Whats the easiest way to change water?

The best thing to do is get a Python. It hooks up to your faucet and has a long hose that you just stick in the aquarium. Turn the faucet on to drain water out of your tank, then twist the end piece on the bottom to fill it back up. There you go, no more buckets. And of course be sure to treat the water of chlorine and chloramine.

Hope that helps out.

It's not really a good idea to use a hose from outside because it could be dirty or contaminated inside, which of course would put who knows what into your tank.

First test your tapwater to make sure that it isn't way off base as far as pH- it is best to draw some into a glass and jet it set overnight before testing it.
If it is within a few tenths of a decent reading, changing water will be very simple.
On my freshwater tanks I do indeed just siphon old water out into a flowerbed, and drag a hose in through a window and fill it up.
Temperature of your groundwater matters- as does the cleanliness of the hose and fittings. In winter you may have to draw water into large food grade garbage cans and heat it up to temps.
But keeping things simple means we don't put off the chore- and with the fish you have chosen getting water changes done frequently will make or break the success of the tank.

You might also look in to setting up an automatic water change system that had an overflow where the water above a certain level drans form the tank, and then a nozzle that allows a slow stream of tap water(filtered through inline carbon filters to remove chlorine/chloramine) to go into the tank. way easier than buckets and hoses.

Faster than a speeding Python

Jehmco sells a pump powered siphon system that can pump out water to a pre-set level in a couple of minutes. Attach a hose and run to a sink or window. Refill from the sink if the tap water is OK, treating for chlorine or chloramine as needed.

If the tap water changes a lot after sitting out, you could do smaller changes, more frequently since storing enough water to change a 200 gallon tank may be a problem. Although, a restaurant will have access to 55 gallon drums that are food safe, if you chose to store water, add a heater and airstone and water pump with hose to the storage vessel. Remove 50 gallons from tank, drain storage to refill tank, refill storage. The time it takes depends on how big the pumps and hoses are.

one of my tanks is right around the corner than my bathroom so i just run a tube from the tank to the toilet and get a suction going then add water to replace it.

ChicoRaton said:

You might also look in to setting up an automatic water change system that had an overflow where the water above a certain level drans form the tank, and then a nozzle that allows a slow stream of tap water(filtered through inline carbon filters to remove chlorine/chloramine) to go into the tank. way easier than buckets and hoses.

Click to expand...

I did this trick... All I did was buy one of the little plastic boxes that the LFS uses when catching and bagging fish. I put a hole in the side where I wanted the water level to be and attached a hose to it. The hose is run out the door.

For the filling side of the equation, I bought a Pur filter and drilled out the bottom if the housing to take a fitting that I attached a smaller hose to. The filter removed all traces of chlorine/chloramine, and since it was the "Ultimate" grade filter, about all of anything else as well. The filter element is good for about 100 gals, and has a 'progress gauge' on it. When the filter is half used up, you've done about 50 gallons.

All I had to do was get the siphon going - actually a bit of a pain, I used a tube from an old style filter to siphon water into the box.

One word of caution: If you have the water coming in too fast, it will form some kind of a vapor lock type situation and the siphon action will stop. The incoming water, however, will still be incoming... I'm sure you get the picture. Not a pretty one. I ended up sticking a straw into the 'exit' from the little box to let the hose breathe.

My wife was pretty impressed with the whole thing. Well, until the floor got a little "damp". (My word - hers aren't fit to print. LOL)

If your ph is stable, I think the Python is the way to go. If you hook it on to your hose outside, you can drain the dirty fishwater out onto your landscaping for free fertilizer. When refilling, make sure you add dechlor just before or during refilling. And if there are any toxins in your outside hose, by the time you have drained the tank somewhat while doing your maintenance, all that garbage should be long gone out of the garden hose.

3 options on hoses

Python is expensive, non-kinking, any lenght with 20' extensions

RV potable water hose is expensive, non-kinking, short or longer

Clear vinyl hose from the hardware, custom lenght, may kink if not handled properly, much cheaper than other hoses, uses hose repair fittings and faucet adapters to connect to sink

If the tank is higher than the drain, you don't need the Python sink adapter, I found it was way too slow to drain a larger tank. Just suck on the hose to get the siphon started, gravity should do the rest.