Submersible water pump

[The boring name]

What is a good brand of a water pump to suck up water To simplify water changes? Thanks

 

[Brookster123]

[Insert your name here]

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[The boring name]

[Insert your name here]

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Errr...... Not to sure what that means.

 

[dalto]

Have you looked into the Python? Might be a better solution than a pump.

But if you want a pump there are tons of submersible pumps. Something like this maybe?

 

[treemanone2003]

Have you looked into the Python? Might be a better solution than a pump.

But if you want a pump there are tons of submersible pumps. Something like this maybe?

I don't agree on this one. A python needs a water supply to create the suction to draw from the tank. Therefore it uses more "available" water. If it is a well, it could be the difference between a shower or a birdbath. If it is city water, it will only raise the water and sewer bill since most city water supplies and sewer usage are based on the actual consumption rate of incoming water. The only time this does not affect the incoming and sewer bill together is if you have a deduct meter installed. From what I hear, not many communities are fond of installing them as it cuts down on revenue in one form or another.


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[Linwood]

I went to a Northern Tool and found a pond pump, and use it to both stir RODI water when I add minerals to it (just drop it in the bucket), and then to pump it up to the display tank.

Only problem is the nice small $10 ones often have a low head pressure, i.e. they won't pump more than 4-6' high. Check that first. But they have cheap ones. Similar on Amazon, etc. Look for "pond pump".

Here's the one I used: here

On a larger tank that I needed about 8' of head and more volume I actually used an old boat bilge pump. It's 12V so you need an adapter (though if you have DIY LED's you may already have one), but the are waterproof, designed to not be damaged by running dry (at least briefly), have a decent but not huge flow rate, and often you can find them used cheap/free.

 

[dalto]

I don't agree on this one. A python needs a water supply to create the suction to draw from the tank. Therefore it uses more "available" water. If it is a well, it could be the difference between a shower or a birdbath. If it is city water, it will only raise the water and sewer bill since most city water supplies and sewer usage are based on the actual consumption rate of incoming water. The only time this does not affect the incoming and sewer bill together is if you have a deduct meter installed. From what I hear, not many communities are fond of installing them as it cuts down on revenue in one form or another.

It absolutely uses more water up. No doubt about it. For me, the nominal increase in my water bill is well worth the convenience of being able to drain and vacuum straight down the drain all at once and then refill with the same hose.

 

[Fresh2o]

Question: Would smaller diameter tubing increase pump head height? I'm thinking that thinner tubing would mean less water, thus less weight.


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[Linwood]

Question: Would smaller diameter tubing increase pump head height? I'm thinking that thinner tubing would mean less water, thus less weight.

Generally speaking no, it's about pressure not weight. There may be some limited effect in extreme cases, but generally no.

And it is hard to find one with high head pressure without getting high volume (and cost).

I use 5G buckets and put a top on one, and set the other on it, to speed up the transfer. For my tiny quarantine tank I do the opposite, leave it flat on the floor so I get really low flow and it is less of a disturbance. Unfortunately our big tank was just too tall and I had no flow at all (which is when I got a bilge pump for it, and I happened to have a 12V power supply already there for LED's, so I just added a jack for it).

 

[Fresh2o]

Thanks for the reply; was just curious. I only have 20g tanks so buckets are a big deal for me.


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[treemanone2003]

It absolutely uses more water up. No doubt about it. For me, the nominal increase in my water bill is well worth the convenience of being able to drain and vacuum straight down the drain all at once and then refill with the same hose.

Understand 100% but allow me to expand just a tad. I have the Aqueon (almost the same thing ?) and I keep that connected to a dedicated sink for fill-ups only. It has 40' of hose. I have a 1000L/hr pump that goes in the tank and the window is about 4-1/2 to 5' away. The pump drains to outside off the roof, 50% of a 55g tank in about 3 minutes. I do this 3 times each week (I have 5 Discus in it) and 100% on Sundays. While I'm doing the 100% on Sundays, I can supply clean (same temp) water at the same time. The longest part of my WC is the refill of about 12-14 minutes for the refill on a 100% day.


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[Linwood]

I don't know about the OP, but recall there are many people who do not want to use tap water directly. Either at all (because they chose RODI), or directly (because they don't trust the "add water and hope the dechlorinator is fast enough) or because they want a more careful temperature match.

And some (marine) have to pre-mix salt [notice this is not a freshwater only forum].

For those it means buckets of mixed water need to be transferred into a tank. Pouring is almost impossible from a full 5G bucket, at least without washing away the interior of the tank. Siphoning means lifting the bucket to a stand 5-8' high; risky and hard. And a python is useless for this purpose.

A small pond pump can make an ideal solution for those who are refilling their tanks with buckets.

Honestly what some vendor should do is integrate a water change system in with the canister filters, a properly plumbed and valved way to use that pump to empty as well as refill. $5 more in parts (at OEM costs) and you could have a dynamite system all ready to go for those with buckets.

 

[Brookster123]

I don't know about the OP, but recall there are many people who do not want to use tap water directly. Either at all (because they chose RODI), or directly (because they don't trust the "add water and hope the dechlorinator is fast enough) or because they want a more careful temperature match.

And some (marine) have to pre-mix salt [notice this is not a freshwater only forum].

For those it means buckets of mixed water need to be transferred into a tank. Pouring is almost impossible from a full 5G bucket, at least without washing away the interior of the tank. Siphoning means lifting the bucket to a stand 5-8' high; risky and hard. And a python is useless for this purpose.

A small pond pump can make an ideal solution for those who are refilling their tanks with buckets.

Honestly what some vendor should do is integrate a water change system in with the canister filters, a properly plumbed and valved way to use that pump to empty as well as refill. $5 more in parts (at OEM costs) and you could have a dynamite system all ready to go for those with buckets.

Good idea linwood! Maybe ill hook my water change barrel up to the canister I just ordered

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[Linwood]

Good idea linwood! Maybe ill hook my water change barrel up to the canister I just ordered

I almost tried this. I have three canisters on a big tank, and even siphoning it out is slow. The problem is that doing it after the fact means adding T's and valves on both the intake and output of the pump. Worse, you need two intake T's probably, if you want to both vacuum and also take most of the water from the intake (in my 220G I vacuum for about 5 minutes, then the other 20 minutes is just waiting for the water level to go down). Plus done right you want the vacuum side not to go through the filter media, so you need an internal diverter.

But I suspect it is possible. And I really do think there's a potential market. Imagine, you can also sell not just the base unit, but add-on attachments. Just like vacuum cleaner manufacturers. Substrate vacuums, combo glass-scraper and vacuums... a whole product line awaits development.

 

[aqua_holic]

My fill hose and drain hose.




I use an azoo 1800 (cheap) to drain my tanks. The python hose fits perfectly on the nozzle.

It's HUGELY advantageous to have 2 separate hoses for water changes - has cut the time it takes by 75% compared to a single python.

Tons and tons of people (everyone who uses a water changer) refill their tanks directly from the faucet without any issues whatsoever. People are certainly free to be as cautious as they like though.

 

[The boring name]

I went to a Northern Tool and found a pond pump, and use it to both stir RODI water when I add minerals to it (just drop it in the bucket), and then to pump it up to the display tank.

Only problem is the nice small $10 ones often have a low head pressure, i.e. they won't pump more than 4-6' high. Check that first. But they have cheap ones. Similar on Amazon, etc. Look for "pond pump".

Here's the one I used: here

On a larger tank that I needed about 8' of head and more volume I actually used an old boat bilge pump. It's 12V so you need an adapter (though if you have DIY LED's you may already have one), but the are waterproof, designed to not be damaged by running dry (at least briefly), have a decent but not huge flow rate, and often you can find them used cheap/free.

Thanks. This is exactly what I wanted. 1 question what size diameter house should I get to you with this.

 

[Linwood]

Thanks. This is exactly what I wanted. 1 question what size diameter house should I get to you with this.

Mine is half inch, but if I recall the pump comes with replaceable nozzles. Just buy the pump first, the box will say.

Ace Hardware is one of many sites that sell vinyl by the foot, by the way; the big box stores mostly do not, only in pre-packaged rolls. You don't want it too long as when you are done you'll want to hold the end up high and let the residual water drain back into the bucket; hard to do with a coil on the floor.

One thing I've found handy is a outlet strip with a switch. I often need more cord anyway, and the switch lets me turn the pump on or off with my toe once I am holding the tube in the right place, pump in the bucket, etc.

 

[CoronaBlue]

Nice read, my tanks are about 50 feet from my nearest sink. I just recently put together a DIY Python and used a Blue Magic faucet adapter. It drains really slow and fills even slower. I used it once and stopped because I felt I was wasting way too much water. I need to find a better way to WC as winter approaches. Might look into the pump option

 

[Linwood]

For draining my 220, I just use a garden hose. Stick one end in and tie it to something, go out and give a good inhale, enough to get it over the hump of the side, and the rest is all done by gravity. It still takes maybe 15-20 minutes to take 70 gallons out (about normal WC), but it's much faster than buckets. The more drop you can get on the far end the faster it goes. And it has plenty of suction for vacuuming (first time I did it, I rigged an adapter to an actual aquarium vacuum tube, but I found the end of the hose is adequate for what I do, which is mostly cleaning up piles of detritus not trying to sift sand).

PS. An advantage of a good long run, and decent drop, is you can lift the end out and quickly put it back, and it still keeps going -- a few feet of air is just carried along. So doing more than one tank, if you move fast between, would not require restarting.

 

[mattcham]

Tons and tons of people (everyone who uses a water changer) refill their tanks directly from the faucet without any issues whatsoever. People are certainly free to be as cautious as they like though.

I have killed fish accidentally when refilling a 50% water change on a 30 gallon tank with 30 gallons worth of Seachem prime already in the tank and the faucet cranked wide open. Now I slow down the faucet flow rate to 25% and everything is fine.

The problem is that aggressive or curious fish will put their face on the end of the hose for a few minutes and by the time they start to feel drowsy it is too late and they are as good as dead.