Syphoning Out 6" Of Water?

[jenny6165]

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[GordonTGopher]

basically i filled up my 143 gallon tank only to find it wasnt level. so i began syphoning out the water with a gravel vac, but it lost suction when there was 6" of water left.

the tank is simply to deep to realistically haul it all out with a bucket.
is there any way i can start a syphon again? the gravel vac needs the water level to be above the top of it so it can get suction. is there another way?

i need to get all the water out so i can level the tank

Use a bit of hose pipe? As long as the "bucket end" is lower than the tank end then you should be able to syphon..

Is your gravel vac a fancy one or just a large tube with a pipe on the end? Can you take the pipe off the vac and use that?

Gordon

 

[CFC]

It will be very difficult to start a syphon now as you would have to suck the water up the entire height of the tank before it goes over the loop to let gravity take over, it can be done be be prepared to get a big mouth full of lovely fish water.

I use a powerhead conected to a bit of hose for emptying the last bit of water from tanks, but even then the last 3" or so has to be removed by hand with a jug.

 

[GordonTGopher]

It will be very difficult to start a syphon now as you would have to suck the water up the entire height of the tank before it goes over the loop to let gravity take over, it can be done be be prepared to get a big mouth full of lovely fish water.

I just put the hose in the tank so it fills with water, put my thumb over one end and take it out into the bucket, as long as the other end stays in the tank the syphon should start ok when you take your thumb off.

As you are emptying the tank I'm assuming there are no fish to be stressed when the tank fills with hose

Gordon

(edit to fix smiley!)

 

[jenny6165]

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[Ava_Banana]

I use my trusty pond pump.

without the "filter" basket on it, the intake can lie flat on the tank bottom if necessary and pump water straight up.

If you don't have one of those.......have a good look around the house.........any small water feature will have a little pump in it...that you could "re-purpose" for 1/2 an hour or so.....


good luck......

I love pumps........they make it all so easier..

 

[Scott MacAdam]

basically, what I do is, place your bucket "lower" then your tanks water level.

start sucking through the hose, other end in the tank water.

keep yourself (mouth) below the tanks water level as well for now.

once the water gets up and over the tanks edge and starts to fall down towads you, take it out of your mouth and put your thumb over it.

this, if sealed by your thumb properly, will stop the flow.

place the hose in the bucket,

do your happy dance

you win!

 

[jenny6165]

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[Scott MacAdam]

levers??? of some kind..... thats all i can think of....

 

[Ava_Banana]

Only my opinion......but.....what do you think is causing it to be unlevel.

Is the tank on floorboards or joists.....or is the floor sloping......if it is on floorboards....and there is a basement below...you might want to begin by looking for "sag" in the joists.

If not......and if it is just a poorly laid concrete floor.....or a problem with the stand not sitting level, then try to use the leverage of the tank itself.

Don't try to lift from the floor.........try to lean against the top of the tank, whilst the "other" person slips a wedge under the bottom of the stand. Be careful though......the full weight of the tank/contents/water/stand could be on that wedge, and that in turn on the floor....try to have a large flat wedge that spreads the load.

...but really....check what is causing the problem.


good luck.

 

[CFC]

How big is the tank? If its a fair sized tank and you have left the sand/gravel in you might have to take that out too as that will be adding a few kilos to the weight, empty tanks are usually quite easy to move around.

 

[jenny6165]

i dont have a clue whats causing the problem.

 

[Ava_Banana]

i dont have a clue whats causing the problem. its on a carpet, which in turn is on a board thing, not floorboards, something else. which again is on top of joists.
i dont have a basement, but the tank is on the first floor.

im going to get a spirit level today, will the whole floor be uneven if this is the case?
and if its only in that corner of the tank, could the weight be too much?

its a 143 gallon tank

143 gallon........wow.....that is going to be heavy........ each litre of water weighs a killogramme....I would say that the weight of your set up is around 1800lbs.......or around 0.8 metric tonnes.

That is a big weight for a first floor.....you may want to google for articles about joists, tank weights and limits......at the very least you would need to ensure that your tank is cross-joists so that it is resting on more than on joist, if it resting on just one, or two, you will very likely get sag....depending on how the joists are fitted, age of house, size of room etc.

Just a thought.......