i hate this **** vacuum!

[fish dude]

whenever i have to clean the water i have to use this retarted gravel vac. the water goes into i little bucket and it takes me lie all **** day. is there any gravel vacs with a long tube so i can get it like 20 feet to the drain?

[kveeti]

Do you mean the flexible tubing part? Just go to a home hardware type store. They sell various diameter tubings by the foot, very cheap, too. Take the rigid top of your gravel vac to get a proper fit. Make sure it is very tight, if it just fits then once it is wet it will be too loose.

[pierre_john]

Yes, you could go to your LFS and get a python, I love this item. With all of the tanks that I have...the pyton was a blessing. I have change 113 gallons weekly. I have a total of 453 gallons in my home = 8 ganks. The largest tank being a 168 gallon. Prior to that I was using 5 gallon water jugs which took all day!

[goldfish freak]

Why don't you use a "Python"? Here is a link: http://petsolutions.com/cgi-bin/cgiitmls?m=ThisP&p=1081.400000&l=30 in case you do not know what it is.

[Dangerdoll]

IMO I swear by the python. To me, it makes everything about cleaning the gravel and water changing a complete breeze with minimal cleanup afterward. When I first got mine, I couldn't believe all the work I was doing before with the buckets and water cans....ugh sheer nightmare!!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yea, a python is a must have. A long hose attaches to your water faucet at one end, and the other end goes in your tank. You put the water on and it makes a syphon and suckes the water/crap out of the water. Then, when you are ready to refill, just turn the mechanism on the faucet and the water comes back into the tank.

[Ger]

I too got tired of the bucket brigade. Just got my Python from Big Al's Online a couple of days ago. Why I waited this long to get it I'll never know.

[Stias']

Adding a length of tubing didnt work for me. I bought a spool of hose used for spraying pestisides at the loacl Farm & Fleet store. 50 foot for little less than $10. Anyway, I only used 22 feet IIRC but the aditional length caused slow draining. Now I use 2 5 gallon buckets, empty one while the other is catching water.

Stias'

[fish dude]

that is so easy...i already ordered one.!b thanks

[O-man21]

I've always wondered..How do you guys get the chlorine/chloramine out of the tap water with a python? Do you guy just add the conditioner to the tank and then put the water in..hoping the carbon didn't suck the chemical up?

[pierre_john]

Yes that is a good question...I really contimplated that as well. I read further about the chlorine etc...apparently the movement of the water disipates the harmful chemicals. I add my aquaplus to the current of water on the outflow, I have been doing this for the past past two years and I have not had any adverse effects. So my concerns have been alleviated by experience.

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by O-man21
I've always wondered..How do you guys get the chlorine/chloramine out of the tap water with a python? Do you guy just add the conditioner to the tank and then put the water in..hoping the carbon didn't suck the chemical up?

What I do with my python is this:

I let the water cascade into the tank and add the water conditioner into the tank as it is filling up. I never had a problem with doing it this way. When I first started doing it this way I borrowed a chlorine test kit from my neighbor who has a pool. It came up 0. So I assume this way works.

[goozy]

What about water temperature. Don't you have to use cold tap water to refill the tanks. I heard it's a bad thing to use warm tap water.

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by goozy
What about water temperature. Don't you have to use cold tap water to refill the tanks. I heard it's a bad thing to use warm tap water.

I have a thermometer that I use to adjust the water temp from the tap to match the temp of the tank.

[Dangerdoll]

those reasons shoudn't be deterrents against the Python because they can easily be dealt with (in adding conditioner with the water and/or before/after or however people deal with this......and in adding water at the same temperature as the tank itself) as you can see. I know there are a select few who don't prefer the Python, but to my knowledge, there are far more who do prefer it.

[NJ Devils Fan]

I add dechlorinator after I put the water into the tank. No harm is done because it's not like I add it an hour later. About 2 minutes later. I have never had a problem doing it this way, ever.

[rdelbalso]

It seems like you are wasting water when using the python. Do you have to leave the water running the whole time and if not how long does it take to establish the siphon? You all must not have to pay your water bill because that would probably add up to the cost of a whole tank setup for me over the course of a year. It also seems like just an additional waste of water that we don't need to be doing. IMO.

[RTR]

The Python "wastes" one gallon of water for every 7 it removes from the tank. So if you do 25% changes on your 100 gallon tank every week, that is 3.6 gallons wasted for 25 removed. In a year that is about the equivalent of 3 large washer loads of water - not enough to by a new tank I'm afraid.

I pay $0.003 per gallon, or for that 3.6 gallons I'd pay less than 1.1 cent. No way I'd carry 5 each 5 gallon buckets (full to the brim) for 1 cent. No thank you.

But your personal choice. You have do what you are confortable doing.

[Lukara]

I use a python to vaccum and do water changes too. However, when I refill the tank, I use the python to fill a large bucket for the amount that I'm putting back in to the aquarium. Then I treat the water in the bucket with the dechlorinator and add any salt or baking soda for the amount that I'm putting back in. Then to get the water from the bucket back into the aquarium, I use a power head with some tubing which brings the water from the bucket on the floor up to my aquarium (about 5 feet higher than floor level). This works exellent for me.