New toy or necessary item for fish room ?

[coralbandit]

Lets start by saying I change a lot of water.
I have 50 tanks ranging from 5g -80g in the fish rooms aprox. 900 gallons right now !
As mentioned in another thread I prep water in barrels for RO , RO/DI , and my filtered tap.
I filter my tap through a 5 micron ,1 micron and carbon block that are the same as my BRS 7 stage RO/DI system...
I mix hot water from my house water heater with cold by using a 'mixing station'[shower faucet].
After the mix it goes through the filters and to a single [quarter turn full on/off] faucet that turns the water on or off ONLY[no need to readjust mixing staion in theory ]. From there it is split into 2 white 'potable water safe' hoses to get to my tanks in both fish rooms.. All connections before the on / off faucet are stainless steel braided washing machine lines ment to be under constant pressure .
Ever take a shower and run out of hot water?
Well lets just say I run the water longer then any teen ager has ever tried !
I check the temp intermittently incase I need to adjust the mix on the mixing station[I have marks on the handles ]
Clearly I run out of water eventually and need to stop and allow water heater to catch up..This is catch up time now while I write this thread . I don't mind paying attention to the hose while filling although I like to be draining next tank , so the time to bounce back and fourth pulling a sample in a cup and dipping my HM3 meter in it is wasted but necessary time and effort...
Today I found this !
https://www.banggood.com/Loskii-LW-...e-Meter-Monitor-p-1171304.html?rmmds=category
Can't wait to hook this up in line before or after the filters..
Hope it is a useful tool and not just a aquarium toy [I have 2 attics full of that stuff already ]

 

[TMaier]

OMG I am totally asking Santa for one of those for Christmas.

 

[coralbandit]

I was thinking the average "python/waterchanger" owner may find this useful also..
I have never owned one but I guess I have made my own sort of ?
Water going out of my tanks is a long story...

 

[mbkemp]

I use a shower head to fill. This is awesome

 

[Brookster123]

Nice find! This is pretty nifty

 

[Mebbid]

How do you drain the water out of your tanks?

 

[Brookster123]

How do you drain the water out of your tanks?

Pretty sure he bought a decommissioned pump truck from the fire station, his lawn is banging and he has a ton of fun Halloween night...

 

[V227]

I feel like a caveman still hauling 5 gal. Buckets out to the yard. The trees and flowers aren't complaining though.

 

[TMaier]

I love my buckets! Keeps me strong.

 

[Brookster123]

Buckets..... they have a place in every fish room. I use them on my sw tank because there is so many little things I don't want to flush.. anything large volume gets the electric pump... if I had to change the discus grow out with buckets I would have lost it...

 

[Autumnsky]

That looks like a fun toy-like necessity! I like it if it works pretty accurately.

 

[Barliman]

Coincidentally, I saw one of these in action on Youtube last night. I'll eventually be getting a python, and this looks like the perfect accessory.

 

[HUKIT]

Why does the water temp need to be exact? Hell I’ve done thousands of water changes with my finger as the thermometer in a fish room twice the size . I mean you’re not that old right

 

[Brookster123]

Why does the water temp need to be exact? Hell I’ve done thousands of water changes with my finger as the thermometer in a fish room twice the size . I mean you’re not that old right

For a few bucks it's a nifty little gadget. If it's anything like my maintenance there is 3 pumps going, 2 tanks draining and filling.. lot going on, one less thing to monitor closely... if it was $100 I'd go without.

 

[coralbandit]

Why does the water temp need to be exact? Hell I’ve done thousands of water changes with my finger as the thermometer in a fish room twice the size . I mean you’re not that old right

I change up to 90% in some tanks..I have fish that prefer 82+ and fish that prefer 75-
Not thinking my rams would like your finger?
I try not to mess with success and so far being consistent and accurate has worked out pretty good for me.. When I want 82 degree water I want 82 and when I want 75 I want 75....I am not going to give my swordtails 82 degree water [all the time] to only let it cool to the tank setting of 75 ?
To each their own?

I know sometimes I think one tank feels plenty colder then another with my finger when actually they are within a few degrees....

So it would be a toy for you possibly?

 

[coralbandit]

So still waiting for this [I think it is coming from China ,although tracking said it moved in the facility in Ca. on 10/30 ?] Company name and list of products makes me think it is all being or was imported...
I used to spill water during moments of chaos ,or forgetfulness...I try to do too much in fish room with all the tanks at one time and well....
So I searched for a high flow float valve that I can attach to my fill hose from my filtered heated tap ...
Found and ordered this today.
https://www.amazon.com/Kerick-Valve...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MS844Z4FKT721BVDVZ0D
Hopefully installed correctly this will stop the flow when water reaches the set level..thinking 1 " below top of tank is the same in every size tank when I hang this on...It is a modified toilet float type device that will have a stainless steel rod and plastic float that will be hooked to the hose and hopefully be easy to move from tank to tank without me watching every minute...
Supposed to flow 27.5 GPM with 30lbs pressure...
I like the semi automated side of things..I still enjoy my time but want to do the thing like mixing water and working fry more then watching a tank fill...

Mebbid ; 3 [60/60/80g] of my tanks have PVC syphon tubes installed that I start the old way and drain into 'rubber maid ' tote [sump] that has a mag drive pump sending water out the window..I have another 'sump' in the other room also that pumps water out another window..I drain all three at same time and am done draining to 75-90% in minutes. Both fishrooms and closet in between[using every inch I can !] are in basement[finished]. All of my 20 and under and most of my 40g [ like 50 tanks] still get vaccumed with a PVC pipe and hose into a bucket and then poured into a sump and pumped out..
My 180 has a pump in the sump that pumps right out window also. It is a Marineland model 4 with a 29 g water bridged to it.I pump out first section[filters sump ] and fill in second[29g].I change 60 g in 5 minutes on that one by flipping a switch and plugging a pump in 32 g brute and filling from filtered heated tap water...

 

[mbkemp]

Nice! I would have a river when you spill drops.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Some cool new toys Tom, that float valve has me thinking about a few things.

 

[tunamanphd]

So still waiting for this [I think it is coming from China ,although tracking said it moved in the facility in Ca. on 10/30 ?] Company name and list of products makes me think it is all being or was imported...
I used to spill water during moments of chaos ,or forgetfulness...I try to do too much in fish room with all the tanks at one time and well....
So I searched for a high flow float valve that I can attach to my fill hose from my filtered heated tap ...
Found and ordered this today.
https://www.amazon.com/Kerick-Valve...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MS844Z4FKT721BVDVZ0D
Hopefully installed correctly this will stop the flow when water reaches the set level..thinking 1 " below top of tank is the same in every size tank when I hang this on...It is a modified toilet float type device that will have a stainless steel rod and plastic float that will be hooked to the hose and hopefully be easy to move from tank to tank without me watching every minute...
Supposed to flow 27.5 GPM with 30lbs pressure...
I like the semi automated side of things..I still enjoy my time but want to do the thing like mixing water and working fry more then watching a tank fill...

Mebbid ; 3 [60/60/80g] of my tanks have PVC syphon tubes installed that I start the old way and drain into 'rubber maid ' tote [sump] that has a mag drive pump sending water out the window..I have another 'sump' in the other room also that pumps water out another window..I drain all three at same time and am done draining to 75-90% in minutes. Both fishrooms and closet in between[using every inch I can !] are in basement[finished]. All of my 20 and under and most of my 40g [ like 50 tanks] still get vaccumed with a PVC pipe and hose into a bucket and then poured into a sump and pumped out..
My 180 has a pump in the sump that pumps right out window also. It is a Marineland model 4 with a 29 g water bridged to it.I pump out first section[filters sump ] and fill in second[29g].I change 60 g in 5 minutes on that one by flipping a switch and plugging a pump in 32 g brute and filling from filtered heated tap water...

Going to have to come check out the float valve. Up to 30 tanks now and every now and then I soak my floor

 

[coralbandit]

Float valve arrived today now just have to hook it up..
Tried it out one way but the float [lever part] of device dripped water so I am re working its configuration so that part will be over tank and not matter...