Water Changes! How Do You Do It?

[PaulHR]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this to go in but I guess some of the replies are going to hopefully include some DIY options / ideas

My 240 ltr tank is in my dining room which is next to the kitchen. I have 2x 40ltr plastic water bucket type things which which quite frankly is killing my back doing approx a 20% - 25% water change.

I used to fill the buckets right to the top and boy they were they not only heavy but difficult to carry.

I've now managed to make things a little easier by doing the following:

1.. Remove about 25-30 litres from the tank into each bucket. (a little easier to carry than the 40ltrs I was carrying initially)
2.. Get them out to the back door which is the other side of the kitchen to get rid of the water.
3.. Add dichlorifier to each bucket then put them in the kitchen sink and start filling trying to keep the temp the same as the tank.
4.. Carry them back into the dining room and put them next to the tank then wait 5 - 10 mins for dechlorifier to do it's thing. (This is rest is good as my back is already in half by this point.)
5.. Run a 16mm tube into the tank and connect the other end to a pump then drop it in a bucket to get the water into the tank. Repeat for the other bucket.

I've been toying with the idea of getting more 16mm tubing, a non submersible pump to I can pump out of the dining room tank directly into the kitchen sink. Then swap the pump direction to suck water from the bucket of treated water in the sink straight into the tank so I have no carrying to do at all. Well that's the current idea I have in my head.

I'm dreading the time when I have to do a much bigger change so I'm looking for ideas folks

How do you do it? I'm looking for very inventive ideas

 

[aprildawn]

i just use a python. works great!!

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this to go in but I guess some of the replies are going to hopefully include some DIY options / ideas

My 240 ltr tank is in my dining room which is next to the kitchen. I have 2x 40ltr plastic water bucket type things which which quite frankly is killing my back doing approx a 20% - 25% water change.

I used to fill the buckets right to the top and boy they were they not only heavy but difficult to carry.

I've now managed to make things a little easier by doing the following:

1.. Remove about 25-30 litres from the tank into each bucket. (a little easier to carry than the 40ltrs I was carrying initially)
2.. Get them out to the back door which is the other side of the kitchen to get rid of the water.
3.. Add dichlorifier to each bucket then put them in the kitchen sink and start filling trying to keep the temp the same as the tank.
4.. Carry them back into the dining room and put them next to the tank then wait 5 - 10 mins for dechlorifier to do it's thing. (This is rest is good as my back is already in half by this point.)
5.. Run a 16mm tube into the tank and connect the other end to a pump then drop it in a bucket to get the water into the tank. Repeat for the other bucket.

I've been toying with the idea of getting more 16mm tubing, a non submersible pump to I can pump out of the dining room tank directly into the kitchen sink. Then swap the pump direction to suck water from the bucket of treated water in the sink straight into the tank so I have no carrying to do at all. Well that's the current idea I have in my head.

I'm dreading the time when I have to do a much bigger change so I'm looking for ideas folks

How do you do it? I'm looking for very inventive ideas

 

[fluttermoth]

I just use a hose; syphon out down the drain, and refill through it, adding dechlor to the tank before refilling; you must dose for the whole tank volume though, not just what you're replacing, if you do it this way.

 

[Yanks15]

I just use a hose; syphon out down the drain, and refill through it, adding dechlor to the tank before refilling; you must dose for the whole tank volume though, not just what you're replacing, if you do it this way.

Ditto

 

[CezzaXV]

If you look at the link in my sig you can see the semi-automatic water changer I made. I'm not gonna lie - it takes forever in my new 155L tank (I like to do ~50% changes) but it takes almost no effort on my part.

 

[Livewire88]

Well it takes me 30 mins to do a 50% water change on my 200l tank using only a 30l water butt and a length of 20mm pipe.

Siphon out 3 containers worth of water and tip down drain, using a 20mm pipe the 30l container takes about 30 seconds to fill. Then fill container back up with water from bath mixer tap adding 1ml of prime, then pour the water in to a smaller 15l bucket then pour on to the support brace on my tank so that the plats don't get disturbed.

Over the last 12 months I have become more efficient doing the routine as it used to take around 45 mins, but with practice its down to 30 mins, inc clearing away the containers and replacing lids and burping filters ect.

I can see it becoming more of a problem once I reach my late 30's but at the moment I can shift at a decent pace.

 

[tribalbrit]

I can see it becoming more of a problem once I reach my late 30's but at the moment I can shift at a decent pace.

lol. cheeky #28###!

 

[ian_m]

I bought a couple of 40l buckets for £3 each from Asda to speed up water changes.

First I syphon water out of my 180l tank using gravel cleaner into a yellow 40l bucket. Use a yellow bucket so you can easily see anything you shouldn't have syphoned out, eg fish !!!

I then pump this water onto front lawn, via window, using a JBL 750 pump and short length of hosepipe. I empty half the tank this way. Also fill a standard bucket whilst at it to rinse sponges, filters etc.

In the kitchen I fill two other 40l buckets with cold water, hot kettle water and dechlorinator and use the pump to pump it into the tank via a length of hose pipe. I have to do this as my hot water supply is ion exchange water softened and not suitable for fish tanks. The pump in the kitchen is on a radio controlled socket so I can turn the pumping off when tank is full. Also pumps quicker if buckets are on a work top rather then the floor as less differential height to pump.

Recently I have taken to using cold water straight from the kitchen cold tap, via hose pipe, as it makes water changes even quicker. Tank temp drops from 26 odd to 20 odd, but fish don't seem bothered, so will probably carry on this way. Remember to dose dechlorinator into tank before filling.

All easy peasy, not bucket shifting and pouring.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

One thing to add, make sure when water changing to do it after lights out or a good few hours before lights on.

 

[bwarn13]

will a clown loach be ok with dechlorinator because hes a loach or is there a special kind of dechlorinator for loaches? and do you guys put it in the tank and the new water buckets or just the tank?

 

[fluttermoth]

Dechlorinators are safe for all fish.

There are two ways of dechlorinating. You can either dechlorinate each bucket before it goes in the tank, or add enough dechlor for the whole tank's volume into the tank before you start refilling. Either way works.

 

[DrRob]

My tank has a drain plumbed in with a valve to drop the levels.

After that I attach the tap on the bucket to another line and let gravity trickle it in slowly.

The only thing I haven't done yet is get the bucket set up to refill from the water filter to it's final location. Apparently the OH thinks it looks ugly standing on a cupboard in the living room.

 

[KCB]

I just use a hose; syphon out down the drain, and refill through it, adding dechlor to the tank before refilling; you must dose for the whole tank volume though, not just what you're replacing, if you do it this way.

I'm really liking this idea. After changing 75% of my tanks water today I'm now thoroughly fed up of scooping water out of a bucket to refill my tank so as not to disturb the sand (though unfortunately I still do!).

However, I have separate taps for hot and cold water and so will have to put freezing cold water into the tank when using a hose, is this a problem for the fish?

 

[Yanks15]

It is important to temp match the water going back in. Can you use piping to connect both sides into one outlet and connect to that? I'm sure there are plumbing supplies the can work.

The only time I ever did that was with goldfish.


Thanks,
Steve

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't have a mixer tap, so I use straight cold tapwater (dechlorinator in the tank first, and filters off, of course).

I find it's not a problem in changes of 50%, or even 60%; but you must trickle the water in very slowly, with the heater on if you're doing that. I take a couple of hours to refill a 240l tank after a 50% change, but I don't mind the extra time if I'm not having to lug buckets; I do add a few buckets of hotter water along the way, if it's very cold weather.