Rate My Fish Tank

Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:04 pm GMT   Reply      

For those of you who have your fishtanks in a common area of the house (living room etc) how do you your water changes without spilling and what not. I have my tank in my unfinished basements because i would ruin the floors during water changes and what not. How do you all do them???

Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:31 pm GMT   Reply      

All my tanks are in my livingroom. Being in an apartment, my kitchen is really close. I use a python water change system. No way I would use the bucket brigade again! Just make sure the valve is closed BEFORE you reverse the water direction or you will soak someone! My son happened to be in the way of the nose end when I reversed it and I had forgot to close the valve. I got him good!! LMAO

What I do is I have an old table cloth, the kind that is vinyl on one side. I put that on the floor in front of the tank, then put a towel over it. I always soak the towel, but with the vinyl under it it does not get to the carpet. Then when I am done I have wet towels hanging over every chair LOL. But at least my floor is dry. :-)

Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:06 pm GMT   Reply      

Mine are in the living room as well. 30 gallon and 10 gallon. I use a bucket, maybe its not too bad because they arent very big tanks. I do put a few towels down around the tanks. I also have the sink to tank hose but find it easier with the bucket. I could see larger tanks being a headache with a bucket though.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:15 pm GMT   Reply      

Our 29g was in the living room. I would fill the 5g jug and place it next to the tank for a couple of days first. Then, I would use the 5 gallon pail, syphon into that, then pour the jug (the kind you would get with RO water from the store or delivered to your house) into the tank. No mess, and only 1 pail to haul to dump.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:27 am GMT   Reply      

I use a pump. :) of course I cant use the python because i have salt. So i bought a little pump like a rio 1700 to pump water from the bucket into the tank. I use one five gallon bucket as the base to pump from and pour the others into that bucket while the pump pumps water to the tank. :) Its not too hard if you can figure out how to get your hose to stay in the tank. I use a close pin to hold it on the tank.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:11 pm GMT   Reply      

yeah just go get yourself a small power head i use a 600 or something and it works fine but i have a 55 gallon trash can that i have a heater and powerhead. i keep that in the closet. then come water change day i syphon out the water into a bucket then connect a tube to the end of the powerhead and fill her back up

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:36 pm GMT   Reply      

I use a small python, draining into a bucket, then carry the bucket(only 3g!?!) to my bathroom(only 12 feet or so away). Its not too bad IMO, but it gets to be a pain using a 3G bucket on three tanks(75g, 28g, 10g).

Oh and I'm not too bad at floor soaking, unless I leave the python in and forget about it, I kinda deserve it when I'm a big enough dumbass to just walk away and leave it in though.

Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:36 am GMT   Reply      

My tanks are in my room and I use the bucket system... which wil turn into the Python system soon. I would use a plastic mat that people in yoga use or Drsfostersmith sells something that is just what your looking for.

Fri Apr 03, 2009 6:53 pm GMT   Reply      

I use a Python...wouldn't use anything else!

Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:51 pm GMT   Reply      

I just syphon it from my fish tank to my 5 gallon bucket when that's full I switch to my 2 gallon bucket while dumping the 5 gallon. Once enough water is drained. I use my RO 5 gallon jugs to fill it back up.

Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:17 am GMT   Reply      

lol - - right now i syphon old water out into a bucket and a pump in a bucket of fresh salt mix to refill - - - - - -BUT -----------------------

there is a new tank room being build in the basement with a 55 gallon sump with drain valves to the sink and pump valves back to the sump - from all the other tanks as well {6 of them right now} so i have a fresh saltwater line running around the room with valves at each tank/sump and a line of straight RO with auto top off valves so depending on top off or water change i can fill any tank or sump at any time with the turn of a valve - - - - buckets will soon be a thing of the past for the snowboss..................hahahahahaaha !!!!!!!

Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:21 am GMT   Reply      

this might help

http://gomestic.com/pets/how-to-maintain-a-good-freshwater-fishtank/

Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:08 pm GMT   Reply      

seven months ago...

Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:53 pm GMT   Reply      

haha, nice. Ive switched my way since this post. I have an ehiem 1260 that I pump water from my garage to my tank. I dont have to move ANYTHING except the hose from the garage to my tank. The end of the hose has a nozzle made by me.......I just pump it about 25 feet into the living room, works great. To siphon it.....I used the same trashcan....measured out how much a water change would be........marked the glass on the back so I know where to drain to.....bam, done, no spilling......because theres no where to spill....water goes straight down the bathroom drain......new water goes straight into the tank. Cant beat the simplicity. :)

Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:33 pm GMT   Reply      

I just make a huge mess most of the time. Last time my python, which was turned on full blast, poped out of the tank while I was in the bath room reversing the flow and water sprayed all over my computer and floor.

I'd say use a towel and be careful.