my oscars need regular,very reg, water changes and im wondering if i can syphon with a 15ft hose,
from the tank>>> the downstairs loo,there is a slight drop in height obviously, so do you reckon it will work,and what about starting it off,will i just have to suck it, cant imagine i would be able to suck thru 15ft but any ideas welcome

shelagh xxx

I siphon one of my large tanks though a 6 meter hose from the shed into the garden no problems at all. thats about 18-20 feet. so yeah you can.

If you have a gravel vac on the tank end you can get the syphon going that way, I syphon straight out into the garden now and refill with the hose straight back in again

You just need to be sure the pipe wont get disturbed and fall out of the pan. Im sure it would be ok if maybe you put the lid down then put a brick or something heavy on top.

LMAO I lol'd then, but you're so right, I had a clip that came with my gravel vac that clips onto the side of the bucket and stops it flailing about, so I use the clip and trap it by the garden step. Not sure how you'd balance a brick on the toilet bowl but one of those clips might do it. Or just shut the lid on the tube maybe, or syphon outdoors instead of down the loo?

hey just sit on the toilet when your doing ya water changes

ok will have ago anyway, just off to argos to get one...lol looks like water changes are very very interesting in your houses !! u mad lot!

shelagh xxx

cant do it, i have a mixer tap in the kitchen and its too big for the tap attachment to hold,- now im really fed up, todays not going well so far.
i have a garden tap but i cant put cold water in the tank, and if i filled the buckets it would deafeat the object of the hose in the first place, i hace arthritus and water changes take there toll, so i was looking for a simple solotion

Just out of interest, why can't you use cold water

wont my fish die??? its the garden tap so it will poss be icy cold, its for the oscar tank more than the others as it 250 litres,so hard work for me

I always use cold water if you only do a 1/4 change you will be fine I did a 100l on my 200l tank and it only took a hour to get back up to temp.

We use the yard tap and I just mix the safe water with water in a jug and add a bit at a time.

Agreed as long as you don't go past 30-40% the temp drop will not hurt them, in fact my fish like to swim in the new colder water when i put it in. just put dechlorinator in just before or just after you change the water.

This post has been edited by kewskills: May 8 2008, 11:03 AM

Yeah my guppies always swim through the flow of the cold water (The boy guppy deffo needs a cold shower ) I suppose it's like the rainy season in the wild

it's fine to do it with cold from the garden tap, most people with big tanks do this. just run the water back in slowly, takes a little while but you've not got hard work to do, just wait around for it to fill

and gettinf a siphon started on a long hose is hard work, but you just have to give it a good old suck and it'll start!!!

This post has been edited by kewskills: May 8 2008, 11:44 AM

sucking anything 15ft isnt that appealing anyway its done now, it all went well.. i turned on the tap too fast and sent the sand flying everywhere..jambo and buddie were covered, so was everythibg else. but its all settled now, so at least most of the crap is out, and they are swimming like nothing happend.... blackmail of a prawn when iceland deliver the shopping

im chuffed with that, as it took much less time and i havent hurt my back as usuall so i wont spend the rest of the day being horrible to everyone cos im in pain
i will have to sort out a fitting for the kitchen tap tho for the winter months, as i dont think they would be too impressed with cold water then

thanks everyone you saved me a lot of aggro

shelagh xxx

This post has been edited by shelaghfishface: May 8 2008, 12:01 PM

fnar fnar!

Glad you got it sorted shelagh, was it the one from argos?

no it was just a stantard hozelock hosepipe, from argos tho lol, i didnt see that one before i got this one,but i think i may get that one too, as it has a pump and like you said it prob can be added to so no more sucking lol

shelagh xxxd

using cold water is fine, its better than useing warm water from the tap because warm water comes from your storage tank which water can stay there for ages and go stagment thats why your not spose to drink warm water from the tank. it also can contain copper which can harm the fish. Althought using the tap in the garden has no effect than the water that comes out of your tap its the same water (well mine is) and its alot ea