Is there a way to reverse siphon- using it to add water?

[Slaphppy7]

Just get a Python water changer...use to fill AND empty tanks...it doesn't need to be complicated

 

[Oblio]

@VioletThePurple Are you keeping the tank end of the siphon tube under water all the time? Not lifting the tube out of the water for even a fraction of a second?

I think she is siphoning from the bucket to the tank, if so the bucket hose end needs to remain under water in the bucket, the tank hose end just has to be lower than the bucket water surface and the bucket water surface needs to be higher that the end of the outlet hose feeding the tank.

 

[Essjay]

It was this sentence in the first post which made me wonder if she was doing it properly

I tried starting the siphon the usual way- bring it out of water and put it back in once the water drains.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I think she is siphoning from the bucket to the tank, if so the bucket hose end needs to remain under water in the bucket, the tank hose end just has to be lower than the bucket water surface and the bucket water surface needs to be higher that the end of the outlet hose feeding the tank.

I ditched buckets long ago for performing WC's, the Python (or something similar) is so much easier to use

The initial investment can be a little pricey, but well worth the $ spent for the convenience, IMO

 

[Glenn407]

I may be missing something here or maybe I have been doing it wrong for decades. If you lugged a bucket of water to the tank, why not just slowly pour it in?

 

[VioletThePurple]

@VioletThePurple Are you keeping the tank end of the siphon tube under water all the time? Not lifting the tube out of the water for even a fraction of a second?

Yes, the tank end was attached in water. I had no reason to move that part.

 

[VioletThePurple]

I may be missing something here or maybe I have been doing it wrong for decades. If you lugged a bucket of water to the tank, why not just slowly pour it in?

That's what I ended up doing, but before that I wanted to test if the siphon could suck out the bucket water back into the tank for me. It didn't work. I didn't want to pour it in initially because the weight of the bucket is easy to spill.

 

[VioletThePurple]

Just get a Python water changer...use to fill AND empty tanks...it doesn't need to be complicated

I just bought this siphon; I don't want to get another one. I wanted to know if it was possible with the one, I currently have. Plus, I didn't want a bigger siphon because the smaller ones are easier to store.

 

[VioletThePurple]

The siphon tube should not be lifted out of the water at all. The wide part should be moved up and down quickly to start the siphon, but the end of the tube must be under water at all times. If it's lifted out of the water, it will stop working.

The tube wasn't lifted out, only the wide part of the siphon was to be lifted up and down. Doing that only gave me bubbles. The tube end was firmly attached and submerged inside the tank.

 

[Essjay]

That's good. From what you wrote it sounded as though the wide end was lifted out of the water as it was moved up and down to start the siphon.


There is another way to start the siphon for putting the new water into the tank. The siphon tube is lowered slowly into the water in the bucket. Hold the narrow end above the water level and start with the wide end, lowering it carefully so that the whole thing fills with water as it's lowered into the bucket. Curl the tubing round the in the bottom of the bucket as it's lowered. Put the narrow end that is going into the tank in the water as well so the whole thing is totally submerged and full of water. Lift the bucket or stand it on something so that the bucket is higher than the tank. Then put your finger or thumb over the narrow end and lower it into the tank. Once it's there, remove your finger/ thumb and the water should start flowing.

 

[StevenF]

I placed the siphon in headfirst and the plastic pipe end into the tank. I tried starting the siphon the usual way- bring it out of water and put it back in once the water drains. It didn't work.

There absolutely must be No Air in the hose for flow to start. Most people suck on the end of the hose to lift the water out of the bucket and then lower teir head so that it is below the cucket And only when the hose is full of water do you remove the hose from your mouth and place it in the tank. Simply moving the siphon up and down in the tank simply moves the air back and forth in the hose. You need to get the air out.

It is gravity that moves the water out of the bucket. Every drop of water falling into the tank must be replaced by water in the bucket going into the hose. Once air gets in the hose flow stops. Naturally you don't want dirty water from the tank in uyour mouth. So you have to be careful.

 

[JayLB]

Python water siphon

 

[VioletThePurple]

Python water siphon

No, I don't want to buy another siphon. I wanted to know if this will work with my current siphon.

 

[KiwiGal77]

The tube wasn't lifted out, only the wide part of the siphon was to be lifted up and down. Doing that only gave me bubbles. The tube end was firmly attached and submerged inside the tank.

Did the wide part ever leave the water when you were lifting it up and down? If so, that's why it isn't working - the end you're siphoning FROM (in this case the bucket, during a water change the tank) must stay submerged so the host can fill with water.

I've personally never liked that method to start a siphon, always seemed the hardest and most fiddly to me. I either just suck on one end, or submerge the entire hose to fill it with water and hold over the end while I put it where I want the water to drain to then and let gravity do its thing.

 

[Hondo17]

I know that siphoning removes water and cleans out waste from under the gravel. But in water change, you have to replace the water. However, I haven't gotten it to flow the opposite way. With a bucket of clean water, I placed the siphon in headfirst and the plastic pipe end into the tank. I tried starting the siphon the usual way- bring it out of water and put it back in once the water drains. It didn't work. I would have bubbles coming out from the tank end each time I tried to start, but that was the furthest I got. I tried to hold the bucket above the tank (there isn't any surface I could put it that would be above the tank, so I had to just hold.) No luck. In the end I gave up and did what I normally do- just pour in the water from the bucket directly into the tank.

Get a Python siphon. Empties and fills.