Okay.... for better I worse, and because I am stir crazy waiting for my fishless cycle to cycle...I invented something. Okay, okay, it might be old news to some of you, but to me it is a new invention. I got a large (33 gallon) closed barrel at the local feed store for $15, and I also bought a submersible fishpond pump to put in it, as well as 20 feet of 1/2 inch ID flexible tubing.
I brought the barrel home and I cleaned it and cleaned it and cleaned it some more...mostly by flushing water through it. I also put some ammonia in it to help clean it. and then I flushed it some more.
After the water was coming out clean/clean/clean, I tasted it, and it tasted pretty good. Then I submerged the submersible pump into the barrel, and turned it on just to see what would happen. It took 13 minutes and 49 seconds to pump enough water out of it to run the pump dry, probably about 30 gallons.
After the barrel was empty. I moved it to an area in my side yard that is about 10 feet from the window of my classroom, right by the back of my fish tanks. Then I filled it up again, with tap water (from the garden hose), and put a capful of seachim PRIME water conditioner in it....enough to treat 50 gallons. Then I made sure everything was closed and covered up again, so I don't get any debris in my barrel of water.
Then I ran the electrical cord from the sump pump into the classroom window, as well as the other end of the 20 foot line of tubing.
Then I did a PWC on my 10G tank. I siphoned out about 1/4 of the tank. Then I got the end of the 20 foot tube that was connected to the sump pump in my barrel of treated water and put it into the fish tank. Then I plugged in the plug of the sump pump and WOW!!!! I had freshly treated water flowing right into my fish tank! Well, THAT ought to make PWC's a bit easier to do!
I am hoping that if I can make PWC's easy, I will be able to do them very frequently. I'd like to perhaps do a little one almost every day?
Now I would like to figure out a way to make the siphoning OUT of the water more automatic. I am a switch turner and a button pusher. I want to push a button to siphon water OUT of my tank, and push another one to pump water INTO my tank. I want to do small frequent changes while I am sitting there watching, so I don't have any mishaps with water overflowing or tanks getting drained to much.
So...what do you think?