Draining and filling tank using the same hose.

[markwill]

I haven't posted here for a while but one aspect of my water change regime is bugging me so I thought I'd call on the creative types on this forum for help :-)

I have a reasonable nice little set up for water changes, at least for getting new water INTO the tank. I have a long (75' or so) hose feeds from a 36 gallon container in the garage. This has a small pump at the bottom. So, my aged / primed water is easy to get to the tank - just pull the hose through the house, insert into tank and flip the switch on the pump. When I am done I retrieve the hose (I have one of those "hose tidy" things so just spin onto it's roller - about 15 seconds work) then refill the container from a tap that I have in the laundry room (which is immediately adjacent to the garage).

Easy... It's the bit before all this that that is the frustrating bit...

I have more simplistic approach here. I grab a 20 gallon bucket from the garage and initiate a (gravity-based) suction into that bucket. I then drag the bucket to my rest room - it's heavy!!!. I do this three times. This is the bit I'd like to remove!!! Here I am with a nice big hose from my garage to the tank. But I'm dragging heavy buckets of water to my rest room. Silly...

So, my question is how do I turn this hose, effectively, into a double-dury hose (sucking AND pushing). The pump I have in the water container obviously pumps to the tank. But I need something (another pump) to suck the water from the tank initially. I also need some sort of plumbing that will initially suck the water from the tank into the sink in the laundry room (the closest "exit point" for the water drained from the tank) and then switched to ensure that the pump in the water container takes over.

Any thoughts on how I can achieve this? The heavy lifting when I drain water is the primary reason I end up saying "Oh, I'll do the water change tomorrow..." :-)

Thanks.

Mark

[nolefan]

Buy a python makes it easy to drain tanks Best 30 dollars I ever spent.

[star rider]

I was thinking the same thing..but I might try to comme up with an idea where the dirty water goes out to the lawn.


I am figuring out a way to extend the siphon vac..I may just wind up getting a long piece of the clear hose that fits the siphon and shoving the loose end into a soaker hose or just letting it run out into the yard..the other option is to get a large garbage can (set up as a holding tank) and siphon the water into it..my advantage is my yard is well below the room my tank is in..

I figure why waste the water..why not use it to fertilize and water...LOL

[RobMc]

Temporarily move the pump into the tank! I pump directly onto my strawberry patch!

Rob

[markwill]

Buy a python makes it easy to drain tanks Best 30 dollars I ever spent.
I do have one of those but...

Perhaps this is the perfectionist in me but the idea of blasting water from the tap (to create the suction) seems pretty wasteful to me, especially if I want to do water changes on a very regular basis. Since the "full blast" tap would use a ton more water than that it actually sucks from the tank (which would drain at a slower rate), I think I'd be more than doubling the amount of water I use for each water change. As a minor issue, it's pretty noisy when the tap is turned all the way up. I also want to drain the water to a location (the sink) that is some way from the tank and found that the Python has limited suction power.

My basic need is pretty simple here - suck water from the tank using the hose that I have already extended. I also want "flick a switch" simplicity, which speaks to some sort of plumbing to divert from draining to pumping.

So, for my particular needs, Python isn't the best solution. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mark

[markwill]

Temporarily move the pump into the tank! I pump directly onto my strawberry patch!

RobThanks Rob. However, the idea of unplugging the plug from the water container, connecting it correctly to the tank end, pumping from the tank and then reconnecting to the water container end seems a reasonable amount of work. The other option, of course, is to buy another pump for the tank end however I'd prefer to do all the "messing around" with stuff in the garage (all I really want to do at the tank end is place the end of the hose in since it's in a living room setting and the fewer things I need to do there the less chance of silly mistakes :-)).

Thanks.

Mark

[Alight]

One good thing about the siphon principle is that it doesn't matter how far you have to move the water, only how far down. The place you move the water to has to be lower than your tank.

The laundry sink is a problem, but your lawn, outside is not. Neither is a floor drain, or a drain in your garage if it is lower than your tank. A bathtub works just fine,too.

So, If you have any of the above within 75 feet, you can get the water out of your tank quickly without using a python tap unit.

Or you can buy a longer hose and put the water anywhere you want.

I use bathtubs in the winter, and put it on my lawn, trees and in a storage container for watering our outside potted plants in the summer.

I use a 100 foot garden hose. I put a sponge filter over the end after I vacuum with it to keep from sucking up plants and small fish when I'm not watching.

To start the siphon action, I pinch off the hose about 3 feet from the end, hold a length of hose upright under the tank surface to get some water in, then pick it up to let the water go down to where I have the hose pinched off. I do this three times, then the last time, I do this, and let go of the pinched hose (keep this below the water level, outside the tank) and the siphon starts.

My 55 g tank drains out 60% in about 5-10 minutes. No water carrying necessary.

[Mr_Quality]

If you plumb a "Y" fitting with a switching valve, you can run your pump to the tank for just long enough to fill the one hose with water and prime the siphon. Then switch the valve to then allow the same one hose to reverse the flow and siphon the water from the tank to your tub, shower stall, driveway or garden.

Mike

[Carol_Roberts]

I throw one end of a long python hose out the back door. I put the end with the gravel cleaner in the tank, fill with water, lift until the water begins draining out the hose and put back in tank. Gravity does the rest. :)

[wolfbane]

Gravity siphon and a long hose to the flower beds is what I use. Saves me $ on Miracle-Gro plant food too! :D

[markwill]

Thanks all. My focus is on effectively re-using a hose that I am already needing to drag to my tank (to fill it). I essentially want do just use it in reverse (drain first then fill). I also want to avoid any need to go outside in the midst of winter :-) And I don't want hose just lying around to the lawn ready for the next water change, which is ugly on the eye.

That hose I drag just plays with my mind - it knows darn well it's quite capable of carrying water the other way too!!! :-) But I don't know what plumbing and pump I'd need, which is really the focus of my question. I am comfortable spending, say, $100 or so to come up with a nice solution to this and avoiding the need to dump water outside (again, I have a sink just sat there for that :-)).

Thanks.

Mark