Water Changes with pumps

[Carol_Roberts]

We get lots of questions on storing water and refilling tanks with water pumps and hoses. Here's some pictures of my water change tonight.

The first picture is of my water barrels in the master bathroom with hoses going to four tanks (yes I have 4 pumps in the two barrels - saves time)

[Carol_Roberts]

Here is a look inside the barrel. You can see pumps, hoses and a heater

[Carol_Roberts]

Do you see the python hoses wedged inside the Aqua Clear Filters? Both these tanks are filling at the same time.

[Carol_Roberts]

I'm really glad we have two sinks in the master bathroom. I can fill both barrels at the same time ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

I agitate the new tap water for 3 hours by draping the end of the fill hose in the barrel. the water cascade into the tank like a waterfall. The harder the agitation the quicker the pH stabilizes.

[Howie_W]

Do you see the python hoses wedged inside the Aqua Clear Filters? Both these tanks are filling at the same time.


So it's true what they say...

Carol Roberts sleeps with the fishes! :o


Howie

[Carol_Roberts]

There's two tanks on the other wall too ;)

I love the sound of aqua clears in the evening . . .

[discuscraze]

Wow. Thanks for the pics.

What kind of pumps are you using? What is the best pump (and the cheapest) for pumping from 30g bucket to a tank at 3feet height?

[babyjess210]

Carol
On the hose that is attached to the pump, I am getting a white film inside the hose and I see some parts turning black. I also see your hose having the same thing is this a problem for the Discus, should I try clean or just leave it alone?????

Thank for all the pic and info it helps me out quite a bit :) :)

[Carol_Roberts]

I just use pond pumps from Walmart (medium or large). There may be better ones out there.

Smaller, cheaper pumps take longer to fill the tank as they pump at a slower rate. You want a balance. You don't want to blast water into the tank, but you don't want to have to watch the tank for an hour while it fills.

I use hoses to fill only and hoses to drain only. Yes, they will eventually turn black inside, but this does not hurt the discus

[BobB]

So the fish get to use the Masterbath Room to! Very Interesting!

[kelseygirl]

Wow! Thanks for sharing Carol! A picture says a thousand words. (Now if I can just convince my hubby that we need a discus tank in every room of the house. ;)

[kaceyo]

Discuscraze, I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 200gph @ 0 head. I used one on my 20gal tank and it worked well. As Carol said, you may want one a little bigger for a 30 gal so your not waiting too long for refills. Kaceyo

[smsc]

Hi Carol,

When you fill the water (from tap) to the barrels, do you use cold water or warm water?

Nice setup Carol!!!

Khai

[kaceyo]

Khai, I use cold because warm MAY have copper or sediment or who knows what from the hotwater tank. I have used warm without problems when unavoidable but be sure to add AmQuel or another chlorine/chloramine remover if one of these are added to your tap water. Kaceyo

[Carol_Roberts]

I turn the hot and cold taps on full blast to fill the barrels as fast as possible ;D This gives me more time to answer questions here on Simply ;)

[Ardan]

Hi Carol,
Me again :D
It would be great if you could repost the pics here.

Thanks

[mattrox]

I have a slight variation on that. The fine spray attachment on the hose is all the off-gasing required. The temp out of the tap is the same as in the tank. And the KH is 1 - 2 deg. and the GH around 3-4 deg.

[walk23]

I recently set up a water changing routine, in part on how your setup looks. I only have the one Python-50' use to change out water in both a 29 g and a 75 g. Doing about 33%. I have A 35 gal. barrel with a submersable pump and a 250 watt Titanium heater.
What would be a reasonable time for water to heat from about 65 F to 85 F or so? What length of time do yours take? I am using air stones to agitate my water, the pH rises from 7.2 and stabilizes at about 7.8 in 3 to 4 hrs but the temp. is the limiting factor. Of course this heater may improve, it is my first time with this brand Via Aqua.
Thanks
Kevin :angel:

[Carol_Roberts]

I refill my tanks with warm water to begin with. It takes 3 hours to stabilize my pH and the water is ready to go.

[walk23]

Wow that was quick.
Thanks