Python

[IceH2O]

I would love to set my 75 gallon back up. But my house doesn't have faucets that would work with the python.
Is there a newer better way for water changes? Are there adapters for a bath tub faucet?
Help me figure this out because I will not be carrying buckets of water.

 

[dudley]

Does your bathtub also have a shower head? If so, you can buy a diverter valve and attach it between the shower pipe and the shower head to fill the tank.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Very wise to consider the water change situation.

I use my laundry room sink as the water source for my tank. It has a standard kitchen faucet where I had to remove the aerator and install an adapter that adapted female threads to a male garden hose thread. If your faucets have a removable aerator, their should be adapters available. Short of that, you could swap a faucet to a different style more usable for your situation. I've seen some under sink mods made for tank refilling as well. Search youtube.

I don't use a python, I route my gravel vac into a large storage tote with a submersible pump in it. The pump has a garden hose attached that I route out the door and onto my lawn. I then use another section of hose to go from the sink to the tank for refilling. When I'm done, everything goes back into the tote. The discharge hose stays coiled up outside except for when it's below freezing, then I keep it in the tote indoors.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I do not use a Python for water changes or vacuuming. However I do use the Pyton hoses and their full assortment of faucet adapter. This includes one that works when none of rhte screw in adapters do.

However, as noted above the screw in adapters usually require that that you first remove the screwed in piece in the faucet nozzle . If none of the screw in adapters will fit/work, then one can always use the Universal Adapter (scroll down to Parts) http://www.pythonproducts.com/products.html#Gravel

I have the complete set of the Python adapters. I used to sell at fish events and I needed to be able to connect hoses to hotel sinks to get water into tanks and to make pure water using my portable ro/di unit. I had to be able to connect my hoses to anything.

In my home I have tanks spread all over the place. I use pumps for moving water into and out of many tanks. But this is not a cheap solution. I have several different size pumps and an assortment of hoses up to 50 feet long (drinking water, Python and garden hoses). I refill from large trash cans using a pump and pump out of windows or into a toilet to remove water from tanks.

 

[the loach]

I am so old(/fashioned) I am probably the only one around that is still using buckets.
It helps you stay in shape...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Not even close the Loach.

I have seven 5 gal. buckets which still have handles that I use all the time. I have two 3 gal. and three 2.5 gal. buckets I use for rinsing media which then have be emptied down a sink or toilet. Plus I have have about twenty-two 1 gal jugs with tops in which I store and carry my ro/di water from where I batch it to where I use it. In addition, I have a 2.5 and a 6 gal. spouted containers in which I store it. Small tanks will not have much water left after media rinsing and vacuuming into a bucket, however tanks over about 15 gals will have some water pumped out or siphoned directly into a sink. All tanks, no mater what their size, are refilled with pumps. Buckets are great for moving fish around, for carrying tank decor and plants. I cannot imagine anyone in the hobby who doesn't use a bucket for something.

However, I am about to turn 72, so I cannot lift what I used to when I set up my first tank 19+ years ago. Water has simply gained to much weight over the years. Surely you have heard of heavy water?

 

[FreshyFresh]

For my tanks that aren't near sinks, I still do the bucket toss game too. One of my 55's and 29's has to be done by hand.

I have a white 5gal bucket and an old 1.5gal brita water pitcher I use for bailing into the 5gal bucket. I find a white bucket is easier to see fish inside should you bail one out of the tank. I've done that many times. The refill is harder than the bail out.

It's not a horrible task, but can be rough if you tweak your back, shoulder, etc, had surgeries, etc. Been there. Tough being old and beat.

 

[fishorama]

I'm oldish (older than Joel & younger than TTA) & old school too. I use buckets to remove water & spot water my yard favorite plants. I find a Python too water wasteful to siphon out tank water, especially for tanks at a slightly lower level in my house (in a drought prone area). I do use it for refilling tanks. I feel both bucket hefting & rewinding a 50ft Python hose to be plenty of an upper body work out, lol. If I'm only changing water in 1 tank (75g or less), I often just use gallon jugs to refill. But, disclaimer, my husband often helps

Using the Python I treat the entire tank volume with Prime; if doing gal jugs, I do 2 or 3 drops per gallon as I fill them.

I remember trying to find a shower adapter at my old house but couldn't make it work. Not all showers are the same, but that was more than 10 years ago. I asked online fish sites & plumbing supply places, no good answers, for me anyway.