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Thread: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

  1. #1
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    Default Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    I'm eagerly awaiting my first discus order to arrive. I've kept a planted community aquarium for several years, but this is my first experience with discus. I have been reading and it seems like my direct-from-tap + prime method of adding water will not be ideal for the many many water changes I have to look forward to, and will stress the fish.

    There's no room under my display tank where I will be housing the discus to hold 75 gallons of water (it's a 150 gallon tank) for a 50% water change. However, there's plenty of room in my laundry room for a trash can or two. (I will still add prime + heat the water before adding it)

    I'm a hobbiest and only have experience with cannister filters. My question is related to pumps. Does horizontal distance matter when pumping water? The aquarium's height is 4.5' from the ground. However, the horizontal distance to travel from my laundry room to the living room where the tank lives is 40'. It's my understanding that I only have to really worry about the height. Is this correct? If I had a long enough tube and a pump that can pump up to 6.6' high, would that be enough to cover the distance so I'm not carrying buckets all the time?

  2. #2
    Registered Member Leland F.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    I've read that every 10 horizontal feet of pipe will add 1' of head pressure.

    -Leland

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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    Ah. So for good measure I probably want something that can pump to 10 feet. Thank you!

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    A suggestion. don't add prime to the aging barrel. dose the tank before you do your water change. some here have experienced a slime build up in their aging barrels adding prime to the barrel.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    I just found this article about head pressure. http://www.thatpetplace.com/understa...essure-article

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    Registered Member bluelagoon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    Go a bit bigger with your pump.Something that will pump about 10' high.I used the smaller pumps with your distance and height but was slow.I now have a 3/4" inside (1" outside) hose and is much quicker.15 minutes to fill a 125 gal.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    I have a 700gph pump with 50' of vinyl 3/4" tubing from my trash can water barrel to the tank. This works and gets the job done, but it does take a while. If you get a bigger pump with 1" tubing it will drain the barrel much faster.

  8. #8
    Registered Member Jack L's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    Quote Originally Posted by undel View Post
    I'm eagerly awaiting my first discus order to arrive. I've kept a planted community aquarium for several years, but this is my first experience with discus. I have been reading and it seems like my direct-from-tap + prime method of adding water will not be ideal for the many many water changes I have to look forward to, and will stress the fish.

    There's no room under my display tank where I will be housing the discus to hold 75 gallons of water (it's a 150 gallon tank) for a 50% water change. However, there's plenty of room in my laundry room for a trash can or two. (I will still add prime + heat the water before adding it)

    I'm a hobbiest and only have experience with cannister filters. My question is related to pumps. Does horizontal distance matter when pumping water? The aquarium's height is 4.5' from the ground. However, the horizontal distance to travel from my laundry room to the living room where the tank lives is 40'. It's my understanding that I only have to really worry about the height. Is this correct? If I had a long enough tube and a pump that can pump up to 6.6' high, would that be enough to cover the distance so I'm not carrying buckets all the time?
    yes.
    i did testing when setting up mine. in my testing the length of hose mattered greatly. more than head pressure it seemed.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    notes:
    did some testing with this unit using a garden hose. the biggest impact on output is length of hose.
    10' 5/8" hose it shoots out like a spigot powered hose, the stream of water goes about 10 feet.
    50’ 5/8” hose it comes out about a foot
    75’ foot even less
    Verticle rise on the end of hose not as much as impact. So if you want more output, don’t rely just on a 5/8” garden hose.
    That said.
    It will empty a 55 gallon bucked in a about 20 minutes with about 15’ foot of rise using a 5/8” hose.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Pumping Aged Water Across the House - Pump Question

    Quote Originally Posted by jim LI View Post
    A suggestion. don't add prime to the aging barrel. dose the tank before you do your water change. some here have experienced a slime build up in their aging barrels adding prime to the barrel.
    I add prime to my aging barrel then an air stone and heater. Never had a problem with slime.

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