Tips on topping up water quickly

[zain611]

I was wondering but does anyone know of a fast or non back breaking method of adding water to a tank? As my tank is tall I try to avoid resting / putting my body weight on it as I pour water in from the bucket. I'm also probably over worrying but I don't know if pouring the water in with a bucket stresses the glass. Not sure on that statement.

Is there any water pumps I could get which is able to move the water from a bucket up to the tank? It takes me around 20 mins to syphon out half the water in the tank but double that or an hour just to fill it up. At the moment I pour the water in with a glass until the bucket is light enough for me to pick up and pour in.

 

[Colin_T]

I use an Aquaclear 800 powerhead with a length of clear plastic hose and a J or U shaped fitting made from pvc pipe to pump water into tanks from holding buckets.

Any water pump will do and if you have a big water holding container it's easier. You put the pump in the bucket of water and have one end of the plastic hose on the pump outlet. Have the J or U shaped fitting on the other end of the plastic hose and hang the J or U over the edge of the tank. The J or U shaped fitting should be like an upside down J or U. When the J fitting is hanging on the side of the tank, you turn the pump on and it will pump the water up the hose and into the tank. When the bucket is nearly empty or the tank is full, turn the pump off and pack it up.

editing to say the J that I type on my pc is coming out as a different J to what is being shown. The J shaped pvc pipe fitting you make does not have the top section (like the top part of the T). It should be like a candy cane shape, straight pipe with a curve.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Stop the madness of the bucket brigade!....
I also use a submersible pump all the time. It's an inexpensive ECO 396 along with clear vinyl (Python like) hose. The other end of the hose either goes outside to the lawn or in the kitchen sink.
Also, with a faucet adapter, you could refill directly from the kitchen sink! Otherwise you might use the same pump and an 18g sterilite type bin (I've used one inside another for strength) to refill.

 

[Colin_T]

You don't want to fill an aquarium containing fish directly from the tap because the fish can be chlorinated before the dechlorinator has time to remove the chlorine/ chloramine from the water.

I know heaps of people do that and many get away with it for a while, but eventually it catches up to them and one day they do a water change and kill everything in the tank. The water company might do work on the pipes and increase the chlorine levels on the day you do a water change and there goes several hundred dollars in fish. It's also not very nice to watch your pets gasping at the surface because their gills have been burnt with chlorine and they are slowly suffocating.

Do not risk the fish by putting untreated tap water into the tank, it's not worth it. Just fill a big bucket, add dechlorinator and aerate for at least a couple of minutes before pumping it into the tank.

 

[zain611]

I don't think your pump is available in the UK.

Is it okay if you can check these pumps out. Not sure about performance of these. If I got a water pump the tube will travel I'd say 2 and a half foot from the bucket up to the tank

https://www.aquatics-warehouse.co.u...HnNUfSTtrBH-fpGZ4aAn5uEALw_wcB#/product/35586

https://www.finest-filters.co.uk/1000l-h-water-pump-for-aquarium-water-feature/

https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/1400lh/


https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/2538477828...9%26rvr_ts%3D6df796771660ab66aac4d097fffbe55d

 

[zain611]

Stop the madness of the bucket brigade!....
I also use a submersible pump all the time. It's an inexpensive ECO 396 along with clear vinyl (Python like) hose. The other end of the hose either goes outside to the lawn or in the kitchen sink.
Also, with a faucet adapter, you could refill directly from the kitchen sink! Otherwise you might use the same pump and an 18g sterilite type bin (I've used one inside another for strength) to refill.

I sadly don't think your pump is sold in the UK. I can buy it but by the looks of it it's shipped from America and so increases its price.

My method if I get a water pump is fill my 3 buckets of water and dechlorinate, place the pump in one of them and switch it on to start filling up the tank, when the water goes low I can fill it up again using the water from the other bucket. I could then refill the empty buckets with water whilst the pump is emptying one bucket of water (if it doesn't empty it quickly).

Saves the hassle of me pouring water in the tank with a cup before being able to lift the bucket and empty the last amount of water which I'm doing at the moment. Have to do that with 6 buckets.

 

[Byron]

I use a "Python" connected to the faucet (this has to be an adaptable faucet, I have one with threads for this on my laundry sink) for large tanks, but on my two smallest (10g and 20g) I use a bucket. There are two easy ways to add water to the tank from a bucket.

The one I use now is to scoop out water from the bucket with a 1 liter (1 quart) size plastic pitcher, like the ones sold for juice. This will fit inside the bucket, and you can use your other hand to break the water flow as you pour it so it dissipates. Easy and inexpensive; get a pitcher solely for aquarium use.

The other method I used to do when I had larger tanks before I got the "Python," and that was to set the bucket of water on a stand so it is just above the tank height and then use a tube/hose to fill the tank from the bucket. My manual water changer comes apart so I can use just the 1/2 inch wide hose part for this. You need something solid and stable for the bucket to sit on as it is heavy and you don't want it tipping over.

 

[Colin_T]

When you are buying water pumps you look at the maximum height they can pump water up to. One of the pumps only pushes water up to 150cm (5ft) and that is not going to be high enough for your tank. Another pump goes to 180cm (6ft) and that should be high enough.

Most pumps will have a chart on the side of the box or on the instructions showing how much water they pump at a certain height. You need to measure how high the top of your tank is and that is the height the pump will need to do. You don't need a huge amount of water flowing into the tank but you also don't want the pump struggling to get the water up over the edge of the tank.

Get a 75 litre plastic rubbish bin from a hardware and use that for the pump. You can top it up with the smaller buckets you have.

 

[AbbeysDad]

You don't want to fill an aquarium containing fish directly from the tap because the fish can be chlorinated before the dechlorinator has time to remove the chlorine/ chloramine from the water.....

I'm on well water, so it's not an issue for me.
However, with a good dechlorinator like Prime, dosed for the entire tank volume (as per Seachem's recommendation), chlorine/chloramine is instantly neutralized as new water is added. You simply add the product and mix the tank water slightly before refilling. (Of course, if you dechlorinate the water separately [outside the tank] you'd only dose for the new water to be added.) I participate in several forums and many, many hobbyists do it this way without incident.
------
As to pumps availability, there must be many small submersible pumps available in the UK. And Colin is correct, you need to watch out for head height. The pump I referenced has a 6 foot head height, but not all do. Also, you want one that's rated for at least 400gph, which sounds like a lot, but reduced some by height, it really isn't. My 396 does the job, but I wouldn't want any less and a little more would be fine.

 

[Byron]

I agree with AD on filling from the tap and using a conditioner added to the tank when you commence refilling. Good conditioners work instantly. I do not see how else you can do it, unless you have huge containers into which you run the fresh water, add conditioner, then siphon into the tank. Considerable extra work for no benefit.

I don't recommend using more conditioner than needed for the volume of fresh water being added. There is no scientific benefit anyone has found for this. I probably use just slightly more than exactly needed for the volume of fresh water, but I certainly never get anywhere close to the tank volume. This stuff gets inside fish, and the less the better; there are chemicals in Prime for example that cause me never to even use it; and using double what is needed is only advantaging the manufacturer because it means they sell twice as much.

I switched to API Tap Water Conditioner a few years ago, because it does the least "fixing" and I don't want something like Prime that messes with the bacteria/biology in ways even Seachem cannot fully explain. At least they said they could not explain it when I asked them directly.

 

[AbbeysDad]

The 'trouble' when adding conditioner directly to the tank is that for say a 50% water change, you're diluting it by as much as 50% relative to the new water being added. So dosing for the entire tank volume ensures there's sufficient conditioner to instantly neutralize the chlorine/chloraimine in the water being added.
I'm not aware of any chemicals in Prime that negatively affect the beneficial biology?
I have been using Prime lately after discovering slight Ammonia in my well water (I was seeing fish gasp at the surface following water changes.)
Prime converts ammonia to harmless ammonium (for a period long enough for BB to convert) as well as neutralizes heavy metals, along with chlorine/chloramine.

 

[Byron]

The 'trouble' when adding conditioner directly to the tank is that for say a 50% water change, you're diluting it by as much as 50% relative to the new water being added. So dosing for the entire tank volume ensures there's sufficient conditioner to instantly neutralize the chlorine/chloraimine in the water being added.
I'm not aware of any chemicals in Prime that negatively affect the beneficial biology?
I have been using Prime lately after discovering slight Ammonia in my well water (I was seeing fish gasp at the surface following water changes.)
Prime converts ammonia to harmless ammonium (for a period long enough for BB to convert) as well as neutralizes heavy metals, along with chlorine/chloramine.

Diluting the conditioner is not an issue according to those I have consulted (Neale Monks and others). These dechlorinators "search out" the chlorine and deal with it. Chloramine is a bit tougher, hence one has to use more of the conditioner.

Prime detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, and Seachem admitted to me they do not know how this actually works, it is some sort of temporary binding. I am a cautious aquarist; I do not like putting any substance/chemical/additive into my water (knowing it will get inside the fish) unless it is necessary for some issue/purpose. A balanced aquarium should never have ammonia/nitrite/nitrate issues, and thus Prime is not thee best conditioner. In new tanks cycling, yes, or with any of these in the source water, yes as it detoxifies the initial impact. I realize you have nitrate issues, and now ammonia apparently, so this is beneficial. But unless this is the case, I do not recommend Prime. Another thing is the TDS in Prime, which again Seachem could not (or would not) answer. I had another individual looking into this once, and she came back and thanked me for pointing this out, and she stopped using Prime.

 

[Colin_T]

The issue with adding dechlorinator to an aquarium and then filling it with tap water is the time it takes for the dechlorinator to come into contact with ALL of the chlorine/ chloramine that gets pumped into the tank. You can test this by putting some food dye (to replicate the dechlorinator) into a container of water and filling it like you would an aquarium with fish in. It takes a little while for the blue dye to become evenly distributed throughout the water. The dechlorinator takes a similar time to mix with all the water and during the time it takes for this to happen, the fish are exposed to chlorine.

If the fish swim into the tap water (and they regularly do because most fish naturally swim into currents), they are exposed to the chlorine/ chloramine before the dechlorinator has had a chance to neutralise the chlorine. This means the fish suffer chlorine burns to their gills because the dechlorinator has not yet managed to neutralise the chlorine.

Whilst this might be ok in very small amounts it does damage to the fish by scarring the gill filaments and this makes it harder for the fish to breath. Regular exposure to chlorine gas or liquid chlorine will eventually take its toll on fish or any animal and it is better to remove all the chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to any aquarium or pond with aquatic organisms in.

Chlorine and chloramine (a mixture of chlorine & ammonia) in tap water is used for one purpose, to kill everything in the water, and it is very good at what it does. It kills fish and anybody that runs chlorinated tap water into their aquariums is playing with fire.

 

[Byron]

That argument is frequently made, but the fact is that fish react to water problems by attempting to get away.

 

[Colin_T]

In the wild fish will try to get away from polluted water or water with a low oxygen level but they can't escape from an aquarium unless they jump out. Then we pick them up and put them back in the tank. And fish don't realise the tap water has chlorine in and once they have swum in chlorinated water for a few seconds, the damage has started. The longer they are in the chlorinated water the more damage that occurs.

In you put a hose in your tank and turn it on, you can watch the fish swim straight into the current. Virtually every fish I have ever kept has done that with the exception of Bettas, they just get washed around the tank. But loaches, barbs, rainbows, cichlids and most tetras will automatically swim into a current especially if there isn't normally one there.