I got a new aquarium cleaner and I’m kinda afraid of it

[AbbeysDad]

One step above and beyond the 'out of the box' Python is Partial Water Changes - Fast and Easy using an inexpensive submersible pump like the Ecoplus 396 submersible pump to drain water, then a faucet adapter or Python like connector (I had one of these in the 70's for our water bed) to refill (remember to use the appropriate amount of conditioner as/if required). For the tanks in my basement setup I preheat water in a 45g Brute trash can and use a similar pump to refill tanks. I made a video included in the article referenced above - it's a real hoot!

 

[Rocky998]

Any fish that goes down it can then be netted out of the toilet bowl, that is genius

Then soak your net in a water bleach mix

 

[connorlindeman]

View attachment 154108

Well to be precise, my sister bought me this when she saw how long it took me to do water changes on my 5 tanks and how messy of a process it is. Or. She got tired of all the towels in the house being used to clean up fish water… which I guess is fair.

And. It’s huge. 25 feet of tubing with idk what it’s called, a siphon chamber? That’s longer than my torso and that I’m not even sure how it works. It’s terrifying to look at. And I also relate too much to the cartoon in the upper right corner.

It allegedly connects to your bathroom sink and dumps all the old water out in the sink while replacing it with clean water from the tap

Wish me luck and if I die please take care of my fish

i wish my sister would get me a python

 

[Ridgerunner]

Does the water have to be on to get suction going? I just thought that was an option and not something you had to do...

Water on and wide open. Now put suction device on gravel and away she goes.

 

[biofish]

So after weeks of trying to get it to fit to my sink, looking for a new sink to fit the python, I finally discovered it connects to my shower head.

And air bubbles keep getting into it and slowing down the water drain speed. I tried flushing water through the hose first, my tanks had enough space to try it bc of evaporation before quickly turning it to drain again and the water bubbles come back half the time? Which slow down the already slow process to a trickle. Any advice? The head of the python is always submerged in my tank before I start the drain process.

AMAZING refill speed though

 

[Lynnzer]

I own one of those systems. The green device gets connected to a faucet that is properly threaded, sometime you just have to take off the aerator on the faucet. The green device is simply a venturi, it has the point that connect to the faucet, to the hose, and an outlet on the bottom, the bell like structure at the bottom.

When the water is turned on at the faucet is runs past the point where the hose connects, this pulls the water from your aquarium into the sink. If you close the bell like structure on the end of the green venturi then the water will flow from the faucet into the aquarium.

With the system you do not need any buckets because the water goes directly from the tank to the sink or from the sink directly to the aquarium.

Using cold water only I would run the system in syphon mode to pull the water out of the tank. Once you have removed enough water from the tank, close the valve on the tank end of the unit and shut off the faucet water.

Get enough water treatment ready to put into your fish tank based on the volume of water in the full tank, go to the Venturi end and adjust the water temperature to what the water temperature is in the tank. Then double check that the valve close to the gravel cleaner is close, then close the bell like structure on the venturi so that the water goes towards the tank. Add the water treatment to the tank then open the valve on the tank side to let the water flow in.

The system is good but wastes some water, not good if you are on a septic field. Also be cautious, the python hose seems strong enough for the vacuum when syphoning but I don't know how much pressure it can hold when filling.

A video clip would be good if you can manage one

 

[Slaphppy7]

So after weeks of trying to get it to fit to my sink, looking for a new sink to fit the python, I finally discovered it connects to my shower head.

And air bubbles keep getting into it and slowing down the water drain speed. I tried flushing water through the hose first, my tanks had enough space to try it bc of evaporation before quickly turning it to drain again and the water bubbles come back half the time? Which slow down the already slow process to a trickle. Any advice? The head of the python is always submerged in my tank before I start the drain process.

AMAZING refill speed though

Don't use a running faucet to drain/vac your tank(s)...huge waste of water...use gravity instead

Place the fill-tube end of the Python into the tank (heater and filters off, use a knee-high nylon stocking over the fill-tube, to prevent sucking up any fish)...carry the faucet end of the Python to your bath tub/shower...use mouth-suction to get the flow going, and let drain into the tub/shower...don't worry about getting tank water in your mouth, with the shortest hose-length Python (25 ft.), it takes around 7 seconds for the water to reach the fill/faucet end of the hose

When the tank level is down to your satisfaction, remove the fill-tube from the tank, remove the knee-high... hold the fill-tube in an upward position, as you pick up the rest of the hose...this will drain the rest of the water into the tub

Then hook up to the shower head, run the water until it matched your tank temp...close the valve (leaving the water on), carry to fill-tube to the tank, slowly open the valve, and begin the filling process

Takes a little practice, but once you have it down, it's easy to perform your WC's this way

 

[biofish]

Hey y’all, how do you get air bubbles out of the python? It’s great for the first tank but when I move to do the subsequent ones it gets air bubbles which stop the flow to drain the tank. I’ve tried draining the tube between tanks but it doesn’t work that often.

 

[biofish]

I just manually blew out all the water in the tube and physically got the suction going (got fish water in my mouth yay) and it worked??? Was I just not getting enough water out?

 

[enricosonic]

Are you using a faucet? Any strong flow, even if it initially comes from your faucet, blows out the all trapped air in the hose. Once that’s done you can turn the faucet off and let gravity work.

 

[biofish]

I used my shower head and the air bubble was getting caught right at the top of the python arm

 

[biofish]

Also I switched the python to fill rather than drain and one of the tubes came bursting off and know my bathroom and me are soaked
Life is not very kind right now
Got the tubing reconnected though

 

[biofish]

That was exhausting

 

[Rocky998]

That was exhausting

Did you try to send a photo? If so we can't see it at all. At least I can't anyway. I have reloaded the site multiple times. There is a big gap that's why I thought you posted a pic.

I bet it was exausting... Sounds like it would be

 

[Lajos_Detari]

This is another alternative method for water change.

Another easy method of doing water changes to get a big siphon and connect it to a long hose.
The siphon can easily start the suction and you can start draining the water from your tank.

For refilling of fresh water, I will use another clean hose that I can connect to the tap.
I don't like to use the same hose for sucking out the dirty water and refilling the water in the tanks.
It's easy if you know how to DIY the hose yourself.

For shrimps tank, I use a smaller siphon with smaller diameter hose. This is useful if you want to slowly suck out all the debris and waste in your tank.