tips on quicker water changes

[soupmonster 59]

I need them! By myself, I take 3 hours to lug buckets back and forth. With someone else, it takes 30 minutes... but I feel bad for asking because people like to pout when they help me. I know I can buy something like Aqueon water changer to do water changes by myself, but none of the house's sinks have that screw-on capability. Any ideas?

[dnalex 13,633]

You should be able to get an adapter for it.

It takes me about 1.5 hours when I change all of my tanks (100g, 55g, 10g, 20g) all together.

[tithra 4,917]

Get a pond pump. That will at least cut the time it takes to empty the tank. You can get them at most pet stores and for what you need it should be pretty cheap (under 30 dollars) Here is a link that discusses using these for water changes http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/forum/index.php?/topic/99053-water-change-pump/

I actually use the pump to tank the water out of my tank and my water change to fill it back up. The pump is even quicker at taking water out than the water changer I find.

But I also agree with the above, it's likely you can get an adapter of some sort to use a water changer.

[soupmonster 59]

You should be able to get an adapter for it.

It takes me about 1.5 hours when I change all of my tanks (100g, 55g, 10g, 20g) all together.

AHH that's great news!! Is this cheaper/present in pet stores or hardware stores? And is there some info I should know or bring to the store when I buy one? I want to make sure it fits on my faucets. haha. I've never seen these before...

Get a pond pump. That will at least cut the time it takes to empty the tank. You can get them at most pet stores and for what you need it should be pretty cheap (under 30 dollars) Here is a link that discusses using these for water changes http://www.kokosgold...er-change-pump/

I actually use the pump to tank the water out of my tank and my water change to fill it back up. The pump is even quicker at taking water out than the water changer I find.

But I also agree with the above, it's likely you can get an adapter of some sort to use a water changer.

Whoa. I didn't know people used pumps to water change. I imagine that's super helpful for the truly big tanks. Thanks for the info!

[Hidr 4,961]

I got my sink adapter for the new house at the hardware store.

[ShawneeRiver 2,720]

You know that the end of a faucet often has a piece that is removable, right? It screws off. I'm sorry if that's a dumb comment, but not everyone knows.

I use gravity to drain my tanks out the window, and I fill them with the Aqueon attached to the faucet. Gravity can work very quickly.

[dnalex 13,633]

You know that the end of a faucet often has a piece that is removable, right? It screws off. I'm sorry if that's a dumb comment, but not everyone knows.

^This

It's definitely not a dumb comment, or I was extremely dumb. It did take me a moment to realize this when I first set things up.

[fantailfan1 26,742]

You know that the end of a faucet often has a piece that is removable, right? It screws off. I'm sorry if that's a dumb comment, but not everyone knows.

^This

It's definitely not a dumb comment, or I was extremely dumb. It did take me a moment to realize this when I first set things up.

Ditto.

Not a dumb comment at all!

[Shannon1 14]

My tank is too far away from a sink, so here's what I did to make my life easier:

I got 2 10-gallon buckets from Home Depot. The buckets were in the storage bin area, and I think people usually use them for kids' toys. Then I got a planter saucer with wheels that fits underneath the buckets.

I use a gravel siphon to empty the water, and then I wheel the heavy bucket over to the shower and dump it.

Then I fill up the clean bucket from the sink that has a nozzle that I can pull out over the bucket sitting on the floor. Then I wheel that over to the tank. I use a 1 gallon pitcher to scoop the water out from the bucket into the tank. I have read that a siphon pump from an auto parts store or a pond pump would help empty the bucket from below up to the higher tank, but I'm okay with the pitcher for now.

One trip does a 25% water change for me.

I hope this gives you some ideas that you can use.

[cmclien 655]

You have lots of good ideas here. Here is another idea if you can't find the right adapter. Here is a submersible fountain/pond type pump I use, its not too strong a flow, maybe 1.5 to 2 gallons a minute which is perfect for filling an aquarium. Its an inexpensive pump: http://www.amazon.co...s=eco+plus+pump There are others like it but this one has enough power it can go uphill to the aquarium. You can use it both ways, You can put it in with a hose attached that empties into a tub or sink to empty it and they make a sock type net that you can put over it so your fishy's won't get pulled by it.

Going the other direction you can put a 10g bucket in the tub or a 5gal in a sink and get the water flowing at the right temp, fill it up, keep the water going, put the pump in and the hose back into the aquarium and it will fill it right back up. These have been huge time savers for me. I can use my water changer to empty my tank but I use the pump to fill it back up from my aged water bins (I have to age my water cuz ph is too low out of my tap). It comes with several adapters and also can use 1/2", 3/4" hoses. I use a 1/2" hose on mine. One end you cut off and it fits over the adapter perfectly.

Edited October 31, 2012 by cmclien

[abcdomo 59]

I use my siphon to siphon water out of my tank and in. Since there is a table near my tank I fill up my bucket before hand so then once im done siphoning the water out I can just siphon it into my tank from the bucket and then I just pour out the dirty water as its siphoning.

[shakaho 6,312]

The cheapest pumps are from Harbor Freight Tools. This is a good one. I takes 1/2 inch inner diameter hose, which is cheap and easy to find. It's also great for a small container pond.

[soupmonster 59]

Thanks for all the help, everybody! I will likely try out the water changer + adapter first. Then see if I need a pump.