Drain Tank Water with Pump?

[CammieTime]

Does anyone simply use an electric aquarium pump to empty their tanks, instead of a slow putzy syphon? My drain is far away from my tank and syphoning water via Python takes FOREVER. To overcome this I've instead used a 5' 3/4 inch tube syphon to rapidly fill 5 gallon buckets. Problem is I am goofing around with buckets and that was one thing I was trying to avoid.

I have a 3/4" vinyl tube 50' long with a pump at one end that I use to pump water from my aging barrel to the tank. I was thinking of simply reversing this setup and putting the pump directly in the discus tank and putting the other end of the tubing into the drain. Any issues with this approach?

[Phillydubs]

What type of pump? The only issue I see is if it is too powerful and you catch a fish or something, that is always my fear... also if you have a substrate it could get caught and mess up the pump. If not I see no issues.

I am doing the same thing myself and havent touched a bucket in over a month and its pure heaven. I use a small pump but mine has an input and out put area, so a hose on each end, one out the window the other in the tank to suck water and debris...

Does your current pump have an input end where you can attach a hose or is it like a pond pump type?

[Keith Perkins]

None at all. I use to have a 72 gallon tank in a remote area of my fishroom that I kept a pump in all the time to drain it. It was a MagDrive pump so it came with an inlet screen and prefilter sponge and it worked very well.

[atlantadiscus]

Cammie,that is exactly how I do it.Fast,easy,no mess.

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Absolutely use a pump for my 180gal water changes. Currently use a 950gph pump but thinking about getting a stronger one.

[rickztahone]

No pump now but before then I always used a pump to start a siphon. A quick tip, make some slots on the ends of your hoses. If, for whatever reason you get a discus with the hose while draining, it will not damage the discus. It will not create a full seal

[Ryan]

I have been using a mag drive pump for years to do water changes. They're designed to be submerged in sumps and ponds, so I keep one permanently connected to 30' of hose and I just drop the pump directly into the tank and run the hose to the tub. To refill, you can then drop the pump into your storage/aging barrel, or if you refill from the tap like me, you can get the temps right, put a bucket under the running tap, drop the pump in the bucket, and go straight from tub to tank.

I have three 150s, a 210, four 55s, two 75s, two 40 breeders, and several 20 gallons -- a siphon would be a nightmare. Most of the submersible pumps come with a sponge prefilter or plastic strainer over the intake to prevent fish from getting sucked up, just don't get an extremely powerful one. My small pump is maybe 700 gph, and I think I'm using a 1050 gph for my larger jobs. Of course the head height, narrower hose (I reduce mine from 1" to 3/4" or so), and distance from bathroom to fish room slows that down a bit.

[Fish Tank Travis]

This is how I do my water changes. I keep my aging barrel in the closet of the room my tanks are in. I use a 700ish gph pump to pump the water right out the window and then use the same pump to pump water from the barrel back into the tanks. I then use a hose from the outside hose faucet through the front door and the hallway to refill the barrel.

I am planning on splitting off my washing machine cold water hookup and then running a garden hose through the ceiling to the closet my water change barrel is in. Then I won't have to coil up the hose every time.

Also, I keep a 300W heater and a 200gph powerhead running in my aging barrel. It can heat the water from 59 degrees to 80.5 degrees in less than 12 hours.