water changes.......

[ludimac]

Hi all. i'm just curious how y'all do your w/c. hubby has been trying to rig up something but is out of ideas. right now i use the gravel cleaner siphon while one of the kids(whichever one's annoyed me the most) lugs the buckets a couple of metres to the nearest sink. is there an easier way? what sort/size joinings etc? i'm assuming garden hose is involved.

[jude]

I bought a pool vacuum hose - they come in very long lengths and are flexible. I put one end on the garden and bring the other end inside. I tie that end to the back of a chair then I use the ordinary tank vacuum/syphon thingie - I get it started, push the end of the syphon tube down the pool vacuum hose and vacuum the tank to my little hearts content! And as a bonus, my garden loves the water and nutrients it gets from the tank water.

Then I bring in the outside hose and use it to refill the tank. I squirt in some chlorine remover if I can smell chlorine in the water but otherwise I don't bother. I have one of those trigger type nozzles on it so I turn it on at the tap, bring it inside and put it in the tank, then start the water running.

Piece of cake - no buckets and hardly any splashing.

Cheers

Jude

[antwan]

Hi there, I'm lucky and have a window right next to my tanks, so I just use the gravel vac and siphon the water straight out the window. You could try getting a longer tube to stick onto your siphon and push it out the nearest window when doing them? What I found most annoying about water changes was filling the tank back up. All I have is an aging bin in my room with a decent sized pump with hosing attached. I fill the bin up after my water change with the hose (conveniently right outside my window too 8) ), and the bin has its own heater in there. This heats the water overnight, and also the chlorine in the water diffuses into the air, thus leaving the water chlorine free. All I have to do now is empty the tank, then fill it back up again with water at just the right temperature.

If you're having to do lots of water changes, I find this method very easy, and a lot better than lugging buckets (but if you get your kicks out of punishing your kids with this, by all means continue )

[shadowfax]

i do the gravel vac & bucket lug thing! will be sorting out a hose long enough to reach out the door or window after chrissy but as antwan said the worst part is filling them back up.

[evilknieval69]

I stick the outlet of my canister filter out the window, and then syphon the crap with a different pipe. My tank drains pretty fast this way as i have two hoses running at once. When its low enoughm i stop the syphon, and turn the filter off and put the hose back into the tank, then i just bring the hose in the window and fill the tank back up. Depending on the size of the water change i also use a bucket or two of hot water if it gets too cold. I used to have a 100L changing bin underneath my tank stand, and did the same things as ant, but there is now a 2 foot tank there, and i usualy do more than 100L's at a time anyways.

On my other couple small tanks spread throughout the house i just use a big 20L bucket and a 10L bucket, empty them, then get water from the bathroom into a 10L bucket and tip it in. I find 10L buckets very easy to lift/lug everywhere, not much of a hassle for me....

[Tsarmina]

I bought a pool vacuum hose - they come in very long lengths and are flexible. I put one end on the garden and bring the other end inside. I tie that end to the back of a chair then I use the ordinary tank vacuum/syphon thingie - I get it started, push the end of the syphon tube down the pool vacuum hose and vacuum the tank to my little hearts content! And as a bonus, my garden loves the water and nutrients it gets from the tank water.

Then I bring in the outside hose and use it to refill the tank. I squirt in some chlorine remover if I can smell chlorine in the water but otherwise I don't bother. I have one of those trigger type nozzles on it so I turn it on at the tap, bring it inside and put it in the tank, then start the water running.

Piece of cake - no buckets and hardly any splashing.

Cheers

Jude

thats when your not trying to wash the roof with it :lol: :lol:

[jude]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I suppose hosing the ceiling does come under "splashing". :lol: :lol: :lol:

[richms]

I drilled a hole in the wall and ran a $5 garden hose down to a gullytrap thru the basement. Then on the end of my gravelvac I put a male hose connector and I just start it into a bucket and then clip it onto the cheap gardenhose. The extra length makes for a bit more suction too.

When I am done I turn off the canister filter, dose the tank with the chlorine removing stuff from the pump, and then I unscrew the shower rose hose and join it onto another $5 garden hose, set it to about the right temperature then run thru the house with it in a bucket and stick it in the tank weighed down with a rock, watch tv and keep an eye on it till its back to where it should be.

Then repeat for the coldwater tank.