How do you do effective water changes in LARGE aquariums?

[jvdb]

Funny question. I have a 30 gallon so the bucket method works well for me, however I am thinking of getting something larger in the future.

What I assume you do is use a hose such as a python and pre treat the tank then put tap water straight into the aquarium from the tap. Am I right? Are there any risks of the chlorine not being removed quick enough?

Thinking specifically for an african cichlid tank. Is this a good method?

 

[NigelK8485]

For my 150 I use the python to vacuum the substrate, then put a submersible pump in the tank with a hose attached to it to drain the rest of the water after I'm done vacuuming. The python takes way too long to drain the tank unless I run the tap at full power while doing it which I don't like doing. Then yep, just treat the full tank with Prime and refill. Usually as I'm refilling I'll throw in an extra cap or two worth of Prime in front of the water coming out of the hose or in front of the intake for my canister before turning it back on. I haven't run into an issue.

Prime works on contact so there really is no risk of chlorine or chloramine not being removed quickly enough. With the amount of people that use and swear by this method I think it speaks for itself in terms of safety.


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[candymancan]

Python are expensive... Just go to home depot or lowes.. Get some 3/8 tubing or tubing that fit on the gravel cleaner you have and get how many feet you need.. Get some 20 or 30 feet of it and gravel vacuume like you normally would.. Put the other end of the tubing outside your window or door or something.. Those pythons just waste water... Its the same way you gravel vac into your bucket just uses a longer hose that's all.. takes like 10 min for my 55g to drain


... Then get an adapter for your sink.. Unscrew the little thing on your faucet and bring it to lowes and have someone there help you.. Tell them you need a barbed fitting and an adapter for the fitting that will screw into your faucet.. I got sooo tired of buckets after years n years... and I have 8 fish tanks... Now I just watch it drain.. and watch it fill up.. making sure to keep an eye on the thermometer of course..


As for adding prime I just pour a capful in the tank as im filling it.. Havent had an issue not even with my discus

 

[CoronaBlue]

I do water changes on my 125 and 75 exactly like candyman described. I am currently finishing up my bottle of API stress coat for my declorinator at which time I'll start using my can of SAFE.

 

[The Fish Man]

You should youse the hose it will be easier to clean and use. I use one for my 15 gallon tank and it works great.


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[anteatergoanna]

I bought a 75 litre container, put it on trolley, put a small bilge pump in the container, with hose that would reach into my tank, connected it up to a small battery and viola, tank filled in 2 minutes.To remove water from the tank, I just siphon it out the closest window.


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[BBradbury]

Like Your Style

Python are expensive... Just go to home depot or lowes.. Get some 3/8 tubing or tubing that fit on the gravel cleaner you have and get how many feet you need.. Get some 20 or 30 feet of it and gravel vacuume like you normally would.. Put the other end of the tubing outside your window or door or something.. Those pythons just waste water... Its the same way you gravel vac into your bucket just uses a longer hose that's all.. takes like 10 min for my 55g to drain


... Then get an adapter for your sink.. Unscrew the little thing on your faucet and bring it to lowes and have someone there help you.. Tell them you need a barbed fitting and an adapter for the fitting that will screw into your faucet.. I got sooo tired of buckets after years n years... and I have 8 fish tanks... Now I just watch it drain.. and watch it fill up.. making sure to keep an eye on the thermometer of course..


As for adding prime I just pour a capful in the tank as im filling it.. Havent had an issue not even with my discus

Hello candy...

I really like your style! If something isn't working, try and change things without the change resulting in a big expense. I'm an "old school" water keeper. An "oldtimer", but still use the old bucket method for my weekly 50 percent water changes.

Will give your plastic tubing idea some real thought. Have tinkered around with a garden hose idea I had similar to yours, but didn't like all that hose inside. The tubing may work better. I liked the idea of the buckets, so I could make sure the water treatment was added correctly. I use Seachem's "Safe", the powder version of the Prime product. I suppose I could go back to using Prime if necessary to ensure it dissolves.

Thanks for the tip. Even those of us in the water keeping hobby for years can pick up a new thing or two.

B

 

[candymancan]

The problem with those python tubes you buy in the store is they require water running from your faucet to create suction and that is a huge waste of water... If you just use regular vynal tubing and suck on one end to get the siphon going it works just the same... In fact the ones you buy in the store are vynal tubing as well with the fittings.. And those pythons 50ft go for like $50... You can get that a lot cheaper in lowes..

like 28 cents a foot or something


Here isa pic of the 2 fittings I use.. Screw those together and then screw them in your sinks faucet

 

[NigelK8485]

You can turn off the water though once you stick the gravel vacuum in the water and it starts sucking in water. It does drastically cut down on the force of the siphon, though.


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[Ricky 1]

You can't beat a Python, they are fantastic, I don't have shares in lowes....lol, so get a Python, if you have a cheap car would you put a RR mascot on it.....

 

[Rare]

You can turn off the water though once you stick the gravel vacuum in the water and it starts sucking in water. It does drastically cut down on the force of the siphon, though.


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Corrrect, but you dont need to use the faucet if you have near by window as gravity does the work for ya. The bigger the hose the faster the drain. BBradbury, i use seachem safe as well...one just came in today. It's more concentrated than prime.

 

[treemanone2003]

While I can't see 15 mins being long enough to adequately drain enough water out of a 55g, I suppose it's possible. Also, not being one to suck on hoses, I use a rio pump rated at 264 gph. I can completely drain a 55g in 4.8 minutes. Add conditioner to the tank for the tank volume and refill.


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[Tolak]

Also, not being one to suck on hoses, I use a rio pump rated at 264 gph. I can completely drain a 55g in 4.8 minutes. Add conditioner to the tank for the tank volume and refill.

You've either got a faster pump, or a slow clock, 50 gallons in 5 minutes is 600 gph. With a 3/4" hose I can pull out 5gpm, good enough for water changes. To drain tanks down I drop in the 1400gph pump that usually sits in my waste water tub. Pumps & hoses are the way to go if you need to move a lot of water.

 

[NigelK8485]

You've either got a faster pump, or a slow clock, 50 gallons in 5 minutes is 600 gph. With a 3/4" hose I can pull out 5gpm, good enough for water changes. To drain tanks down I drop in the 1400gph pump that usually sits in my waste water tub. Pumps & hoses are the way to go if you need to move a lot of water.

Amen. 8 minutes to drain half of my 150. When I was using just the python water changes were taking over an hour.


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[BillD]

I don't use a python for several reasons, beside the cost. Firstly they are too slow on bigger tanks. My tanks are near a floor drain so I drain to them. Larger tanks I can use a 3/4" hose which drains quickly. Secondly I don't like the gravel vacuum end for filling. I have a goose neck terminated in a tee for filling. It allows for much faster filling without disrupting the tank. I use a clear vinyl, food grade, Tygon hose for my fills.I have had it for about 20 years and it is still solid. The thin vinyl hoses you see at HD and Lowes will not stand up to being stepped on as the walls are very thin. A good option for a fill hose is a potable water hose used for RVs. Unlike most garden hoses there is no warning not to drink the water, and they are inexpensive.
The other thing I don't like about the Python is you can only do one tank at a time.

 

[Delapool]

To empty tank here it is two 5gal buckets out to the garden (from gravel vac). Think that's right, today was 6 trips for 60gal (~240 litres).

To fill I used to use the bucket at 3/4 full and tip into tank (great work out), but it is slow and a bit tricky stepping up the step ladder with a bucket. So now I just drag the garden hose in. Which I've found has made it easier to do larger water changes.

 

[jetajockey]

A cheaper alternative to a python (and much easier than DIY) is this: Order a waterbed drain and fill kit on eBay (~$5) and get a drinking water safe hose from Home Depot. A neverkink hose (~$24 for 50ft) holds up a lot longer (especially on suction) than the cheaper drinking water hoses do, and shouldn't end up being a lot more than buying 3/4 clear line and all the fittings to go with it.. Plus you can use it for other stuff. Rig up a siphon tube on the end of it and you are good to go.

 

[treemanone2003]

You've either got a faster pump, or a slow clock, 50 gallons in 5 minutes is 600 gph. With a 3/4" hose I can pull out 5gpm, good enough for water changes. To drain tanks down I drop in the 1400gph pump that usually sits in my waste water tub. Pumps & hoses are the way to go if you need to move a lot of water.

Thanks for the catch ??. I attribute that to "fat finger disease" as it should have read 14.8 ?


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[Tolak]

Thanks for the catch ??. I attribute that to "fat finger disease" as it should have read 14.8 ?


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Aww I was hoping for the faster pump being into hardware type of things! A typo is as good a reason as any for a pump upgrade!

 

[jetajockey]

One other thing I've noticed is the python type systems work better on the outside faucets where I have substantially higher water pressure.

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