Water Change help needed!

[BlueTurquoise]

Please do! pics are always welcome!!! Thanks for the info! I am always looking to improve my efficiency!

At the moment I have a garden hose system set up. A garden hose runs from fish tank to balcony to garden 1 floor below (no one lives under me). I use a system of regular garden hose joints simmilar to these things:



I just connect the garden hose with one of these connectors, have one fo these other 2 way thingies in between:



and the end of the python hose has another one of these things:



Then all i need to do is start the siphon by yee olde mouth method and connect the two together and Bob's Your Uncle. To get water back in I have a 20 Gal water container with a mag drive sump pump sitting in there full time. All I need to do is run a 8 metre hose from the pump (which runs on a similar system above) and turn the pump on.

Water change has been cut from 1 hour bucket bregafe to 10 mins! it is a beauty!

Chong

[NTORIUSB]

Hay, you got almost everything you need right there!!! All you need is this thing:



The piece on the left..... It cost me $4.99 for everything you see in the kit..

You attatch it to the faucet and turn it on with it turned to drain and it'll suck a good vacuum, then turn the water off and it'll still pull water from your aquarium.. Then when you want to fill your tank, turn the bottom to fill and it'll pump all the water to your tank!!!

Easy!!!

[BlueTurquoise]

Looks very cool!!! what's it called? brand name? where did you buy it???

Interest level: 11 out of 10

Chong

[NTORIUSB]

I bought it at the local hardware store... Ace or Best, I forget which franchise?? Locally it's called Willow Hardware. It's been in my home town since god know's when, probably the 30's....

[Aquatic_Design]

Chong,
You can get them in any department store. (WalMart, KMart,etc). Go to the area that has water bed supplies.
HTH
Donna

[NTORIUSB]

Exactly.... Very common..


Did you get one yet????

[BlueTurquoise]

I haven't had much time to go and look for it yet, but I am pretty sure it's not at a department store like Kmart (US department stores are very different from Australian department stores, yours are about 10 times bigger). Anyway I have a fair idea where to get it.

Thanks for the info!

Chong

[NTORIUSB]

You can order it online... Just do a search for waterbed drain fill kit. That's hoe I found that picture...




Godd Luck!!!!
B

[goldengatediscus]

I need some help here please. Okay, I bought the waterbed drainer filler thing. Is there some kind of connector that I can use, so that the waste water doesn't go down the drain. I want to connect it to a hose, so that I can use this waste water to water my lawn and garden, instead of sending it down the drain.
Thanks,
Brigitte

[NTORIUSB]

Never even considered it.... Especially now with 12+" of snow on the ground!!!! Here in Ohio we don't have a water shortage, so water is cheap...

I guess you could put the water in to some kind of drum or bucket and then use a pump to water your lawn???

Good luck!!!
Brian

[BlueTurquoise]

Do you live on the ground floor? I live upstairs and I drain out the balcony onto the garden using a standard garden hose.

The fitting looks like standard 3/4 inch fitting. If not you could try to get a hose to fit on the end and use a hose clamp of some sort. Somethign like this:



Bring it to your local hardware store or walmart garden department and ask someone for advice. Sorry I don't have one of those yet to be able to help you out...

Chong

[DRRACING]

Mine came with an adapter to connect the drain or fill side to a garden hose so I can either connect the fill side to an outside sipggot or connect the fill side to the faucet inside and connect a garden hose to the drain side to drain it to the outside....