Anyone have any methods for putting water from a bucket in to a large aquarium which is about 5 feet above the bucket without having to balance it over my head and dump the water in? I am not looking to spend the 60 bucks for a python, are there any cheap pumps that do this that anyone could recommend?
easier way to put water back in
- Thread starter soko
- Start date
Well.... a Python can be had for $25 or less online. For that amount of $$, I doubt you're going to find a pump that can lift water 5' at anything close to reasonable rate. If you can find a $25 pump at all. The cheapest Mag pump is $54 before adding in shipping & handling.
You could maybe use a powerhead with a hose, but I think that would be pretty slow at a 5' head...
Good luck,
Jim
You could maybe use a powerhead with a hose, but I think that would be pretty slow at a 5' head...
Good luck,
Jim
My python was only 30$can and worth every penny. It will pay for itself in no time.
The one item i dont' think i could be without.
The one item i dont' think i could be without.
Go to lowes or home depot and look at their clear tubing and find one that will just BARELY fit over your faucet and run it to your tank...i do this and its MUCH easier that a stupid bucket and theres zero spilled water. Only cost me like 3 bucks for the hose too. A cheap garden hose will work too if you can find soemthing to hook it up to your kitchen or bathroom faucet with.
Yes, been doign it for years...doenst hurt a thing! I just add dechlorinator accordingly and mix it with a little water and pour it in.
direct connect hose
At the hardware store, in the plumbing dept, find the connector that will connect the threads of the faucet to the female end of a 1/2" hose. Then get a female 1/2" hose mender kit, plastic is fine, also consider getting a male end and a hose shutoff valve, but not required. Measure the distance from the tank to the faucet, and add a few feet for slack and moving around furniture. I suggest getting a 20 gallon rope handle bucket to store the whole thing in so it doesn't kink up. I have a double suction cup heater holder that I tied onto the tank end so it stays in the tank when I walk away.
Drain well before storing, and plan on bleaching the whole thing every few months or so if it gets nasty looking inside.
Otherwise you need a pump with a head of about 5 feet. You can do the research to find the pump specs but it is difficult. I got a Via Aqua 1300, about $17 online IIRC, with that in mind but never got the right size hose to use it -- even having the pump meant I had to drag the big bucket of water over to the tank or pump from the bathtub, my back was really starting to hurt with 15 gallons of water in the bucket.
I could ahve used the pump from the bathtub, but I never figured out how to turn it off from across the room... seemed like I'd risk overflowing the tank the pump rate is so high. I actually found a remote control on off switch but by then I had built the long hose for direct connection so I never tried to use the remote with that.
Using the long hose from the sink isn't a problem, I can turn the rate down for the last inch and then it is not a rush to get the level correct even if I am 3 rooms away I can time it correctly. For while I was using a waterbed fill/drain connector but when it broke I started draining out the window.
At the hardware store, in the plumbing dept, find the connector that will connect the threads of the faucet to the female end of a 1/2" hose. Then get a female 1/2" hose mender kit, plastic is fine, also consider getting a male end and a hose shutoff valve, but not required. Measure the distance from the tank to the faucet, and add a few feet for slack and moving around furniture. I suggest getting a 20 gallon rope handle bucket to store the whole thing in so it doesn't kink up. I have a double suction cup heater holder that I tied onto the tank end so it stays in the tank when I walk away.
Drain well before storing, and plan on bleaching the whole thing every few months or so if it gets nasty looking inside.
Otherwise you need a pump with a head of about 5 feet. You can do the research to find the pump specs but it is difficult. I got a Via Aqua 1300, about $17 online IIRC, with that in mind but never got the right size hose to use it -- even having the pump meant I had to drag the big bucket of water over to the tank or pump from the bathtub, my back was really starting to hurt with 15 gallons of water in the bucket.
I could ahve used the pump from the bathtub, but I never figured out how to turn it off from across the room... seemed like I'd risk overflowing the tank the pump rate is so high. I actually found a remote control on off switch but by then I had built the long hose for direct connection so I never tried to use the remote with that.
Using the long hose from the sink isn't a problem, I can turn the rate down for the last inch and then it is not a rush to get the level correct even if I am 3 rooms away I can time it correctly. For while I was using a waterbed fill/drain connector but when it broke I started draining out the window.
LMOUTHBASS
My hypocrisy goes only so far
Why pay 20+ for something that you can put together yourself for like 5 bucks in parts??? Call me cheap, ill call myself smart.