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DIY Water Changer Using Filter

Lewis G

Lewis G

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2014
Messages
70
Location
Glasgow
Hi everyone,

I'm tired of having to lift buckets to shoulder height and spilling it everywhere so I decided to use an old Fluval 2 to pump water through an airline. I don't have any airline yet as I'm not sure what fitting to use on a square 9/12mm outflow. I tried attaching a 9/12mm circular airline to the outflow but it's pretty small.Has anyone ever tried something like this and know if it'll be powerful enough to pump water about a meter and a half? Also, what diameter airline do you think I'll need?

Cheers.
 
Hi, I've read a bit about the python and it's probably the easiest and best thing to use, except that it's pretty expensive. If what I'm planning on doing works then I'm pretty sure I'll be able to attach it to the sink somehow instead of putting the system in a bucket.

Thanks for posting.
 
That's a handy project, although I'm trying to manage with the materials I have. Will try this if I cannot get mine working.
 
I used a JBLu750 pump connected to 12/16mm PVC tube (in fact hose pipe works as well @ 12.5mm) both from buckets of warm water in the kitchen to my tank as well as buckets on the floor by the tank into the tank. It has sufficient head to be able to lift from floor level into the tank.
 
ian_m said:
I used a JBLu750 pump connected to 12/16mm PVC tube (in fact hose pipe works as well @ 12.5mm) both from buckets of warm water in the kitchen to my tank as well as buckets on the floor by the tank into the tank. It has sufficient head to be able to lift from floor level into the tank.
Click to expand...

That's along the lines of what I'm hoping to do. I might try a 10/13 mm hose and see if it fits on the outflow of the filter.
 
I use PVC piping in an upside down 'U' shape connected to a garden hose to do mine.

It's the right height that the syphon breaks when it reaches 50% water removed. Then I just bring the end of the hose in from the garden, and attach it to my mixer tap with a Hozelock 2304 to refill the tank. Cut my water change time down from 2 hours to under 15 mins. I was thinking of adding a ball/float valve to automate the refill a bit more, but I just added a high-level water alarm and manually switch it off instead to save complexity.

IL2atOZl.jpg


Mid week I do a small manual syphon with a normal aquarium vacuum to remove detritus, just to make sure no dirt gets left rotting in the tank.
 
My system is pretty simple: I use an Eheim Compact 600 pump (https://www.eheim.com/en_GB/products/technology/pumps/compact-600) to pump the water from a 25 liters container on the floor to the tank. It works very well and the job's done in a few minutes. You could also go with the Eheim Compact 1000 which will fill the tank faster. There are only a few meters from the place where I mix my water (tap and rainwater) and the tank, so I carry the container myself and this is why I bought a model with comfortable handles (http://www.tovsi.com/es/bidones/garrafa-25-ltsz-25-b15-5078.html#.VZZOUGB5T0g). For the moment no back pains so I will keep on doing it this ay, but I've seen people using this system that have built a simple wood platform with wheels so you don't have to lift a single time the container.
Another tip, the container is great for storing between WCs all you need (pump, tubes, towels, etc.)

Jordi
 
Would a 3 way valve on the filter outlet be worth a look? You could just switch it to outflow into a hose/bucket to empty half the tank.
Then I guess if you had one on the inflow you could also refill using the filter?
 
DRillo said:
Would a 3 way valve on the filter outlet be worth a look? You could just switch it to outflow into a hose/bucket to empty half the tank.
Then I guess if you had one on the inflow you could also refill using the filter?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing something like that, along the lines of the Python
 
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