sure I could find one but haven't looked yet. Thanks for the help