expandable hose for aquariums???

[Magnum Man23 138]

as I dive into the potential to breeding the sailfins... ( a live bearer ) I'm looking to dedicate a couple larger tanks , that previously held tilapia... the problem with these tanks, has always been, doing water changes , in an area of the house with out water... being live bearers, I need to get my hard well water to the tanks...

recently I started using an expandable garden hose for chores outside, during the winter... that hose is light, kink proof, and coils nicely inside a 5 gallon bucket...

I have a well water line half way through the house from these tanks, and am considering putting a hose tap on it, and dedicating one of these hoses to refill for water changes... they are weird, in that water continues to spray out, after the inlet valve is shut off, until the hose shrinks... but I'm thinking I can make this work...

anyone use one for their tanks???

 

[gwand22 139]

I was thinking of using a garden hose to fill a new 20 gallon long. The tank is in my basement where a hose tap for my well water lives.

 

[GaryE22 137]

I've used potable water grade garden hoses for years. They are fine, except they last a fraction of the time a python hose does (at a fraction of the price). Out in my garage fishroom, that's fine, but their tendency to develop pinhole sized fountains in a house...

 

[Magnum Man23 138]

OK the 100 foot expandable hose, and the new well water spigot worked really well tonight... I have a super red pleco in the 45 gallon, so I only changed 10 gallons of well water tonight, in the 45... and will do another 10 gallons of well water water change tomorrow morning, before the 1st velifera arrive tomorrow, later in the day... the 60 gallon is currently empty of fish, but had a large tilapia in it last week, so that tank got a 1/3 ( 20 gallon well water change ), and will also get another 1/3 change in the morning... did not spill a drop tonight, but I've been using one outside for winter chores, then spool it into a 5 gallon pail, and bring it inside, so it doesn't freeze... doing the same with the 100 foot aquarium hose, but it goes back into my work area, when I'm done... the hose has a latex expandable liner, should be aquarium safe

I currently have 2 pumps installed in the tanks for pumping out... the 60 gallon has a 1/2 inch output, and fills a 5 gallon bucket quite quickly... the 45 gallon's pump only has a 3/8 inch output and that works, but takes too long IMO to fill a bucket, so I'll probably match the pumps with with 1/2 inch lines

I put the pumps in a small acrylic box, that I bore holes in, and fill with ceramic filter media... and they are remote switched, and I have hooks above the tanks water level to positively hook the end of the output hose on, so they can't syphon out...

 

[Aquaria Pro Aquatics]

When something takes too long around here I just end up forgetting it and letting it run over. LOL

Dominick
Aquaria Pro Aquatics

 

[Magnum Man23 138]

I have 1/4 inch well water lines on my live bearer/ shrimp 10 gallon tanks, in the basement, and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten the basement floor wet... so I agree, faster is better, at least faster than my waning attention span...

 

[TwoTankAmin17]

I have used garden hose connections for everything for many years. My refill hoses are drinking water quality hoses. I believe they are Camco drinking water hoses used for campers.

• Premium Grade Drinking Water Hose: Camco's premium-grade RV fresh water hose is constructed with NSF/ANSI 61 certified hose for drinking water. Lead, BPA, & phthalate-free, this quality PVC hose prioritizes your health with every use.
• Certified Lead-Free: Enjoy Camco's CSA lead-free certified RV hose! It meets the highest standards, is CSA lead-free content certified to NSF/ANSI 372, and fully complies with all federal and state lead-free laws.

Since I use pumps which will sit in a large Rubbermaid garbage can filled with refill water, I do not what the brass hose connector ends on them. I cut off the metal connections and install plastic ones in their place.

Some garden hoses come with anti0microbial agents to help prevent mold build up in the those. So I do not want to use them.

I considered expanding hoses but they apparently needed greater water pressure than my return pumps generate.

 

[Uberhoust1]

I tried to use the expanding hose for water changes but for me it wasn't too effective. Primarily I found you had to have water pressure in the hose before I could take it up the stairs and to the tank, otherwise when you pressurize it, it tends to twist into shape. Dismantling it afterwards was a pain too, it wouldn't stay in place. In the end I got a regular, more flexible type, garden hose that works well for me.

 

[Country joe]

My hose kinks terrible, but was recently told in my fish store, to put boiling water through it regularly and this helps so I did it, looked better, but not using it till a few days, so will see if it helps, wish I could get a kink free hose that did not kink and stayed flat.

 

[Uberhoust1]

My hose kinks terrible

This is a result of coiling the hose, I like to store the hose like the old timer surveyor's wrapped up their steel chains. Essentially you wrap the hose into a figure 8, there are some vids on youtube, search how to coil a hose without kinks. I don't do any of the fancy tying after it is coiled but just place the two loops of the coiled hose over a horizontal 2x4 to store the hose.

 

[TwoTankAmin17]

I mostly store my hoses coiled. I coil them into the bottom of one of my Rubbermaid Brute Containers. My main return hose is 50 feet and it goes into the 32 gal can. I put the lid on the can between usages. I set up in my bathroom for return water. The big can and a 5 gal g.o into the tub. Outside or the tub may be another 20 gal. can and/or one to three 5 gal. can buckets. I put the pump connected to the hose into the 5 gal can which has been put under the tub faucet.

We are two senior bachelor brothers who are lucky to afford it, so we have maid come weekly. This means I have to stow all the fish gear from the bathroom and then set it up again every week.

Anyhow, I set the temp. of the water coming out of the tub faucet to what I need to be close to the tank temp. into which it will go. I then fill all of the rest of the containers via the pump and hose. This fill process insures I have very well oxygenated water. It also helps to remove the excess CO2 dissolved in my well water.

When I pump water out of tanks I use Python hoses. I have enough refill hoses to reach from my bathroom at one end of the house down the hallway, through the entryway and down the 3 steps to the lower level (the house is split level). Then it runs the length of the living room and out the sliding door to the terrace where the tanks are. The connected hoses for this run work out to well over 100 feet.

I pump tanks out of windows or down a toilet when either winter or the lack of nearby window prevents that. We live in the woods and tank water is easy to put outside and not have it cause any problem. I have a another set of pumps and hoses in the fish space out in the other building. But I have a utility sink and the tanks are not more then 10 feet away. Somme tanks I can empty or pump directly into the sine with about 4-5 feet of hose. I can top up tanks directly from the tank or refill them after a water change when they hold no fish and are having ammonia added to hold the cycle

I can do all of the above because I have a private well. I do not have to treat the changing water for anything. And my can filling method insures the dissolved CO2 and O levels are good. My larger pumps, the utility sink, as well as the water and Python hoses all have garden hose type connectors that are not made of metal. Smaller pumps have push on hoses, some are secured by circular Stainless Steel clamps.

 

[bgarthe23 40]

Keep in mind that UV light from expandable hosing having been used outside does take a toll on the life expectancy of the inner latex tube. Repairing them is a nightmare, but can be done. I have given up on repairing them….when they spring a leak, they get tossed. I have gone through several of these and have gone back to garden hoses. But…..buy the best ones available and don’t try to cut corners on cost with a hose. I finally found a fantastic flexible non-kinking hose at Menard’s. I’d have to look up the name, but it’s the only one they have that is sky blue.

 

[GaryE22 137]

An old thread, but an interesting one. I was talking with a kid who works returns at a major hardware chain, and she told me these hoses were the number one return item for them, and should be avoided. I know, gossip, but it was interesting to file in the brain.

I have to run my potable water hose for a flush out before use, as a chemical smell comes off it for the first few seconds. I'm considering springing for a python hose again. I have to have a look at them. The competing Aqueon ones are very poor quality.

@Magnum Man - how is this project holding up?

 

[Magnum Man23 138]

I still love mine… the tanks that I use the expandable hose for, I change water every other week, and this thread is near a year old, and no leaks or problems in the last year… I use it only in the house, and only for fish tanks , so if it were prone to leaking on my hardwood floors, I’d have to find a better way… one thing I do, is I run a 5 gallon bucket of water through the hose, to rinse it out, before filling the tanks, and no fish has ever had a problem after a water change using the hose… mine is 100 feet long, a shrinks up to fit in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket… I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to deal with 100 feet of traditional garden hose in the house…

 

[Uberhoust1]

I have one expanding hose, used it once, now it just takes up space.

I use a 50' highly flexible but not stretchy 5/8 hose from a tap in my downstairs to the upstairs den. If I had to go to 100' I would put a quick coupler between the hoses run one hose then the other. Do not coil your hoses but instead make loops (over/under coiling, true coiling adds a 1/2 a turn to the hose with each coil, in the end you end up with a twisted and knotted mess). I use the same method for extension cords as well. Makes running a hose through the hose much easier. There are other methods but they are more complicated, figure 8, chaining....