pump that can move water from bucket to tank???

[hbeth82]

Nope, thankfully just some soaked towels, damp carpet & drowned pride .

Getting ready to dose with MelaFix & PimaFix, so I just did another WC & timed it, about 2gal in 35 seconds!

 

[austinsdad]

Oh yeas! The old unintentional siphon effect. Bet that only happens once to you!

 

[WhiteDevil]

the easiest way to do this is no bull a BILGE PUMP, you just need a 12v source to power it, some move little some move alot, I use a 750gph bilge pump for this and its a no mess situation.

 

[hbeth82]

I think the unintentional siphoning made me overly cautious the second time I used the pump, kind of that "don't dare sneeze or you might rattle the tank and cause the tube to come loose from the powerhead!" paranoia. As for the bilge pump, may have to consider that down the road. Right now I'm thinking more about an RO system, as I'm getting really sick of buying water.

 

[Laurence]

The simplest solution would be to buy an inexpensive medium-height stepladder, then put the water container on top of it and just siphon the water into the tank - let gravity do the work. Needless to say, this step should be taken after you siphon out the old water.

 

[jbadd99]

The simplest solution would be to buy an inexpensive medium-height stepladder, then put the water container on top of it and just siphon the water into the tank - let gravity do the work. Needless to say, this step should be taken after you siphon out the old water.

Well... the reason that isn't really an option for larger WC's... or even smaller ones for that matter...

8.8 lbs per gallon of water x 10g = 88 lbs...

and that's for just 10 gallons...

Now, I don't consider myself a weakling by any means, but I'll be looking forward to 30g waterchanges = 264 lbs... so lifting that much water is out of the question... pump in the bucket works much better I'm thinking.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i agree with jabdd... no way im carrying 75g of water in buckets when i do my weekly water change on my 150g. For a 10-20g tank, thats an ok idea, not for a bigger tank though!

 

[hbeth82]

Total agreement with the previous two posts! I'm really thankful for the suggestions about using the power head as it's worked out great and made things much easier.

Funny, when I first started thinking about upgrading from my 20gal to the 55gal I have now, I thought that even though I'd have almost 3x as much water, plants, fish, etc, really didn't think it would be any extra work. Where's that "slam head here" sign when you really need it???

 

[mfdrookie516]

Where's that "slam head here" sign when you really need it???

kinda like this?

 

[jestes]

Like WhiteDevil said, a 12V bilge pump is awesome!

Where I live, I can't use a Python because it won't hook up to my faucet. Water changes with a 5 gallon bucket and a milk jug got old fast... So, I got a $15 bilge pump from WalMart and hooked it up to a drinking water hose. Right now I'm running it off a 12 volt jump starter unit for a car, but I got a 120V AC to 12V DC power supply I'm going to hook up to it. The pump is designed to pump 650gph. It makes water changes really quick and easy

 

[hbeth82]

kinda like this?

Yep, pretty close, except every time I have to fork over the money to buy the 20gal or 176lbs (thanks jbadd99), load it into my car, then haul it into my apartment, the claws are typically out!

 

[jbadd99]

Well... the reason that isn't really an option for larger WC's... or even smaller ones for that matter...

8.8 lbs per gallon of water x 10g = 88 lbs...

and that's for just 10 gallons...

Now, I don't consider myself a weakling by any means, but I'll be looking forward to 30g waterchanges = 264 lbs... so lifting that much water is out of the question... pump in the bucket works much better I'm thinking.

I should also point out that this is for pure freshwater... I forgot to take into account the dissolved salts in the water, bringing the total to around 11 lbs per gallon (at 1.022 sg)

It's those little things that are always screwing me up - I most likely would have remembered if I was doing waterchanges every few days, but since I'm still waiting on parts well... I still relegated to just reading about the hobby .... for now.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I should also point out that this is for pure freshwater... I forgot to take into account the dissolved salts in the water, bringing the total to around 11 lbs per gallon (at 1.022 sg)...

Better redo that calculation. Yeah... saltwater DOES weigh more, but not 2+ lbs more per gallon. (Hint... 8.8 lbs X 1.022 = 9.0 lbs)

 

[HappyHooligan]

I know we try and match water parameters as best we can for WCs, but is there concern for adding the new water TOO quickly by way of pump?

 

[cmor1701d]

Not if it's aged and matched to current tank conditions. Oh, you don't want to use something like a fire truck that will pin the fish to the wall, but other than that go for it.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I know we try and match water parameters as best we can for WCs, but is there concern for adding the new water TOO quickly by way of pump?

Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I just dump the whole bucket into the display tank all at once and don't even mess with the pump! So from my point of view, no... no concern!

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

I got a 300-500 GPH foutain pump (max of 10 feet) at lowes for $45

going to use it for my sump and works great for water changes, drop it in the tank and pump water out, dump water, fill and pump it back into tank

 

[cmor1701d]

Probably not designed for sw for make sure you clean with tap after every use.

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Probably not designed for sw for make sure you clean with tap after every use.

oh my tank is FW but good point

 

[jbadd99]

Better redo that calculation. Yeah... saltwater DOES weigh more, but not 2+ lbs more per gallon. (Hint... 8.8 lbs X 1.022 = 9.0 lbs)

Sorry...I stand corrected yet again. I used information from a google search... stated water at 1.024 SG was ~11 lbs.... freakin' google and it's non-truthfulness

Still, it weighs too much for me to try to lift.