How do you guys who have sand as substrate manage to do water changes?? I mean, my problem is not messing up the sand when i'm syphoning the water out. the problem is how to put water back in the tank without messing the sand up!!
sand & water changes
- Thread starter chrisinha
- Start date
I've done two methods that work very well. The second is what I do currently.
1- Glue (w/ silicone) a plastic cup to a rock. Put it in the tank and pour the changewater into the plastic cup, which will divert the current upwards.
2- When I pump the water back into my sandy tanks I step-up the diameter of the inflow plumbing back into the tank to reduce the incoming water to a more gentle flow. The sand doesn't get moved much at all. This is my favorite method, but might not be feasible if you have tiny tanks (my smallest currently is a 30G).
1- Glue (w/ silicone) a plastic cup to a rock. Put it in the tank and pour the changewater into the plastic cup, which will divert the current upwards.
2- When I pump the water back into my sandy tanks I step-up the diameter of the inflow plumbing back into the tank to reduce the incoming water to a more gentle flow. The sand doesn't get moved much at all. This is my favorite method, but might not be feasible if you have tiny tanks (my smallest currently is a 30G).
I usually turn the taps down so the flow of water is slow without much pressure (I use a Python). Then I direct the water towards the driftwood or the wall of the tank so it doesn't stir the sand up too much.
You could go the cheap way. Get an old plastic bottle about 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon, depends on how much room you have. Cut it in half and then drill lots of little hole in it, the more the better, make sure when you drll the holes that you drill more than 1 1/2 inch from the bottom of the bottle right up to the top. Then secure the hose so that it points into the bottle, also you might want to weigh the bottle down if it floats. :dive:
Ok, so this is what it looks like right now. It's a 10 g tank. I cant use the Python in this tank because it's in the bedroom and it's really far from my faucet. I have to use a gravel cleaner.
In that case, can the top of it hold a bucket? With my 5g in the middle of no where, I put a bocket on top of it, and use an air line tube to get the water in there. But of course a small piece of tubbing would wrok too.
hmm you mean a bucket full of water on the top of the tank?? i dont think it can hold that much weight. or maybe i didnt understand your point.
ashdavid said:
i guess i can get a small power head, yes, but how can it help me put the water in the tank?