the 15 minute oil change…

[Magnum Man60 175]

not the best way to catch problems on your car… or your tanks, but because of my busy schedule, I did 1/3 water changes on 10 of my tanks, in 15 minutes tonight,
before going to bed… the pumping in and out, is sure worth it

 

[TwoTankAmin51]

I love my pumps so I understand your joy in moving water that way. What is even better is when you can do refills directly from your tap at temp. which I have been able to do on as many as 6/20 tanks in the past. Now it is just 3/13. I can do this because my utility sink in the other building has a faucet adapted to accept a garden hose type connection.

What I like about pumping is the return can be set up insure one has well oxygenated water. In my case it also helps to outgas the excess CO2 I have in my tap water. I assume that, being a farmer, you have your own well? This can save one a decent amount of money when one has a lot of gallons, does regular changes and for many years.

The only downside to pumping is there can be a lot of water on the floor if you lose track of thongs. I am a professional at being able to do that. What I need are "Tardis" tanks so they would be bigger on the inside than they are on the outside.

 

[GaryE20 19]

I always do my water changes quickly. I only glance in the tanks. My checking on stuff comes after, once the water's clean and the tanks are humming along with good conditions.
I suppose I have too many tanks... but I enjoy them. I spread the water changes over 2 or 3 days, and have 4 or 5 days when I only have to do what I want to with the fish. That's when I remove algae or get creative.

If I had waterproof rechargeable pumps with no cords and plugs, I could cut the draining time way down. I'd just move from tank to tank. Gravity's pretty effective though.

 

[Magnum Man60 175]

mine is RO for the refill ( I need to refill my 100 gallon holding tank, before the next changes, so that 15 minutes leaves out things like that ), and these tanks are in my basement on cement, and yes going that fast I have over flowed tanks before, but not last night … one little cheat, is only one of these tanks is covered, so less fuss, and all are heavily planted so each was a couple inches low of water, so a little less water to pump out… but it keeps me hustling, like a fast food worker on lunch rush…

I have a piece of screened hardware on the end of the suction hose that hangs on the tank, and goes in 10 inches, so I don’t accidentally suck anyone empty, so an occasional overflow is the biggest screwup that can happen…

I use a pair of diaphragm water system pumps, sized right for this application, which can stall, if I wanted to shut off the valve, but I have cord mounted switches placed in the most convenient places, so I typically just turn them off and on with the switches

the 10 tanks included 4-10 gallons, 1-30 gallon, 2-45 gallon, and 3-55 gallon tanks… so moving a real volume of water…

 

[Tomsfish18 17]

The only downside to pumping is there can be a lot of water on the floor if you lose track of thongs. I am a professional at being able to do that. What I need are "Tardis" tanks so they would be bigger on the inside than they are on the outside.

I flooded my fish room and the entire basement more than one time.
Eventually the sound of running water would make my heart stop.
I am not usually the forgetful type, but it does happen.
As much as would love to have all 80 tanks running again it would have to be out in my shop and not in my basement moving forward.

 

[GaryE20 19]

I intentionally refill via a hose I hold, since I can use tap water directly for my tanks. My limiting factor is that I have a 20 gallon water heater out there, and it runs cold after 2 banks of tanks in the winter, when the cold water earns its name. My fishroom is divided into 5 banks. I can empty for a water change in very little time, but refilling is slower, and I monitor water temperature constantly using my digital digits on my right hand.

Luckily, I haven't had to deal with metered water, though that will eventually change. We pay a flat rate. When the meters go in, I'll just factor that as I factor electricity out there - I no longer party, carouse, eat out, burn the candle or spend much money on anything but travel and the fish.

 

[Tomsfish18 17]

I used a 'mixing station' to add my clean water from tap.
It was easy to set to the exact temp I wanted and know when my 50gallon water heater was running out.

The filters were 10 and 5 micron with carbon in last.
From the filters the hose went to a simple quarter turn faucet that had white 'drinking water quality' hoses attached to it.
The red line coming out of the top went to my 6 stage RO.
This simple addition is what is really to blame for overfills~!
It was just too easy.
I still use it today to change water on my 180. I shut of sump and syphon out a window/door and then turn the water on in the sump and adjust the digital return pump to slower speed to accommodate my water pressure/speed.
A couple of times I forgot I was filling the water heater ran out of warm water and I ended up killing the whole tank~!
That hurt more than flooding my basement.

 

[Back in the fold]

Then there’s me . I spend way too much time doing my water changes . The only aquarium I have that gets a quicky is my Endlers wonderland . I can do that in ten minutes and do nearly every day just because of there being way too many fish in there . I like my method of aging my water in a 44 gallon Brute container with aeration and a heater . I have change water ready to go at a moments notice . It wouldn’t work at all for someone with lots of aquariums or big aquariums but it suffices well for me and my little system .

 

[Back in the fold]

I still use it today to change water on my 180. I shut of sump and syphon out a window/door and then turn the water on in the sump and adjust the digital return pump to slower speed to accommodate my water pressure/speed.

I’m not understanding something here . Are you saying that you have a pump that is adjustable as to output ? It will pump as fast or slow that you want it to ? Does it have an impeller that changes speed or what ?

 

[Tomsfish18 17]

Then there’s me . I spend way too much time doing my water changes . The only aquarium I have that gets a quicky is my Endlers wonderland . I can do that in ten minutes and do nearly every day just because of there being way too many fish in there . I like my method of aging my water in a 44 gallon Brute container with aeration and a heater . I have change water ready to go at a moments notice . It wouldn’t work at all for someone with lots of aquariums or big aquariums but it suffices well for me and my little system .

I also used brutes for my RO/ breeding water.
I had a 44 and 2@32 that were aerated and heated.
The 44 was on a water heater stand for elevation and the two 32s were on the Rubbermaid dolly's so I could pull them right to whatever tank and pump directly in.
In the 4-5 years I had my fish room running I easily changed over 1 million gallons. I calculated this by my use of Safe which I premixed with water for a one month supply.
While many say you can't pre mix Safe I had chlorine test kit that proved otherwise.

I’m not understanding something here . Are you saying that you have a pump that is adjustable as to output ? It will pump as fast or slow that you want it to ? Does it have an impeller that changes speed or what ?

Yes I have several Jeboa DC pumps.
They are digitally controlled which also saves electricity.
Beyond that they transfer no to very little heat as the power switcher/transformer is not in the water.
I usually run my 15,000 LPH pump at 8 out of 10 but when I turn the sump on after draing the tank I run it at 4 until the tank is full to the overflows .
Then I can turn it back up to 8 and hopefully remember to shut off my water~!
My sump is in the basement below the living room where the tank is.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Tomsfish That’s awesome Man ! That’s a very well thought out way of doing things . Gives me some ideas . I wish I could roll a Brute around on a dolly but carpet makes that impossible . The carpet is a lot of the reason I take so long . I’m very , very careful to avoid spills and water mishaps .

 

[GaryE20 19]

I once visited a dwarf cichlid and cory breeder down in the US of A, and he had wall to wall carpet all through a 3 room fish set up. He saw my look of horror and said he was both very very careful, and moving in a few months to a place with a bare concrete floor. Once he could speed up, he ended up as a name in the selling of fish in that country.

 

[Tomsfish18 17]

My fish room was carpeted wall to wall~!
It was my son's room until empty nesting occurred.
I wasn't going to yank up perfectly good carpet.
I got more than few comments.
It was my proof I was no pro, just a carried away fish lover~!

 

[Back in the fold]

My fish room was carpeted wall to wall~!
It was my son's room until empty nesting occurred.
I wasn't going to yank up perfectly good carpet.
I got more than few comments.
It was my proof I was no pro, just a carried away fish lover~!

I’m glad to be in such distinguished company as you and Gary’s friend . I do a lot of things that raise eyebrows amongst fish keepers but I’ve always been careful to keep my carpeted fish room a secret until now . I just knew that carpet was probably the number on fox paw any self respecting aquarist couldn’t ever do .

 

[GaryE20 19]

We are natural born spillers. And carpets can smell. And when wet, can ruin floors.