submersible water pump for water changes

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

dax29

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Messages
660
Location
Tifton Ga
Has anyone here had any experience using a submersible water pump for water changes? I'm planning on getting a 75 gallon tank, and water changes become somewhat of an issue. I'd like to put a submersible, electric pump in the tank and pump the water directly to a holding tank. I would then like to put the same pump in my holding tank where I plan to dechlorinate my new water and pump it into the tank. I've been hauling water by hand and dumping it in by hand with my 29 gallon. I do a 25-30% water change every 1 - 2 weeks. I'm trying to get all my logistics planned out before I even buy the 75 gallon. My tank will be quite far from any sink or other water drain. Will Rubbermaid or Sterlite containers work as holding tanks for water I'm trying to dechlorinate for a water change? I'd like to put the tanks on a little cart to wheel around the house b/c 30 gallons of water is too heavy even for me to carry.
 
Don't know if this will work for you -

To remove water from the tank I simply use a siphon & dump the water out the nearest window <watering my flower box at the same time!>. I bought a 20' tubing to attach to the gravel vac from HD so it will reach.

To fill the tank, I find that a 1" gravel vac fits my tap exactly. I just fit that over the tap & run a 20' tubing to the tank. The tubing for the 1" gravel vac is only 1/4", so the flow rate is pretty slow (about 1/2 hr to do a 15 gal change). But that just gives me time to tidy up the tank while it is being filled .... plus slowly introducing new water should be less stressful to fish....

If you have a threaded tap nearby, you can use a regular water hose with threaded fittings <use one rated for drinking water - eg. for RV use> for filling. Also, you can use a python to fill & drain the tank. That will fit over regular taps & I think it comes in 50' length ... & I think you can make it even longer by attaching additional hose if needed.

I think that using a hose is certainly easier than carting around tubs of water! <considering that 30 gal of water is 250lb!>
 
Have you considered getting a Python? That way, you could gravel vac and remove water at the same time. The python can also be used to refill the tank. I just add the correct dose of declorinator as the tank is refilling.
 
jsoong said:
Don't know if this will work for you -
To remove water from the tank I simply use a siphon & dump the water out the nearest window <watering my flower box at the same time!>.


Pretty much the same as what I do, except I place the pump in the tank and pump the old water into the bathtub (I'm pretty sure SW would kill the grass if I pumped it out the window but that was my first idea). I then wheel a large plastic garbage can into the room and put the pump in that, pumping the new water into the tank.

I hear you, man. Carrying buckets of water around the house is for the birds.
 
I use a maxijet 1200 and a long lenght of 1/2" IO tubing. I use the maxijet to pump water out of the tank into buckets. Then I use the same maxijet and tubing to pump water from the buckets with new water into the tank. No lifting of buckets above ones head and you minimize the amount of water spilt around the tank. The maxijet 1200 will be good for head heights of 6' or less. If you need to pump water up higher than 6' I would suggest one of the Mag drive pumps. Base the size of the Mag on how high you need to pump the water up to the tank. I would still do a maxijet to pump water out of the tank.

The python is the ultimate in water change tools for FW folks. Its absolutly zero lifting of buckets but will use more water since it attaches to your sink and uses flowing water as a syphon action when pulling water out of the tank.
 
not close to sink

The only place my wife will let me put another tank is upstairs in the playroom. There is no sink close by. The bathroom faucet fittings are not threaded. The only window is directly over the deck. I could run one pump with a long hose directly to the nearest bathroom (25 ft away) and use the same pump to pump water back to the tank. Is it bad to take chlorinated water directly from the faucet and put it in the fish tank?
 
Maybe I'll take a look at running enough hose out of the upstairs window to bypass the deck. How do you get the hose primed? I could also get the right sized hose for my bathroom faucet and put a clamp on it, and then run the water directly into the tank from the faucet like jsoong said. All the ideas I've received are great and I appreciate the input. I seem to overlook the obvious solutions that don't escape you guys.
 
Pumping 25' will be drastic for a simple powerhead. You will need a fairly robust pump to do that with any sense of speed.

I know how I would prime a line if I was to drain it off the deck. I would secure one end in the tank real good and then I would suck on the other end with a good strong pull and then hang the hose off the deck. That should get the water up and over the edge of the tank and flowing thru the hose.

Does the bathroom have only a sink and toilet? If it has a tub you can fill a few buckets with water from the tub faucet and then transport the buckets to the tank for your water changes. Pour the duirty water down the tub's drain or run your hose into the tub.
 
toting water

I'm gonna use the faucet to pump the water to the tank. The idea about sucking the water down to the deck is probably what I will end up doing. I registered for the $150.00 giveaway. I hope you got it. I hope I get it.
 
Just to clarify I am in no way assocated with aquariumguys. AquariumGuys is a sponsor here of AA that I am an admin of. My admin status is the reason for my name being asscoated with the post about the give away.

Many people are getting confused and think im assocated with the company. We want to make sure we are clear in that this is an aquariumguys giveaway run entierly by aquariumguys for AA members.
 
Re: not close to sink

dax29 said:
Is it bad to take chlorinated water directly from the faucet and put it in the fish tank?

Not at all .... just put the dechlor in the tank the same time you put the tap water in. <Some people will skip the dechlor completely for small amounts or water - say 5% or less.>

To prime my siphon to take water out of the tank, I simply use a self priming gravel vac. All I need to do is to get the water column across the tank rim, & it flows down hill from there. (I have to go across the room about 10', then out a window - with a low sill).

If there isn't anything that requires you to route your hose above the fish tank ... this should work. Otherwise a small pump might be easier than trying to suck tank water .... You won't need much of a pump if all you are doing is to move water downhill.
 
Well, I hate water changes too, so check out my page to see how I solved it:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0015.htm

Now, you don't have an unfinished room behind your tank with a utility sink like I do. But the Magdrive pumps can handle lots of "head," meaning the distance the water must be pumped up before it goes down. I love the idea of using the bathroom tub to hold the water out and drain it. Guess you could also use the bathroom tub to hold the water in too, so you can dechlorinate it. Are you sure there isn't a removable fitting on that sink faucet that is hiding the threads? The thing you see is probably just screwed onto the threads, so you can remove it?

If you can set up a holding tank somewhere, I highly recomend it. It is sweet to have heated, dechlorinated water to pump in. If a holding tank is not an option, than get a python hooked up. If the faucet really has no threads, change it! Probably cheeper to change the faucet than buy a pair of magdrive pumps.
 
If you can reach a garden hose to the hose or python( mine is a 50 footer) you can start the siphon just by turning on the garden hose to start the flow. With a 50 foot python you may be able to reach a sink for fill and drain. You adjust the faucet temp to match your tank temp. Put in enough declor to treat the whole tank, then fill. If a 50 footer is not long enough, you can get more hose and fittings to extend it at your local home imorovement center. :D
 
www.jehmco.com

I have two 125 gallon tanks and change water almost daily in one of them. I bought a submersible pump from jehmco for under $40. It attaches to a garden hose and drains out a window or door. It will drain half of a 125 in less then 5 minutes. To fill I use the python and add dechlor. You can buy a python with 100ft of tubing. That should be enough to reach any water supply in your home. :wink:

Carrying buckets of water around is like starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together.
LOL
 
Back
Top Bottom