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DIY Project DIY Water Changer, No more buckets!!

how do people keep the hose in the tank without having to stand and hold it?

If you follow the same way as Paulo describes by using the pump, the hose is attatched to the pump.
The pump has suckers on the side of it, so it just suctions on the inside of the tank.

On ebay search exactly for "480 LTR" check sellers other items for faster pumps.

Toad
 
hi,
i just use one of those hose clips off the back of an old washing machine

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syphon out more than 50% into the shower cubicle (live in a flat) occasionally taking off the clip to clean the substrate, takes about 40 mins which is just enough time to clean one of the filters and various maintenance

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water warmed and prepped to your liking

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attach garden hose connector and then to 400w b&q barrel pump, drop into barrel and turn on

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and bobs your uncle, full water change and maintenance on a 300 liter aquarium in less than an hour!



takes about 10 mins to refill and the strainer in the gravel cleaner acts as a baffle!
 
Can I ask a question and it maybe a silly one at that - is garden hose ok for these water changes? I am sure that I read somewhere that it should be 'food graded' pipe?

I am seriously looking into this for my 200ltr Discus tank....
 
I use a dedicated hose but it's just a bog standard hose. I also make sure I empty all the water out of it after I'm done with it otherwise it'll stagnate, probably wouldn't do any harm, but just in case.
 
I got bored of this method and have reverted back to pre prepared drums of water! :)
 
Just wanted to say a HUGE thanks to LondonDragon and the rest of the guys here for all their wonderful tutorials and experience with this water changer.

Im just after building my own, and have completed my first 90L of water changed.
It was so smooth, so straight forward and a wonderful way to do it. So much better than all my buckets!

Thanks guys.
much love to UKAPS! :)
 
Again big thanks! I didn`t even know those mixer tap fittings existed, should make life a lot easier.

I currently use the barrel method but its just another step id rather get rid of :)
 
Excellent thread LD!

My question is - anyone know which APS aquarium pump is best suited to garden hose? They have a few that say 1/2", but on the metric vary from 12-15mm! I'm thinking the 800lph variable flow will hopefully be the right one based on speed and size.

If not, anyone know the metric inner diameter of garden hose?!
 
I have a JBL u750 (750l/hour, about £20) and standard B&Q green hose pushes directly on the output. I got this rather than the bigger JBL u1000 (same size outlet) as it has the higher head of 1.65metres.

I syphon water out of my tank, into a 40l yellow bucket, enabling you to see if you have vacuumed up something you shouldn't have (normally fish !!), before using the JBL u750 pump to pump it out onto the front lawn.
 
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