How do these PYTHONS work?

[Smidge]

I may be just being stupid but i don't quite get it. Do they attach to your tap? If so then how do you check for temperature and add dechlor?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

They attach to your kitchen/bathroom sink or outside garden hose. When refilling you just adjust the temperature using hot/cold. Add dechlor as it is refilling.

 

[Finatic]

They work like a charm.

You won't be sorry you got one. You can syphon out the water, then with a twist of the faucet attachment, you are filling you tank right back up.

When I do it, I just dose the tank with Prime (using the full tank volume to determine dose).

You can get an aquarium thermometer to hold under the stream of water coming from the faucet attachment in syphon mode, then just adjust your hot & cold water until you get within about 2 degrees of where your tank is. Once you gt to temp, twist the attachement and you are ready to fill.

 

[theotheragentm]

They work on the Venturi Principle. With the way the nozzle is designed, the water from the tap creates a vaccuum and pulls the water from the tank when the nozzle is set to drain. The same principle works in industrial applications for removing hot condensate.

I can probably explain it in more detail, but there's not really a point. Basically, the Python uses your tap water pressure to create suction.

It refills kind of slowly, but it still beats carrying buckets unless you like the exercise.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Mine takes a little longer to drain but is a lot faster at refilling. YMMV.

 

[joannde]

Mine drains slowly also, and the pressure isn't all that great, but it still beats the bucket thing (esp when you yourself only weigh about 100 lbs ! a 5 gallon bucket of water is mighty heavy at 1/3rd of your body weight).
I use a regular syphon into a bucket to gravel vac (I use a 1" tube, which gives me more suction and is easier to control and get around things) and can do that with just one bucket.
I generally gravel vac the 10G as I'm refilling the 35G and then move the Python over the to 10G when its ready to be filled.
I know my fish are ALOT healthier because of the Python - the ease of water changes means they're done weekly with little hassle and doing 50% is a breeze.

 

[theotheragentm]

I use a regular syphon into a bucket to gravel vac (I use a 1" tube, which gives me more suction and is easier to control and get around things) and can do that with just one bucket.

Plus all the crud doesn't go down your sink and that bucket is great fertilizer. It's funny. I have green splotches on my dying lawn where I pour out water change water.

 

[ksfishguy]

My old man has never added dechlor in his life and he has the healthiest tank I've ever seen. I'm gutless and add dechlor everytime. He said if you do frequent water changes you don't have to change much water and that the chlorine isn't enough to do your bioload any harm.

 

[theotheragentm]

My old man has never added dechlor in his life and he has the healthiest tank I've ever seen. I'm gutless and add dechlor everytime. He said if you do frequent water changes you don't have to change much water and that the chlorine isn't enough to do your bioload any harm.

Chlorine isn't going to affect the bioload in the tank as far as I know. So chlorine isn't going to help your situation as far as needing water changes. Your dad may have an understocked, overfiltered tank with plants perhaps, which is why the large PWCs may not have been necessary for him. It's possible he may also have had low levels of chlorine and the small percentages of water changes may have been okay for his fish, but everyone's tap water is a bit different.

 

[joannde]

The bigger issue are chloridimides. Chlorine breaks down over time, and as mentioned above, levels vary by town. Chloridimides never break down natrually so a dechlor is a must in this case.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Exactly Joannde. Chloramines can only be removed by a dechlorinator. Chlorine will "go away" within 24 hours. If his water company starts using Chloramines I can guarentee you he will start using dechlor otherwise he will have a tank full of dead fish.

A friend of mine set up a new tank last week. It was an impulse buy and he called me an hour after he got home. He set up the tank, added water, and put in the fish. No dechlor. An hour later I was at his house with my Prime because 7 out of the 9 fish he purchased were dead. The reamining two were wobbling around the tank on the verge of death. After the dechlor was added the two started looking better. One survived.

 

[Regen311]

This may or may not be true, so don't hold me 100% to it, but i've also heard that activated charcoal will remove some of the chlorine (not chloramines), so that may have helped as well...

 

[cabezon]

I am lucky, at work we have well water and the fish love it. I bring it home in 5gal bottles for my home tank.

I dont need a python, I run the garden hose into the office!

 

[theotheragentm]

The Python pulls water out of the tank too. It's not just for filling up.