View Full Version : Intricate water change set ups for in stand sumps?
sean48183
12/19/2006, 10:00 PM
Does anyone have any good setups for changing water on a in stand sump or does everybody pretty much do the siphon and bucket thing? I was originally going to do the sump in the basement for my new 150g tank but the old lady says I can't turn her storage room into a fish room. So I might have to do it under the stand but don't really want to lug buckets around. Does anybody have any good ideas?
sjm817
12/19/2006, 10:07 PM
I have a basement sump and super nice water change setup for the 180 I recently got running :bounce2:
My 90G had an in stand sump. What I did was run a garden hose in through the front door and siphoned the water out of the sump and let it run down the driveway. No buckets needed. This only works if your house setup is conducive for a gravity drain down the driveway or whatever.
nukemdanno
12/19/2006, 10:11 PM
I set up a trash can to mix water with mag drive to pump back in. To siphon water out i built a snake that attaches to the kitchen sink via a water bed siphon/filler. The water bed parts i got from the hardware store.
sean48183
12/19/2006, 10:50 PM
I thought about the trash can idea but my wife would never go for trash can sitting in the living room. I do have room for one in the basement though. Now I just gotta figure out how to get it back up to the main tank.
dkh0331
12/20/2006, 06:06 AM
Trash can in the living room or basement sump - her choice.
miztic
12/20/2006, 08:21 AM
I have the trash can sitting next to the tank in the kitchen, but you can really use anything that holds enough water, can be covered up with something so its not so obvious..
I'm using a DJ center to turn various pumps on and off when I do my water change, I used to drip all over the place, not anymore..
There's a pump in my sump with a coil of tubing next to it, i run that to the sink and hit the switch to drain the water out..
There are two pumps in the trash can, one for cirulation and one with tubing going to my sump, hit the second switch and the water from the trashcan goes to my sump, fill up to the high water mark (piece of electrical tape), turn cirulation and skimmer back on and I'm done ..
very painless waterchanges this way.
dfleary
12/20/2006, 10:03 PM
Miztic,
What is a "DJ Center," anyway?
flfirefighter13
12/20/2006, 10:07 PM
I use a python siphon to drain and then top off from a 55 gallon drum with a uniseal and 1" valve installed near the bottom, this I hook to a spare pump and some 3/4" hose and pump it into the tank, quick easy and spill free!
dfleary
12/20/2006, 10:45 PM
Flfirefighter13,
Was it difficult to install the uniseal? Where did you buy it?
dkh0331
12/21/2006, 03:28 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8797284#post8797284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dfleary
Miztic,
What is a "DJ Center," anyway?
For all practical purposes, they are power strips. I run two.
http://wetwebfotos.com/usermedia/high/5/1695_47.jpg
flfirefighter13
12/21/2006, 06:59 AM
Uniseals where simple, just make sure you get the right size hole saw and its easy. The drums I use are ahout 1/4" thick polyethalene. There pretty sturdy and hold up well. Just drill the hole with the hole saw and slip the uniseal in, then shove the pipe in. Instructions say to use windex on the pipe. Im not sure if this is just to lube it or if this has some reaction to the rubber, I havent used it yet, I tend to glue the valve onto a short piece of PVC and shove it in the uniseal quickly, thus glueing the valve to the uniseal with all the excess glue. This is not neccesary as I have a few I did without the glue and it worked fine. I get mine from aquatic ecosystems, I have also seen them on some website mentioned here but never looked into it, Aquatic ecosystems is 20 minutes from my house....... I minus well just start haveing my paychecks sent there:)
dfleary
12/21/2006, 08:43 AM
I just visited their web site. I can certainly see what you mean!
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