Non-Python bucketless water change ideas

[bradleysryder]

TL;DR - I am focusing on cleaning and am back to using hose and buckets for water changes. What are some good alternative options to lugging buckets around?

I set up my 90P in our den which is a "sunken" living room with one step down. I didn't realize it at the time, but this height difference with the tank lower than the sinks has made the Python not an option for me, especially now that I'm using RODI water anyway. Still wanting a fast-draining option for water changes I settled on a transfer pump which does an amazing, fast job of draining the tank, but has caused me to be neglectful of proper cleaning with turkey baster etc.

I recently transitioned my tank from tap to RODI water, and have been doing daily water changes. I used this opportunity to deep clean the tank little by little, using the trusty old hose, turkey baster, and buckets. This has made a huge difference in the tank and algae control, so I am wanting to keep up with this sort of cleaning multiple times a week for a while. Needless to say, lugging the buckets to the toilet got old immediately, and I am trying to think of alternative options.

I have considered just another small pump in the water change bucket and pumping the water to a toilet or sink when the bucket fills, though this also feels labor intensive since once the water change is done you need to deal with the water-filled hose either immediately or using a ball valve and storing a water laden hose.

Does anyone use anything interesting to solve this problem?

 

[BenB]

Not sure if THIS is exactly what you are looking for, but this product shows up in my social media all the time. It's like a Python with a pump on the front.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Is the tank elevated on a stand? Is a drain nearby?

For my 90S tank upstairs, I just spent $40 on like 50 feet of 5/8" vinyl tubing. I run it from an extra stainless steel lily intake lily pipe in the aquarium, to the bathroom bathtub. The height difference makes a siphon easy to start, takes me about 1 minute to set up and 1 minute to take down, and drains about 25 gallons of water in ~7 minutes!

 

[ElleDee]

I have a python gravel vac tube that screws into a cheap 50' garden hose and run it out the door into the garden. (This is what I have, but I paid less than half this price.) The hose isn't heavy and I use gravity to drain it as I roll it up for storage.

 

[TRyan]

This is what I use. I run it outside through the sliding glass door. When I'm done I just leave the house coiled up outside, hidden from view. I have a 90 P size tank, too.

 

[*Ci*]

I tapped into my bathroom shower drain downstairs, drilled a hole through the floor and brought a pipe up right behind my tank in the living room. I easily syphon all my tanks right into that drain with tubes that live in the tanks permanently, and short hoses with on/off valves. They stay primed and all I have to do is turn the valve on to drain.
To make water changes even easier, I brought garden hoses through the floor as well, tapping off of the laundry faucets with wyes for both hot and cold, so each tank has it’s own hose set at the correct temp.
I mean, doing it this way is not for everyone - my house is old, the floors are nothing special and I plan on not moving for the rest of my life (lol!), but this makes water changes barely even a chore. I am literally just turning 2 valves, one to empty one to fill.
If you want to be hardcore … just say’in : )

 

[Koan]

Discus folks do more water changes than anybody the folks over at Simply Discus are partial to these rigs

Safety Siphon Aquarium Drain

 

[Koan]

lugging the buckets to the toilet got old immediately, and I am trying to think of alternative options

I'm using the Brute 20 gallon route currently for the smaller tanks

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Drain / clean into can, roll out onto porch, drop in submersible pump, drain into the yard

For the bigger tanks the plan is either Jehmco rig, or drain hose > inline pond pump / smart plug > yard, I believe @Kwyet uses a similar system

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[SingAlongWithTsing]

I just drain straight to the yard with a hygger utility pump. The pump's attach to some pvc and then an old garden hose I leave outside.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTBYNWW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[techman81]

I'm using the Brute 20 gallon route currently for the smaller tanks

View attachment 14450

View attachment 14451​

Drain / clean into can, roll out onto porch, drop in submersible pump, drain into the yard

For the bigger tanks the plan is either Jehmco rig, or drain hose > inline pond pump / smart plug > yard, I believe @Kwyet uses a similar system

View attachment 14452​

I use a brute with dolley as well, and a Sicce utility pump if I'm just draining or an inexpensive manual vacuum/water change hose into the brute if I need to cleen sand. It's easy to then just use the same utility pump to empty the brute wherever I want.

Refilling is done via a pump connected to my ro storage in the basement which feeds a hose in the basement or plumbing feeding another hose in the laundry room on my main level.