Can I use a normal garden hose?

[shangman]

When I refill I put the water into a big 30 litre bucket, cart that over to the tank, and then pump it into the tank. That way I can see both ends of the hose and I don't have to worry about the aquarium flooding or the pump running dry. How does this work when you can't see both ends? I like the idea of an easy life - and being able to easily change more than 30L of water - but I'm paranoid about my inability to be in two places at once.

I would like an easier life, but the tank is on the 2nd floor and all sinks/kitchen/bathrooms on the 1st so gotta live with it. I have to refill 90L every week so I cba with buckets. I already have to lug 2 20l rainwater cartons up to the first floor where the kitchen is and that's enough for me! I did once flood the room a bit, when I didn't check and left the hook quite high on the tank and it managed to fall off. Luckily I have a thick carpet that soaked most of it up that I just dried over a few days, and I always make sure my hook is very well attached now lol. No one else was in the house and it was very stressful lmao, but apparently lots of people in the hobby almost flood the house at least once so I'm in good company! 😀 I do everything I can to mitigate the risk now.

I have 2 options: refill alone and run up and down a few times to check it's all good, (this isn't so hard now because I know the approx timings - tank almost full at 15 mins, properly full at 17mins). The other thing I've done a lot since the flooding is to do the waterchange when someone else is in the house, who sits and watches the tank and shouts when it's full. I'm more confident about it now though so I generally do it alone.

 

[latheaxe]

Pond keepers fill there ponds on a weekly basis with hoses with no issue.... Have you thought about one of these? Python

 

[Kosymodo]

I've always used a normal garden hose, without any issues. As someone else commented, it would be logical to assume that any leaching would be in line with dwell time in the hose, which for running water wouldn't be long at all!

 

[RandomFactoid]

Yes... However... using this could cause the Russians to invade Ukraine or the ice caps in Antarctica to melt. You could use a specific "aquarium friendly" expensive 15m tube and the above will still happen.

My advice.. use whatever you have to hand. There's far worse things to worry about than the suitability of garden hoses. 🙂

(discovered this while searching for info on PVC hoses).

Must say..this post aged well 🙂

 

[GQsmo]

Adding to this thread, I bought food grade clear PVC piping years back and fitted with hozelock attachments, mine is extremely kinked in a couple of places. I bought a reel to keep it on too and when I reel it up after a water change it is impossible to truly empty so I end up with water droplets sitting well into the piping (same for any hose I guess). I now have a little algae growing in the pipe even though I store it in a dark garage. The only thing I like about it is you can see the water travelling up it when you turn the tap on and you can see if you have managed to get most of the water out of it. If I replace it, I won't make the effort again, it will be a ready to go garden hose with reel.