How I do water changes on my 4ft.

[BlueTurquoise]

Hello all!

I am now going to put my set up on the air to show you all how I do my water changes. (I also just borrowed a friend's digicam and went alittle nuts with pictures LOL).

I have 3 juvs in a 4 ft tank (~50 Gal) that I purchased second hand, stand, lights and came with a old eheim (gathering dust in the garage) all for AU$250, ok deal...

Prior to my current set up i did the bucket bregade thing. Do you know how back breaking it is to change 30% water everyday using buckets? esp when you have to climb a step ladder to lift the bucket over the tank so you can siphon the water back in? Oh man, i quickly had to find something better. It took over 30 mins of work to do alittle more than 30% (around 80L).

I went out a purchased a pump, some hoses, some garden fittings and a few other dodats and this is what I do now, takes me around 10 mins to change water, suck out poo, rinse prefilters and every so often wipe insides of the tank.

Here is me and my tank:

PS I am in my daggy water change gear!

[BlueTurquoise]

I live in a 2 bedroom appartment and boy is it tight for space! I store my water overnight, use water ager to treat my tap for chloromines, heat it and airate it overnight. I have a space that is roughly 40cm wide so I searched far and wide for something that fits exactly the space i was looking for, and held the capacity of roughly 80L. I found a bin at bunnings (hardware store) for about AU$30.

The cables and hoses in and out are:

1) Heater (old style 100W ebo jager, I busted my tronic 150W after a near death experience that I reported about 2 weeks ago :P :-\ ;D, just don't run them dry!)
2) power cord of the sump pump (I baught a AU$80 3200LPH Heto brand sump pump. I should have gotten a pondmaster in hindsight. Anyway it changed 80L in about 2 mins hehe)
3) Hose coming out (detacheable so I can roll it up and put it away. It is a 19mm (I think) 7m hose)
4) hose coming in (straight from my cold water tap)
5) Airline with airstone connected to a noisy Otto pump (Does the job ok!)

Also one important note is the fact that I have wood planks under the storage container becuase the laundry is tiled. I have been advised to do this cuase the floor would act like one huge heat sink and drain the heat from the tank. So far so good.

[BlueTurquoise]

This is my tap configuration. Like I said I don't have many options for tap availability etc. It's a tight laundry that I keep all this stuff in. And if it wasn't nice and simple, my wife (and more likely I!) would probably flood the floor.

The other end runs to the washing machine. I turn tap on, flip the little tap lever on the 2way unit and it starts to fill my storage container.

I am working on installing a float valve and an IV unit to add water conditioner automatically. But for now it's pretty good, no flooded floors yet (touch wood).

[BlueTurquoise]

Water going out. I attach a python or a gravel vacuuming thingy to the end of a 20m garden hose which goes out my blacony, down 3-4 metres to a garden underneath it. I unroll and roll this up everytime and run it to the tank. I then connect the python to the end of it (using common hose connections) after I start the siphon going with Ye Olde Suck method.

I am working on a permanent siphon with a ball valve but alass this works for me...

[BlueTurquoise]

Water coming in. I run the hose from my storage container's pump to my tank and use the tank hood to hold the hose down. Note I point the end downwards so it doesn't create a wirlpool in my tank. That said I think my discus like to surf sometimes...

Anyway I flip the power switch and away she blows, i mean goes. Like i said this takes about 2 mins.

[BlueTurquoise]

So questions? comments? suggestions? criticisms? I thought maybe someone could benefit from this and maybe (make that definately) I would learn a thing or two also.

Cmon you know who you are, you have HEAPS more elaborate setup than my simple dimple back yard job. Show us all what you spend a few mins/hours a day doing... we never really talk about it much besides the common knowledge that we ALL do it!

Cheers!
Chong :thumbsup:

[shootingstar]

Chong,

That is how I set up my too......I have a 55 gal water storage barrel in the basement with 1 air pump and 1 300w-stainless steel heater to keep the water at ~85 or 86 degree......I have 2 tanks to do water change, 125 gal tank on the 1st flr and 55 gal tank in the basement....I do my water change for big tank today and the small tank next day....

[Anna Piranha]

I have complicated my job by having plants (plastic), gravel, and two ornaments. Well, the one "ornament" is really the Black Ghost Knife's house. He lives in a plastic tree stump. Also, I have two corys and three Penguin Tetras. It takes me a while to vacuum the gravel and put things back to the way they were before the change. Of course, while I'm in there, I can't help but notice this and that could use some cleaning.

I also start my syphon with the old suck method. I put the gravel vacuum end of the Python in the tank and run outside to start the syphon. One time my little fish caused me a problem. A cory decided to play in the current of the gravel vacuum before I got back inside the house. He got sucked up into the hose and went for a ride right out the window. Usually I prop the end of the hose on a bush so the garden gets the benefit of the water. This time I was lazy and just let it hang out the window. I ran screaming through the house, “Oh no! Mr. McGoo got sucked away!” People have not looked at me the same way since! Luckily, a puddle had formed on the walkway below the window and Mr. McGoo was a little stunned, but fine nonetheless. He still lives today. The Discus, of course, thought the whole event was all very undignified.

Now, I put a piece of nylon netting secured by a rubber band over the end of the gravel vacuum. This way I can run outside to start the syphon and never worry about losing my little guys.

This was a long-winded way of saying that from beginning to end it takes me about one half to a full hour to do a 30% water change.

[BlueTurquoise]

Hi Anna,

one question, if you use the nylon netting, how fine is the netting? can you still suck up gunk and left over food?

Chong

[fossil]

well.......



I like it :thumbsup:

[Anna Piranha]

The netting I use is too fine to allow much of anything through. I just use it so that i'm sure no fish get into the tube while I'm running from the outside of the house back to the tank. I believe there are probably nettings that are not as fine, but would do the same job. Fishnet stockings, for example would probably work. Also, fabric stores generally have various netting sizes.

By the way Chong - thanks for showing your set up. I like the efficiency. As time goes by I hope my system will become more efficient.

Anna :wave:

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: :bounce2: Hi all, well my poor fish have survived my incapacitation (double knee replacement) & I'm even beginning to move well enough to return to twice a week w/c. Didn't have enough stamina to do more than once/week since I came home from rehab. Normally, just a w/c is not too difficult. My 90g sits on the south wall of the living room, the 125 at a right angle on the west side with a window in between. Two 32g RMs inbetween. Siphon out the window while vaccuuming, refill with submersible mag pump & it doesn't take too long. The hardest part right now is cleaning tank walls & filters cuz I can't stand on a ladder to reach, but it's improving. Would like to be able to w/c 3X/week, but have to also make enough r/o water for both tanks. lol, Dottie ;D ;D p.s. thank goodness for son-in-laws, he has helped with w/c while I was hospitalized, & is coming in to help me with the Lifeguard filter change, & he's not a fish-lover!

[Karen]

I'm also in a 2 bedroom unit. At the moment I do my w/cs by the bucket. It takes a while but am gettting myself in a routine. Home from work, feed fishy's, one hour later w/c. Takes me between 1/2-1 hour.

I was glad to see your water container because I'm going out to get a bin today and I was thinking horrible black plastic. My laundry and bathroom are combined and that is where it is going to go. The kitchen bin might not look so ugly. Also thanks for the bit about the wood on the bottom as the water container will also be on tiles and I wouldn't have thought about the heat drain.

Karen

[BlueTurquoise]

Karen,

Glad I could help! The bin also comes in black but i like the blue! :) They have all sorts of different sizes. If storage space was not an issue I would probably get one of those flat ones, like a storage box with a lid that lies sideways rather than upright. Some of them can hold larger capacity than the upright type.

If it wasn't a problem I would get a large drum like a rubbermaid. They sell those here and there and they are huge capacity...

Some discount chains like Ronnie's in Burwood sell these sort of things for cheap. BIGW in Chullora also has all sorts of shapes and sizes. My problem was the space and how much storage I needed. Basically I needed 80L from a 40cm space.

Bring your tape measure with you! Good luck!
Chong

Chong... Nice setup. :thumbsup:
I can tell it was well thought out and is working well for you. Life was Grand after graduation from buckets to pumps/hoses for me too.

A new configuration is finally complete tho. I dreamed of a life without hoses.... All tanks are now tied to a permanent 3/4" ID PVC system. Actually 2 systems... One for draining (with a vacuum line tied into it) and one for filling. Each tank has separate shutoffs. There are 2 separate pumps to get the water to and from the tanks. The drain/vac have been in use now for 2 weeks and is working out quite nicely. I basically pump all waste water to a holding tank for my orchids, and then to a (not quite operational) sprinkler system. The fill line was just tested yesterday and has made my life that much easier. My next step will be to provide two 3 way switches for both pumps. One will be located in the Fish Parlor, and the other in the Fish room right below.

Great Job... and Nice thread....!

Julz :)

[Discus Don]

Nice posting, Chong! Thanks for sharing..... I just picked up 3 50gal plastic barrels yesterday for water storage (they came with soy sauce in them, so I have to clean them out first - anything to be concerned about here?), but will then be working on getting them set up for aging/heating the water. I have a total of 370 gallons in 11 tanks, and any way I can reduce the amount of time it takes to change water, I'll do it!

Chong/Anna, I don't know if all Pythons are created equal, but if you have the little shut-off valve on yours, here's a much easier way to start your siphon without using Ye Olde Sucke method and having to race back to the tank to save adventurous corys from taking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. :o

Shut off the valve on the Python, dip the gravel vacuum into the tank and fill it. Lift it up and let all the water in it drain down to the valve and let all the air bubble up and out. Repeat this (usually one more time) to completely fill the vacuum. Then simply put the vacuum in the tank, make sure the valve is somewhat lower than the tank, and open the valve. Viola - instant siphon, no sucking, no running. 8) Cool, huh?

Another question for anyone out there with multiple tanks - and especially with multiple types of fish. How do you go about cleaning/sterilizing your python between tanks? I raise angels, corys, and discus, and don't want to share things between them. Obviously, I could use multiple pythons, but that's sort of a hassle. Would you recommend a hot-water dip of the python, or maybe a bleach-water dip? I've tried both, and both are somewhat of a hassle, but worth not having to change hoses between tanks.

Regards,
-Don

Don...

I know you don't want the hassle of different hoses but, have you thought of using 2 hoses. One for fill and one for drain. With the drain all I did was purchase individual vac ends to keep the tanks isolated as much as possible. Worked for me...

Julz :)

[BlueTurquoise]

I agree Don, Individual Vac ends is what I would do. Perhaps you could use some sort of method simmilar to mine (regular garden hose snap loc joints and fitttings). All you will need then is one main hose that goes to the drain or garden and several indivisual vacuum ends, each with 4-5 ft of hose line and just disconnect and reconnect to a new tank.

Hot water may work but there are still risks involved, esp since the vac is in driect contact with fish feces... for instance I am not sure if hot water kills tape worm eggs or whatever. The best sure fire way is individual vacs and hoses for each tank although this amy be costly to start off with...

Welcome to Simply by the way Don!

Chong :thumbsup:

[BlueTurquoise]

By the way Don, I tried your method of starting the syphon and it works!!! :o OMG no more Ye Olde Sucke method! LMAO

Thanks mate!!!

Chong