Water Change Dolly Build

A

andyjh

AC Members
Feb 18, 2009
574
3
18
Massachusetts
After a year of dragging buckets I finally got tired of it. I have a good distance to travel between my utility sink and my fish room and those 5 gallon pails were getting heavy! (not to mention the tank refilling headache.) I went down to Lowes and picked up a 30 gallon storage tub for about $8.00
Using some 2x6 (leftover from another project), simply measured out the base of the tub, nailed the boards together and added some caster wheels. A relatively cheap solution to a back-breaking task. Now I'll just siphon the tank water directly into the tub, roll it over to my sink and I'll use a submersible pump to drain the water into the sink and then pump freshwater back to the tank. Looking forward to my "high tech" WC's.
Andy

cart1.jpg cart2.jpg cart3.jpg cart4.jpg
 
awsome idae an so simple
i may steal it lol just wonder if it would work on carpeted floors
could even have a drawer or box on it to hold syphones etc
 
I do this because the only water source I have in the basement is a hot water heater. Water out of it is obviously very hot so I let it cool off overnight. Then in the morning I add Prime to the water and I use a garden hose connected to a gravel vac to syphon the fish tank water into a floor drain. I then put the syphon into the tub and syphon it into the tank. No more lifting of buckets, but it works slow so I usually do it while watching a football game or something. Plus the tub has to be set up higher then the fish tank or the syphon won't work. I am assuming if you did a pump though it would work much easier.
 
bradlgt21 said:
I do this because the only water source I have in the basement is a hot water heater. Water out of it is obviously very hot so I let it cool off overnight. Then in the morning I add Prime to the water and I use a garden hose connected to a gravel vac to syphon the fish tank water into a floor drain. I then put the syphon into the tub and syphon it into the tank. No more lifting of buckets, but it works slow so I usually do it while watching a football game or something. Plus the tub has to be set up higher then the fish tank or the syphon won't work. I am assuming if you did a pump though it would work much easier.
Click to expand...

Yes, a pump is a BIG part of the operation. Unfortunately a siphon is a one-way street.
 
Great little cart, I need something like this. I just have one of those big containers I have to drag around and use a pitcher to bail water in an out of it. By the time I'm done with my tanks I just want a nap...
 
Great idea! I've thought about doing something like this for a while, but can never find a pump that would work for it. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. Where did you get yours?
 
Winged said:
Great idea! I've thought about doing something like this for a while, but can never find a pump that would work for it. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. Where did you get yours?
Click to expand...

The right place might be www.kensfish.com

The right pump......still not sure. He carries many makes and models and I've sent him an email seeking his advice. I'll gladly post back here when I've chosen the right one. Main factor has to be the ability to pump from floor level to the height of the tank. (approx. 4.5 feet in my case).
 
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