Using The External As A Water Changer

Kevstir

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Hi Guys

I'm getting a bit fed up of lugging buckets about at water changes , iv been thinking of a way i could do it with my ehiem 2026

My ideas was putting a t piece on the outlet with a tap on the side that goes to the tank and a tap on the t outlet of the t piece , my idea is to close the tap thats on the outlet side so that i can route the water (using the filters power) through the t piece in a length of hose into the toilet .

I could also fill it by shutting the tap on the filter (will stop fresh water going back into filter) open the other tap going to the tank and hey presto i could fill the tank no probs .

has anyone done this???

if so is there any online site where i could purchase what i need, the filter uses 16mm tubing if that helps

Kev
 
don't see why not although my knowledge of plumbing is erm..... special and lets leave it at that!

however if your sick of carting buckets around get a cheapo powerhead and a hose pipe, hook the powerhead up to the hose (ours is done very professionally using cable ties and all sorts) stick the end of the hose in the sink/garden/toilet/drain etc and switch the powerhead on, just pumps all the water out for you, then turn the powerhead off, plug the end of the hose onto a garden tap (or you can get adjuster thingys to do it on normal taps) and turn it on, tank will fill up. :good:

muchos easiness
 
i was thinking about using a pump (400lph) i have but i need to figure out how to stop the fish getting sucked up into it lol
 
i've never had a pump not come with some sort of guard over the intake?!

if not you can DIY one with a pair of tights.... ask you missus, you want about 10-15 denier. :D
 
cheers m8 lol

its a pump of my old under gravel filter setup on my little tank so no guard, i'll see what i can come up with when i get home tonight (to raid the other half's tights drawer lol)

Kev
 
cheers m8 lol

its a pump of my old under gravel filter setup on my little tank so no guard, i'll see what i can come up with when i get home tonight (to raid the other half's tights drawer lol)

Kev

pmsl, just make sure you let her know what your doing before hand..... could be awkward! ;) :lol:

just make sure you don't get ones that are too thick (that's what the denier is in case you don't know) stretch them out carefully without breaking them and you should be able to see through them pretty easily. sure you can work out roughly what size mesh you need to make sure fish don't get sucked in but it's not going to get clogged up in a second with debris from your water.
 
well i hooked up my old juwel 600lph pump to a peice of hose , i did a test run , filled the kitchen sink up and pumped the water into the toilet , was rather disappointed , the pump didn't pump the water very fast at all , was more like a trickle that came out the other end of the hose , aw well back to the drawing board lol

what power head are you using Mrs Wiggle??

Cheers

Kev
 
managed to do a water change last night without buckets woo hoo

what i did was take the spray bar off and connect the hose to the ehiem Shepard's crook, it removed the water quite well :)

to refill i just added the usual stress coat to the tank then filled it up from the tap, the tap i used was a mixer tap so managed to get the water the same temp as the tank (26c), no stressed fish and all looked happy enough this morning :)
 
well i hooked up my old juwel 600lph pump to a peice of hose , i did a test run , filled the kitchen sink up and pumped the water into the toilet , was rather disappointed , the pump didn't pump the water very fast at all , was more like a trickle that came out the other end of the hose , aw well back to the drawing board lol

what power head are you using Mrs Wiggle??

Cheers

Kev


not a clue sorry!! doesn't look like a really big one.

yup, what you did is in effect using the powerhead from the filter, if it works for you go for it :good:
 

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