Best Way to Change Water

[FarRock]

Hi, I am doing a 90% water change on a 30 gallon tank every night. The buckets were killing me so I upped my game:

1) For outflow I am using a siphon and a 50' hose straight into my toilet (my bathroom is 50' away)
2) For clean water I am using an Eco 396 pump - filling up a garbage pail in the shower, adding API to it, regulating the temp, and pumping it back to my tank with the 50' hose.

My issues/questions:
1) The siphon power is extremely weak, I don't think they were meant for 50'. Most of the junk stays in the tank. Do you guys have any suggestions how to combat this? I would use my pump but I'm concerned the junk would clog it up.
2) Can I just dump some API Stress straight into my tank and then just shoot the water from my faucet straight into the tank? Would save me tons of time.


Cheers,

FarRock

[dragon1974]

This is what I do, I use a python hose with a faucet connection which pulls out all the junk at the bottom. Then I put a pump in to take the water level down (saving on the water bill due to the faucet python). Then I pump the water back from my aging barrels. I do this on 3 75 gals the distance between is around 20' apart and it takes me roughly 1 hour every time I WC.

[FarRock]

This is what I do, I use a python hose with a faucet connection which pulls out all the junk at the bottom. Then I put a pump in to take the water level down (saving on the water bill due to the faucet python). Then I pump the water back from my aging barrels. I do this on 3 75 gals the distance between is around 20' apart and it takes me roughly 1 hour every time I WC.

What do you mean by faucet connection? Do you use the python siphon?

[dragon1974]

Yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldf4nToXoZg

[FarRock]

Yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldf4nToXoZg

Cool!

1. When do you make the water safe? After it is already in the tank?

2. I already have a 50' hose. Which pieces do I need to buy on Amazon to complete the kit? The faucet adapter and what else?

[rickztahone]

You can use Prime/Safe before you add your new water. Simply dose for the entire water volume of the tank, rather than simply what you are putting back in to the tank.

If you go to Jehmco.com, they have some great solutions for water changes as well.

The way I do it is easy, I have a bulkhead at the back of my tank. That drains the tank to roughly 75% of the tank and it goes straight to my front yard by way of PVC. I have a strage barrel next to the tank (55g) and I pump the water with a submerisble pump back in to the tank. I timed myself last time and I can do that in roughly 15minutes. If I siphon tank floor, add 5 minutes to the equation.

[FarRock]

You can use Prime/Safe before you add your new water. Simply dose for the entire water volume of the tank, rather than simply what you are putting back in to the tank.

If you go to Jehmco.com, they have some great solutions for water changes as well.

The way I do it is easy, I have a bulkhead at the back of my tank. That drains the tank to roughly 75% of the tank and it goes straight to my front yard by way of PVC. I have a strage barrel next to the tank (55g) and I pump the water with a submerisble pump back in to the tank. I timed myself last time and I can do that in roughly 15minutes. If I siphon tank floor, add 5 minutes to the equation.

I'm jelly. Takes me an hour.

Thanks for the link!

EDIT: I'm an idiot...just thought of a much better way then I have been doing. Why not just fill my bathtub and make sure the temp is right and then use the water pump. Wow that's easy.

[Lighthouse7]

Isn't there danger of soap residue? I use aquarium siphon the end goes into hose it goes out my front door slopes downward into lawn. Then i connect another hose to shower head w special attachment i bought at lowes kinda looks like pytho attachment, i fill tank back up with that testing water temp first, pour prime first directly into tank. And wala....! - Lighthouse

[FarRock]

Isn't there danger of soap residue?

Is this really a concern? This is the first I've heard of it.

[rickztahone]

I'm jelly. Takes me an hour.

Thanks for the link!

EDIT: I'm an idiot...just thought of a much better way then I have been doing. Why not just fill my bathtub and make sure the temp is right and then use the water pump. Wow that's easy.

my only concern would be detergents/shampoos and any other chemicals getting in to your tank water. I'd actually avoid this. Get an aging barrel from your local Craiglist. I bought my 55g for $10

[dragon1974]

Cool!

1. When do you make the water safe? After it is already in the tank?

2. I already have a 50' hose. Which pieces do I need to buy on Amazon to complete the kit? The faucet adapter and what else?

Age my water in 2 55 gal barrels for 24 hours using Prime/Safe then pump that into the tank

[FarRock]

Age my water in 2 55 gal barrels for 24 hours using Prime/Safe then pump that into the tank

Why wait 24 hours and not do it right away?

[dragon1974]

Why wait 24 hours and not do it right away?

I usually try to match the temp of the water. I also have my house on a water softener to combat the liquid rock I have coming into my house and the line I have for the fish is a cold water line and it's freezing cold so I just age for 24 hrs and it gives me a buffer when changing water etc. You should do some searches on the site and you'll pickup so cool info.

[rickztahone]

Why wait 24 hours and not do it right away?

One of the main reasons people age water is due to pH fluctuation, or too much oxygen in the water. You know your water is heavily oxygenated when you see a bunch of micro bubbles all over your tank after a water change. Aging removes these bubbles completely, and makes the water that much safer.

[bwssr]

90% a day. I wonder how the big breeders do it? That's allot of work. I have seen some videos of discus in the wild and the water does not look all that clean but I suppose since it is raining just about every day they are getting fresh water all the time. One thing I always tell people when they see discus in pet shops is that it is more work to keep them healthy and growing than most other fish and that they also need higher temps. Something the store owner should be telling them.

[MadMatt]

90% a day. I wonder how the big breeders do it? That's allot of work. I have seen some videos of discus in the wild and the water does not look all that clean but I suppose since it is raining just about every day they are getting fresh water all the time. One thing I always tell people when they see discus in pet shops is that it is more work to keep them healthy and growing than most other fish and that they also need higher temps. Something the store owner should be telling them.

This is how I do mine, (or one of the ways). I have a pond power head mounted to a hose, this hose goes to floor drain, my other hose is the fresh water, it's filtered already so no need for dechlorination.
Pond powered head is mounted to its at the top of the water level, this sucks the water out and to the drain, as my inlet pumps water in as the water raises it hits the level of the out pump and out goes the water.
I have done many tests with it and it changes 100% of the water in 15mins (give or take but it's close - 45g long).
I'm going to rig up another one that going to be on my grow out tank permanently, I plan on changing the water over twice a day in that 40g long grow out, we will see out it works.
Here is a picture of my 45g long I changed about 20mins ago, I changes 100%.
89586
Takes me about 15 mins and I change over almost 100% of my 45g long breeder tank.

[Jason.M]

I do a water in with one hose and water out with another. I do a complete vac of my sand first which drops the water level in my 125 about 4 inches. Then I hook it up to the tap and start refilling. I have another hose that I stick in the tank and start draining. The fill rate and drain rate are the same, so I just leave it for 15-20 mins. I put around 150 gallons through the tank, which from testing seems to be the same as an 80% or so conventional water change. The tank still has the wild caught Bahia red tailed Oscar in it, getting ready to make the switch to discus soon. Hopefully this method will work with them too. I'm on well water with TDS of around 150 and no micro bubbles present after water changes.

[strawberryblonde]

Hiyas, a 90% water change on a 30 gallon tank should take less than 15 minutes. The reason you seem to have no siphon power isn't because of the length of the tubing, it's because of a lack of vertical drop between the tank and the tub. The bigger the drop, the better the suction. As an example, when I run my 50ft hose out to my garden from my 120g tank it takes 35 minutes to drain 90% of the water. When I leave the python attached to my laundry room sink it takes 1 1/2 hours to drain the same amount. Same hose, same everything, only the drop height has changed.

Do you have a sink that's close enough to your tank to start a siphon with a python hose? And do you have a way to drop the hose out a door or window? If you do, you're in business! Just buy the whole python kit and make sure you buy one with long enough tubing to reach to your sink and also to reach outdoors.

Start the siphon at the faucet, then quickly vacuum the bottom of the tank. Once that's done, disconnect the tubing from the python faucet attachment and run it out a window or door. The whole draining process will only take about 10 minutes.

Once that's done, bring the hose back inside and attach it back to your faucet. With the python valve in the open position, turn on your hot and cold taps and then adjust the water temp till it matches the temp in your tank (1 or 2 degrees in either direction is ok - so don't sweat it, just get close to the same temp) then put your Prime or Safe into the tank, add the end of the python hose and turn the python valve at the tap to the closed position. Voila, the tank will fill in about 5 minutes. And you're done!

For my python hose I bought a quick connect for my faucet so that I can remove the whole python faucet attachment easily and reconnect it easily - cuz it's my laundry room sink and I need to use it for other stuff now and then. =)

If you don't want to run the hose outside, which you might not since it's a fairly small tank, you can just leave it attached to the sink and let it drain - with or without the tap turned on - turning it off saves water! The draining process will take twice as long as out a door or window, but for a 30 gallon that's still only about 20 minutes.

[bwssr]

When I had over 100 tanks and was raising angels back in the 80s I used about a dozen meridian water changers. I worked really good but the overhead was killing me. I was selling about 2000 angels a month to mostly shops and one wholesaler. The only angel I did not have was wild altums. Right now I have no tanks set up as I lost my home and the place I have now is not big enough. I have a 20 gal set up with 3 goldfish that are my wife's. I had to sell all my other fish before we moved. I had some discus but they had to go too.

[pitdogg2]

90% a day. I wonder how the big breeders do it? That's allot of work. I have seen some videos of discus in the wild and the water does not look all that clean but I suppose since it is raining just about every day they are getting fresh water all the time.

But you forget this is an open system there is 100's of thousands of gallons of water going by per hour, So they are not spending 24hr a day in the SAME water just a few micro seconds.




One thing I always tell people when they see discus in pet shops is that it is more work to keep them healthy and growing than most other fish and that they also need higher temps. Something the store owner should be telling them.

The more that die the more the store owner sells plain and simple, I have heard some real winners of stories told by some very unscrupulous pet store owners.....I will not do any business with those as the sooner they are out of business the better for most of us. Take a look at this example A local pet store sell big birds Parrots, Macaws and such. He hatches everyone of them cares for everyone of them and IF you want to buy you must keep your bird there for 1 year and spend time everyday with it there. If you do not then the bird will not be sold to you. In the beginning i thought that was crap but then in talking to him I totally understood. For one most will not spend an entire year there BUT it gives him a chance to teach PROPER habits with the bird and he can see just how you take care of the bird. If your missing days of feeding and watering then that is most likely how you will treat said bird once in 100% of your care. His rate of failure is very low with those that take the time but only about 40% of all those who "wish" they had a bird just like that end up with a bird at all and of those birds they has not been very many that needed to be re-homed. There is nothing like a VERY nasty BIG bird who would like nothing better than to snip off one of your fingers or eyes.