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Water Changes. How do you do it?

Bobtastic

Member
Joined
13 May 2009
Messages
745
Location
Manchester, UK
Hi all,

I was thinking on the drive into work about the best way to do a water change on my 240 litre tank... On my 110 litre Jewul tank it's easy all I need is a gravel cleaner and a 12 litre bucket... On the 240 I'm currently using a home made python but it's quite slow to drain and tricky to get the temp. right on the flow back in.

So I was wondering how other ppl do it?
 
Bob, I too have a 240l tank. For water changes I use an Eheim 1260 pump with about 40 feet of Eheim hose on it and the other end outside to the drain. Suspend the pump halfway deep in the tank and switch on until the desired amount is pumped out. I have a glass 25 gallon tank in which I prepare the fresh water (mine is RO so I add KH+ and GH+ and heat it and have a small circulation pump in the tank). I then move the pump into the water change tank and pinch the end of the hose with an adjustable clamp so that I can control the water flow without disturbing the planting. Dead easy :thumbup:
 
for my 240l
i have a 100 litre water butt in my garage filled day before W/C with a power head and heater in it.
i syphon the water straight to outside drain and use a pump on a hand drill to pump water from butt to tank.
 
I keep contemplating making a "Y" junction on the suction side of my external, with the extra outlet going in to an Eheim tap kit so I can connect a hose and run it to waste. Just need to get round to doing something about it. Fortunately I'm low-tech so water changes are really a frequent obsession for me.
 
Bob

Have a look at the attached thread cut:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7395

With regard to my water changing, I have stop valves or shut off taps on the in coming / out going pipes of my filter so I can isolate the water from draining from my tank whilst I am cleaning the filter unit - anyway back to the subject - to remove the water I switch off the taps and break the joint on the out going pipe from the filter unit and connect another joint which has a hose pipe connected - so one end is attached to the pipe coming from the filter unit and the other end is either in the sink or 25 ltr plastic buckets (save the water for the garden) I open the taps and switch the filter on - the filter pumps the water out for me. As for refilling the pipe in the sink get connected to the mixer tap and the other end is placed into the tank once I have aquired the right (approx) water temp I require. I can even isolate the water supply without distrubing or switching of the mixer tap.

Picy attached of set for taps / isolation valves.
DSCN3428.jpg

Hose pipe + connectors
DSCN3429.jpg



Another thread short cut that might interest you.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7395

Regards
Paul.
 
Mark Webb said:
Bobtastic said:
Mark, how do you go about cleaning with this system? Or do you do that seperately?

Cleaning what Bob?

Mark

I think bob means the filter unit and pipes - I do mine all seperate approx. 12 weeks running then its clean out time.

Regards
paul
 
Flyfisherman said:
Mark Webb said:
Bobtastic said:
Mark, how do you go about cleaning with this system? Or do you do that seperately?

Cleaning what Bob?

Mark

I think bob means the filter unit and pipes - I do mine all seperate approx. 12 weeks running then its clean out time.

Regards
paul

I do mine monthly.

Mark
 
No, I meant cleaning gravel or sand. On my 110l tank I clean the gravel at the same time as changing the water. If you're using a pump to force the water out of the tank you can't suck the waste off the bottom...

Thanks Flyfisherman I'll have a read through those threads in a mo. I'm starting to wish that I'd splashed out on an Ehiem filter! :thumbup: Flyfisherman are those threads supposed to be the same??
 
Bobtastic said:
No, I meant cleaning gravel or sand. On my 110l tank I clean the gravel at the same time as changing the water. If you're using a pump to force the water out of the tank you can't suck the waste off the bottom...

Thanks Flyfisherman I'll have a read through those threads in a mo. I'm starting to wish that I'd splashed out on an Ehiem filter! :thumbup: Flyfisherman are those threads supposed to be the same??

No Bob

First thread was how quick water changing can be using Paulo's method (London Dragon) + I have adapted it using existing equipment I had and the other is "what you do with spent water" during the summer - not much use saving the water now as winter is on its way - no more watering the garden.

Regards
Paul.
 
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