Water, water everywhere........

[Lynnzer]

I'm running 4 tanks at present and it's become a bit of a nightmare doing water changes. I try to do a 40-50% water change aty least once a week to prevent algae growth and have used a length of pipe to siphon off the water straight through my bedroom window. It's messy to say the least and nearly always result in spillage on the bedroom carpet.
I have tried water pumps that have largely failed me. I guess that's because they were low cost/quality. I also have a dual purpose Fluval Provac that's good for cleaning the gravel but is pretty ineffective at the pump action as it tends to "stick" with air in the pump inlet tube and fails to suck water.
Can someone please recommend a simple but effective pump that works for just emptying tank water?
I'm also going to try doing something to make my tanks cleaning free as in this video so am starting to work on my largest tank to get some experience.

 

[steveb87]

Hi, could you do say 10% daily in a bucket, less time and waste. But more time consuming. I have my tanks drilled so any water going in over flows to waste and is pumped out using a float pump B&Q £30 ish like the photo but less expensive.

 

[GaryE]

I have a temporary set up that drains into a flexible swimming pool hose, and into the toilet, by gravity.

 

[Lynnzer]

I think I'm of the mind-set to do it all from the bathroom. Unfortunately my bath taps don't have the means to have a screw on hose to use to fill the tanks, so that's ruled out.
First though, I'm going to get, today, a submersible pump of around a 1000 ltr/hr capacity with a 30' run of flexi hose. This will be used to drop into each tank to drain as much water as necessary. The attached hose will run the water to my bathroom toilet.
Then, part 2. Refilling the tanks is also very messy using a standard bucket. The biggest problem is that it takes a bit of hit or miss to get the water temperature right each bucketful. Another thing I don't like is that no matter how careful I am, I always stir up the substrate by just slopping the water straight from a bucket. So, what I intend to do now is to put a big plastic container of around 100 ltrs into the bath and fill it up adding the necessary Prime dechlorinator. It will be far easier to monitor the water temperature in a big tub too. Then to fill the tanks, I'll simply drop the pump into the tub.
I'll have to be able to switch the pump off from the tank room - spare bedroom though so I may need to use a spare extension lead plugged into the tank room socket that I can use without having to dash to the bathroom to switch the pump off.
At least this is the intention right now after giving it some thought.
I'll give you an update as to how all this pans out when I'm finished. Perhaps a video even.

 

[Lynnzer]

Well that hasn't done as well as I thought YET!
I got the pump from my local garden centre but they didn't have hose to fit.
I really don't want the standard round hose. It'll take some amount of tidying it away when not in use. I prefer a layflat hose for that reason.
None available locally so I have one coming from GAHHHHH Amazon. I bloody hate Amazon. Greedy carpetbaggers.
Anyway, I still had to do a water change on my 120ltr tank so got things ready for pumping out 50%.
I had to use the standard round hose which does have limitations. It doesn't bend easily around corners for a start. Never mind, that apart I got it going with the hose running the length of the study to the back door. It did well. Emptied it at a speed I felt satisfied with.
Then the refill.
I bought a 65ltr plastic tub from Homestores that I was going to fill with water at the correct temperature. First though I had to sit the pump in the tub and run the hose to the tank. $hit. The hose didn't stretch that far. It was 2 mtrs short.
Plan B. Fill the 14 ltr sink with water, again at the right temperature and use the bucket method again. More unintentional spillage and drips on the carpet while doing this.
Anyway, job done. I have the layflat hose coming today and am restructuring the 60ltr tank later with new driftwood, stones, substrate etc. The new hose will do exactly what I want. I have the 65ltr plastic tub to put in the bath for the new water and it should work well.
One thing I don't like about the pump though is that it doesn't have an off switch. It has a restricter to slow down or speed up the flow, but not an off switch. Thinking of it, it'd be a bit daft to have a switch underwater on the pump itself so I can overlook that. However, what I did with emptying the 120ltr tank was just to switch it off from the mains socket. Job done?
Not quite. I left the pump in the tank after it had reached it's limit and started drawing in air.
Then I started refilling the tank but seemed to be putting loads more water in than I expected. Then it clicked ...... the water was siphoning out via the pump once the level reached the pump inlet. Oh well. Lesson learnt.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Get a good hose like JBL hose for your tap but ensure that the size/diameter is correct.
It will speed up your work and make it easier to do water changes.

Get a power extension cable for your water pump so that it will easier for you to control the on and off switch.

Actually, I don't use any water pump to suck the water out.
I connect a normal siphon to a long hose, and just by pressing the siphon, it can suck the water out.

For refilling water, can you get the hose clamp/fastener to clamp the hose to your tap?
It can be easily fix to your tap.
There are many ways to do it.
Or if you have a photo of your tap, probably we can give you some ideas.

I attached some photos from the internet for the hose clamp and how to fix it to your tap.

.

 

[Lynnzer]

My taps aren't round. They are sort of rectangular and wide so attaching a hose direct is a no-go.
Also, the mixer taps take a lot of juggling about to get a decent temperature, good enough for the tank. So by placing the 65 ltr tub in the bath under the taps gives me the control I need. Pumping it to the tanks won't be a problem once I get the hose sorted out. It'll have to be layflat for ease of storage and I ordered one yesterday that has just arrived but isn't the correct diameter. it's an inch diameter and I need either a 20mm or 18mm.
I mustn't have seen the correct specs when I ordered it so it'll have to go back.
That said, I can't seem to find a correct diameter layflat anywhere. If I can't get one then I will probably keep the one I ordered and see if I can get a reducer.
I used to try siphoning the tanks straight through the bedroom window but inevitably cocked things up and soaked the carpet many times. A pump is quicker as well, as I found out yesterday.