How Do You Do Your Water Changes?

[Rogue4Fish]

I'm interested in picking up some tips - Especially if you have a large tank!

Currently, it's just syphon out, slowly bucket in...very time consuming.

R4F

 

[This Old Spouse]

Same as me. I just posted a similar question and didn't get any responses!

 

[Moley.]

I syphon out whilst cleaning the gravel, and top up slowly with a jug until its deep enough to pour from the buckets.

 

[Rogue4Fish]

Same as me. I just posted a similar question and didn't get any responses!

I'll keep bumping it

 

[ian]

scoop out with a bucket.

 

[Proxo]

Gravel Vac into 25 L drums, empty them outside down the drain (i dont like cleaning the tank in the winter LOL)
Fill 25 L drums with tap water, add dechlor - pour 25 L drum into 10 L bucket > into tank!

Takes me forever as the syphon is pretty small, i could do with a new one lol.

 

[markandhisfish]

syphon out with a large diameter emergency fire hose straight down the sink sucking up all the poo etc at the same time , then refill with a normal hose . piece of cake . 50% waterchange on the 120g tankes me about 25 mins . and about 20 of that are spent sat on my backside used to take ages with buckets .

 

[lilfishie]

my biggest is only a 30gal/125l so quite small compareed to most, but i have 7l containers i use for taking water out of the tank, i usually do about 20-30% every fortnight, only takes about half an hour.

do gravel vacs the week in between and top up

 

[jkilby]

I have a 200 litre tank and am in the process of setting up a 700 litre tank, so have large water changes. I have a 500 litre water butt in the garden and a 300 litre storage unit in my garage, I have a motorised pump and hoses that I run from the tanks into the water butt and directly pump out of the tanks and use it to water the garden, as fish tank water is amazing for plants and it means being on a water meter I get more use of the water I pay for. Then I put clean water in the garage store (which has a heater in it), add whatever treatments and additives are required and then use the pump to move this directly back into the tanks.

In the scale of things in this hobby it wasn't expensive to set up, I get maximum use from minimum water reducing household running costs, I water the garden in the summer when everyone else has hosepipe bans. The water going into the tanks is pre-heated, so no shocks to the system for my fish, it is also very fast I don't have to carry buckets through my house, so not a drip of water gets onto my floor. Your tank is part of your home, water changes and maintenance are part of an essential routine, make it work for your home in every way it can that's my opinion.

 

[fluttermoth]

Syphon out (some of my tanks are near enough to be able to syphon out of the window; very handy if you can manage it )

Then bucket back in. Dechlorininator goes in the first bucketful. My tetra/hatchet fish get theirs syphoned in as well so I can keep the condensation tray covering as much of the tank as possible, for as long as possible; I don't want hatchets on the floor Plus, their tank is next to a cabinet tall enough to stand a bucket on to do it!

The other tanks get it poured back in, but I do put my hand under the stream to break it up and not disturb the substrate too much. The one tank I have sand in, I actually built a cave with a flat stone roof so I can pour in over that

 

[Skins]

Thats what i do on all my tanks. I do use a telescopic Rena 19inch gravel cleaner which does a very good job, comes with a hose adapter which when i get round to it i will put into practice as for now will continue to syphon out into buckets.

Keith.

 

[kiriyama]

I have 2 big plastic jerry cans (6 gall each) , I fill with water the day before, add dechlor, bicarbonate soda, aquarium salt. sit near radiator. When syphoning the tank I do sand clean as well filling 2 gall buckets, then put the new water in
In a few months time I'm looking at adding a 20gall water butt to the process

 

[Vin Swords]

how to do a big wc in 15 mins,,

this is how i do,

i use.. a 150l storege box - pond pump - hose pipes.

1, fill box, add stuff, run pump.

2, Syphon to bath room via long hose pipe.

3, pump water from box to tank.

 

[CletePurcel]

I have one of those electric (plug in, not battery) vacuum gravel pumps. I sometimes use this to refill the tank from a 20 litre bucket. So I can be doing other things while it is filling like pruning plants and cleaning the glass. It is slow, but better than doing it by hand from a jug if you have a big water change to do.

 

[Monty-2010]

rio 400 and vision 180 connected to some other tanks; Siphon straight into the drain outside with a hose at the same time doing the gravel vac, to fill up turn the filter off, chuck a bit of dechlorinator in the tank, fill up with hose!!! jobs a good en!!!