Python Tank Cleaner - Do You Have One?

[sototally]

Does anyone have a Python tank cleaner that hooks up to your kitchen or bathroom faucet? The reviews on them seem pretty good, just wondering if any forum members care to share their thoughts. I'm tired of dealing with sucking on a tube and carrying buckets. I had brain surgery a few months ago too, so I shouldn't be carrying around 40-50 pound buckets of water anyway.

 

[always4lora]

I've made my own which worked ok , wasnt terribly fast but for easiness it was brill! Ive gone back to the normal siphon way as it's a little quick and i need the exercise

 

[AdamM]

Ive made my own too, but i made mine to fit onto a hot, and a cold tap because i dont have mixer taps

 

[OldMan47]

I have a python type kit, made by another manufacturer and seldom use it. I find that the bother of connecting the water supply to the python is more effort than its worth. I can change water in almost any tank I have in a few minutes using a 5 gallon bucket. A python means removing the aerator from the bathroom faucet and int=stalling the adapter, then connecting the adapter to the python and finally using the python per its design. When I return water to the tank, I need to try to judge temperature of the water correctly and dose dechlorinator to the tank as if I were replacing all of the water. The extra dechlorinator and very difficult temperature match, along with the hassle of constantly working with installing and removing adapters, means that I seldom am tempted to bring out and use my python.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

I got one when they first starting selling them. your paying for the tygon tubing. which i believe is running at $1.90ft (usd). I went to the shop and asked them if they carried any of the faucet adapters because "mine broke". 10 dollars and 5 minutes later i received my overpriced spigot hookup and tubing adapter. Proceed to 10 minutes later where im at home depot buying the cheapest tubing on planet earth, which for this application, is just fine.

Total cost 20 dollars + 10,000 dollars in petrol to travel the 5 miles between shops.

So try to DIY this one, because in the shop they wanted 59.99 for the small one and 69.99 for the one with the long tube. -Insane

Other useful ideas that i have used.

Over sized tubing slid over the faucet itself, not so big it slides off, you want it to be a bit of a struggle getting it on so it does not blast all over your kitchen.

Run taps to desired temp, stop up the sink, pop a sump pump in there Ive got a little giant sump pump from 1992, works great.

Now all of these address the issue of fill, but if your trying to use it to suction and clean out your tank, than i feel its only appropriate to tell you that siphoning the water from the tank using a python is obscenely wasteful. You have to run water to suck water, im not sure the ratio but im sure it looks something like Loss : Loss. the old fashioned way, all be it a pain, is more efficient. (for your water bill)

Other ides include an inline pump vacuum system. where you suck the water out of your tank, through a net filter or any filter really, then it gets pumped right back up in the tank, detritus free. Its funny, i actually took my old python cleaning tube, put another end cap on it (from another cleaning tube) stuffed in filter media. then put it on the suction side of my vacuum, now i can do hour long very through cleanings of the tank without losing water and playing "Oh crap i have to vacuum fast otherwise ill be out of water" issue. leaving your ratio looking a little bit more like

Win:Win


Have a good one.


Alright enough babble, good luck, and pinch pennies!

 

[AdamM]

I got one when they first starting selling them. your paying for the tygon tubing. which i believe is running at $1.90ft (usd). I went to the shop and asked them if they carried any of the faucet adapters because "mine broke". 10 dollars and 5 minutes later i received my overpriced spigot hookup and tubing adapter. Proceed to 10 minutes later where im at home depot buying the cheapest tubing on planet earth, which for this application, is just fine.

Total cost 20 dollars + 10,000 dollars in petrol to travel the 5 miles between shops.

So try to DIY this one, because in the shop they wanted 59.99 for the small one and 69.99 for the one with the long tube. -Insane

Other useful ideas that i have used.

Over sized tubing slid over the faucet itself, not so big it slides off, you want it to be a bit of a struggle getting it on so it does not blast all over your kitchen.

Run taps to desired temp, stop up the sink, pop a sump pump in there Ive got a little giant sump pump from 1992, works great.

Now all of these address the issue of fill, but if your trying to use it to suction and clean out your tank, than i feel its only appropriate to tell you that siphoning the water from the tank using a python is obscenely wasteful. You have to run water to suck water, im not sure the ratio but im sure it looks something like Loss : Loss. the old fashioned way, all be it a pain, is more efficient. (for your water bill)

Other ides include an inline pump vacuum system. where you suck the water out of your tank, through a net filter or any filter really, then it gets pumped right back up in the tank, detritus free. Its funny, i actually took my old python cleaning tube, put another end cap on it (from another cleaning tube) stuffed in filter media. then put it on the suction side of my vacuum, now i can do hour long very through cleanings of the tank without losing water and playing "Oh crap i have to vacuum fast otherwise ill be out of water" issue. leaving your ratio looking a little bit more like

Win:Win


Have a good one.


Alright enough babble, good luck, and pinch pennies!

I figured out that if you ran your taps for a few seconds, then shut them off the suction would continue just as it would if you were going in to a bucket = no waste water.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

I figured out that if you ran your taps for a few seconds, then shut them off the suction would continue just as it would if you were going in to a bucket = no waste water.

I was tickled by this, and thought, surely i wouldnt overlook that. So i experimented.

Pends on how far from the tap you are, and height. I would go from tank in dining room, then all the hose to the ground (5ft) then all the way to the kitchen, up 4 feet to the sink, it trickled and stopped. if i streched the hose out and never let it touch the ground and slope to the sink it would work. So i guess depending on the setup, could work for some.

Good thinking +1

-TGC

 

[MrPurplePickle]

I use a regular siphon to take out water, with tube long enough to run out the door and straight into the garden.
I then use a python ripoff to fill direct from the kitchen faucet, a quick temp match and away we go.

Best thing I ever did, clean, no mess, no buckets.

 

[AdamM]

I figured out that if you ran your taps for a few seconds, then shut them off the suction would continue just as it would if you were going in to a bucket = no waste water.

I was tickled by this, and thought, surely i wouldnt overlook that. So i experimented.

Pends on how far from the tap you are, and height. I would go from tank in dining room, then all the hose to the ground (5ft) then all the way to the kitchen, up 4 feet to the sink, it trickled and stopped. if i streched the hose out and never let it touch the ground and slope to the sink it would work. So i guess depending on the setup, could work for some.

Good thinking +1

-TGC

I had the same problem, 10ft to the bathroom, and it was only a foot lower than the tank, then i decided to add on a bit and go downstairs to the kitchen, a drop of a full floor, works like magic

 

[theshadowinc]

I figured out that if you ran your taps for a few seconds, then shut them off the suction would continue just as it would if you were going in to a bucket = no waste water.

I was tickled by this, and thought, surely i wouldnt overlook that. So i experimented.

Pends on how far from the tap you are, and height. I would go from tank in dining room, then all the hose to the ground (5ft) then all the way to the kitchen, up 4 feet to the sink, it trickled and stopped. if i streched the hose out and never let it touch the ground and slope to the sink it would work. So i guess depending on the setup, could work for some.

Good thinking +1

-TGC

LoL, I just drain the water out of the tank never gravel vac because sand substrate and planted tank, so easier for me just drain water into bucket make sure to get some pest snails in the bucket lol, empty bucket when tanks is 50% empty,(I use the water to flush the toliet sounds funny I know but I am cheap lol) I then hook up a 3.99 small garden hose to the kitchen faucet and temp the water perfect Left knob normally 1/16 turn cold water and the right one normally 1/8, gradually opening them even almost all the way tank filled heater comes on temp reads 80F(Tank is heated to 82F) perfect water change hehe

 

[jmkgreen]

I had to go through this pain myself. Couldn't find a Python - damned glad I didn't get one too as I now have a virtually equivalent facility using nothing more than a hose and mixer tap attachment.

All I do is attach the hose, burst some water down it into the tank, then shut the water off and detach from the tap. The syphoning begins instantly and is just fast enough to allow me to suck the muck up from the sand. Once done reconnect, point the hose out the door and squirt the crap out before refilling the tank.

No mess! The hose is 15m long. If you were to sit the tap next to the tank you'd probably find it goes half way up the glass (2ft high tank).

 

[skiltrip]

I'd like to add that I went and picked up a 25' Python at my local Petco the other night. I love this thing. I was able to do a water change in no time at all and suck all the waste off my sand while losing pretty much no sand at all. The suction power was JUST perfect for drawing up the waste but leaving the sand intact.

It seriously made doing my water change a pleasure and not much work at all. I'm sure you can DIY them for less money, but I got a $50 Petco giftcard for christmas, so I essentially paid nothing for it.

Also, I had major surgery back in Sept, so carrying 5-gallon buckets of water is pretty much out of the question. This thing is a life saver.

Definiteley works as advertised. I've bought a number of off-brand siphon doohickies in my time that were total garbage, so I've very pleased at the build and quality of the Python.

 

[kaivalagi]

Just a quick question guys

When refilling your tank with the Python gadget there is no declorinator being added except in the tank itself, is that really not a problem. Dechlorinator works fast but surely having chlorinated water enter the tank water is not best practise?

I like the idea of knowing that water is at the right temp and dechrorinated before it enters my tank...

I am a beginner in the hobby (started Oct 09) so apologies if I have mis-understood, but it seems like a flaw in the process I wouldn't like to introduce...or am I being overly cautious with my water changing process?

 

[AdamM]

to be honest, most of the time you dont even need dechlor, but you put it in just incase. Just put it in either before you start, or while you are doing it.

 

[skiltrip]

Just a quick question guys

When refilling your tank with the Python gadget there is no declorinator being added except in the tank itself, is that really not a problem. Dechlorinator works fast but surely having chlorinated water enter the tank water is not best practise?

I like the idea of knowing that water is at the right temp and dechrorinated before it enters my tank...

I am a beginner in the hobby (started Oct 09) so apologies if I have mis-understood, but it seems like a flaw in the process I wouldn't like to introduce...or am I being overly cautious with my water changing process?

What I've been doing is adding dechlorinator for my tank before pumping the new water in. I have a 30 gallon tank, so it's 1 pump for X number of gallons. Whatever this is for the whole tank, I just put it in.

For temp, you can adjust it first before you start pumping it into the tank. And even after, if the temp shifts, like a lot of faucets can do, you can go back to your sink and adjust it. I often err on the side of a little bit too cool than a little bit too warm, as I already keep my tank around 78-79 F. If your water changes are a small percentage each time like they should be, your temperature shift isn't going to be more than a degree or two. the fish won't mind and your heater will get things balanced out in no time.