How Do You Move Large Amounts Of Water? Also How Do You Handle Electrical Needs?

I am getting my first large (at least large to me) fish tank. It is 40 gallons. How do I go about doing water changes? With my 10 and 15 gallon its in small enough quantities that I can just use a little bucket and a few gallon jugs. Any better way to do this? I'm upgrading all of my tanks so now I have a 40 gallon, a 29, and a 20 high. Compared to the 15 and 3.5 gallon I have now its a big change and this is where I am confused on what to do.

Also as a side question...

All three tanks are along the same wall so I am running out of power outlets fast. I currently have one surge protector plugged into the closest socket but I was wondering if anyone on here has done or knows if plugging a second surge protector into the same socket would be dangerous? I am going to need around 10 or 11 plugs so this is a concern of mine.

 

I use a water python. The only real challenge I have is making the new water the right temperature. It's easier to adjust with a bucket. What I end up doing is pointing the end of the python at my tank thermometer and make small adjustments as I see the temperature readout change. (Digital readout with a probe type.)

I use one surge protector mounted vertically on the back of my stand. I would suggest getting a surge protector with 12 outlets before plugging 2 into the same outlet. What are you running that takes that many outlets? I run the filter, lights, 2 heaters, a spray bar, and had a sponge on an air pump for seeding a smaller tank and still wasn't anywhere near that many plugs.

 

Sorry, didn't realize you're running 3 tanks. I would try and use 2 different sockets honestly. Heaters pull a ton of power for short bursts. If that isn't an option then I would go with my earlier suggestion of a bigger surge protector. You could also probably use a bigger air pump with a gang for different tanks if you're using 3 air pumps currently.

 

For the water changes, I would recommend the Aqueon or Python vacuums which connect to the faucet. No buckets to lift/spill.

For power. It is strongly recommended not to daisy chain surge protectors.
If the wall outlet has 2 plugs, you can plug one into each BUT you still have to make sure you're not overloading the circuit (both outlets likely share the circuit). OR get a surge protector with more outlets but the same thing applies. If you're not sure, you can get a kill-o-watt meter to give you an idea of power usage.

 

See if you can go to your local electrical store and ask if they do plug sockets meant for offices, my dad works for a company that do electrical stuff and he made me one that has 15 sockets in 1 long strip

 

Thanks for the great advice and information! There is one outlet a little down an adjacent wall that I will probably end up putting a second surge protector in. It will be a little ugly but I would rather be safe than burn the house down or break something important.

As for the vacuum, will it hook up to a bathroom sink faucet? Or will they only hook up to a certain type of faucet?

 

Thanks for the great advice and information! There is one outlet a little down an adjacent wall that I will probably end up putting a second surge protector in. It will be a little ugly but I would rather be safe than burn the house down or break something important.

As for the vacuum, will it hook up to a bathroom sink faucet? Or will they only hook up to a certain type of faucet?

I definitely agree with safe than sorry. Chances are the wall outlet you're talking about is tied to the same circuit as the one you're currently using. You can look at all the equipment you have running and get an idea of total power used. MOST home circuits are 15 or 20 amps. You will likely be fine but with the number of items, I would do the math. Another thing to keep in mind is what else may share that circuit (kitchen, living room..etc).

ex. 300W heater will use approximately 2.5Amps max (US). Watts / Voltage = Amps



For the vacuum. Probably. The aerator will need to be able to thread off the faucet.

 

I still do my water changes the old fashioned way, with buckets. I have 1 5 gallon for the waste water but only fill it up to 4 gallons at a time. That is about all I can lift each of the 4 times I have to do it each week. After all I am almost 70 years old so I just consider it good exercise.

For refilling I have 1 4 gallon and 1 2 gallon bucket. I temp match and add conditioner to the water in the 4 gallon set in my kitchen sink. I then dip 2 gallons over to the 2 gallon bucket and carry it to the tank. I have to fill the 4 gallon 4 times thus the 2 gallon 8 times.

I guess I am just old and set in my ways but I am not comfortable with adding unconditioned water to my tank the way one has to do it with a python type system. The only water that touches my tank has already been conditioned. I think I can hear my fish thanking me for my effort

 

Sounds good! I think I'll have to do it the old fashioned way to since none of the faucets in the house have the part where you can screw things on. Curse these fancy faucets!

 

I am very careful with my buckets too. I bought them 'specially for my tank thus they have never been used for anything else. I also make sure nothing from the air can contaminate them such as spray air fresheners. Even then I rinse out the 4 and 2 gallon buckets before each use. I don't have to be as careful with the 5 gallon since it is for waste water.

 

I'm old and like to let my water age for a day. I age it in 32 gallon brute trashcans. I use pond pumps to get the water from the can to the tank. I have 20ft runs of hose for siphon/vacuum, that go down the first available sink/toilet/window.
On one of the cans, I have wheels! Don't try that at home.

 

I use a 12 plug grounded, circuit breaker'd strip plugged in to a ground fault.

 

I concur the Kill-A-Watt idea. Actually, I think such a device should be at every household. It can bring lots of interesting discoveries (e.g. how much energy that media server / HTPC that is always on consumes or how much it costs to run an electric smoker for 6 hours to get some smoked ribs (spoiler: smoker is negligible in energy costs contrary to my intuitive assumption).

I was running some tests on different fish tank equipment and from what I see the only heavy load comes from heaters. Even a very huge 75gal Marineland HOB filter is constantly consuming 8-9 watts; LED lights and air pumps are not big on consumption either.

With that in mind, I personally see no issue with running 4 heaters (3x50w, 1x300w), 4 filters, some LEDs and 1 air pump all on one outlet. Probably won't go up to 600W even with all stuff on, which is well below what any wall outlet should be capable of safely supporting.

I also found this device simply amazing - Rosewill RPS-200. From time to time Newegg runs rebates on it making it virtually free. Next time I see it, I'll post it here

 

Sounds good! I think I'll have to do it the old fashioned way to since none of the faucets in the house have the part where you can screw things on. Curse these fancy faucets!

I haven't seen many faucets that you can't change the aerator and filter on. You most likely don't recognize it. They can be difficult to unscrew but once you remove them they get pretty easy to screw and unscrew again. You have to have something so you can remove hard water deposits and other debris that may build up and block water flow. If you upload a photo of where the water comes out we can explain more easily. The only issue would be the type of thread. That problem is easily solved if you have the wrong type as adapters are easily obtained.

 

Thank you for all the help! I really appreciate everyone's advice. I will try to post some pics of the faucets at my house as I would love to be able to use a vacuum. If not I will stick to the old fashioned way.

 

I have an aquion water changer similar to the python. I hate it. It wastes so much water. I found a cheap bulb siphon at a hardware store hooked it up to some garden hose and run it out the front door. To refill I hook a garden hose to the sink temp match by feel and refill. Bigger tanks are way more forgiving with temp fluctuations. Ive even refilled with cold water when our water heater broke. A 25% water change dropped tank temp 3 degrees. Anothet option to refill is put the stopper in the sink and use a small pond pump.

 

You do realize that you don't have to keep the water going once the vacuum water reaches the sink, right? I don't even drain into a sink anymore unless it's freezing cold, I just drain to my front yard.

 

Yea I do have to keep water running. Sink is higher than my tank. The simple hose out the door works better. Lol. That's what I do too but thought oh this looks neat.

 

Ah ok. That makes sense lol.

 

I'm with mattgirl, I use buckets. I have 2 five gallon buckets for waste water but the most I will lift to pour back in is a 3 gallon bucket.

I do call it my strength training exercise. I disliked the wasteful way the python pulled water out and the heavy wet tubing was hard to store and never dried out.

I change out 18 to 20 gal in my 46 bow that way every week.

 

I would probably use buckets for that tank if it's the only one. 55 and up I would use a python. I do 50 percent minimum when I do a water change so it's easy just to do other things while the tank fills.

 

I don't like how the python wastes water when draining a tank.

My sink is higher than the tanks, so shutting off the water after the siphon starts doesn't work for me.

I'm planning on getting a pump to attach to a compatible hose for draining the tanks.

 

Water pump and some tubing is working great for me. So it’s sort of a hybrid bucket-almost-python method.
Pump drops right into the tank to drain water, w 6ft hose dumping straight into sink (I’m lucky it’s so close, but it could just as easily be 20 ft to a bathroom sink or even toilet). Vertical difference is negligible but see below as to why it doesn’t matter.
To refill, I fill a 5 gallon bucket in the sink, conditioned and temp matched, then carry it to beside the tank. Then the pump goes into the bucket, and the outlet tube into the tank (watch out for a reverse flow if u turn off the pump). The only lifting is from the sink to the floor by the tank.
Pump was $25CAN, around 250gph w head height of around 5 ft (head height is how high it can push water). Which is nice cause it really attenuates the flow coming into the tank, so no raging torrents.

 

Water pump and some tubing is working great for me. So it’s sort of a hybrid bucket-almost-python method.
Pump drops right into the tank to drain water, w 6ft hose dumping straight into sink (I’m lucky it’s so close, but it could just as easily be 20 ft to a bathroom sink or even toilet). Vertical difference is negligible but see below as to why it doesn’t matter.
To refill, I fill a 5 gallon bucket in the sink, conditioned and temp matched, then carry it to beside the tank. Then the pump goes into the bucket, and the outlet tube into the tank (watch out for a reverse flow if u turn off the pump). The only lifting is from the sink to the floor by the tank.
Pump was $25CAN, around 250gph w head height of around 5 ft (head height is how high it can push water). Which is nice cause it really attenuates the flow coming into the tank, so no raging torrents.

That is very similar to how I do my water changes. The only difference is I siphon the water from the tank into buckets that I dump outside( in the garden during the growing season). I love using the pump to get the water out of the buckets and into the tank.

 

That is very similar to how I do my water changes. The only difference is I siphon the water from the tank into buckets that I dump outside( in the garden during the growing season). I love using the pump to get the water out of the buckets and into the tank.

My house plants and flower gardens really appreciate the water that comes from my tank too. they have never been so healthy During the winter I only need enough for the house plants so some has to be poured down the drain though. Sure hate having to waste all that good water.

I have 2 pieces of 1 inch ridged tubing connected together to make a 24 inch tube. I have that connected to a 6 foot long piece of flexible tubing. Back when I had gravel in my tank it worked perfectly for getting all the stuff out of the gravel just by kinda stirring it around through the gravel as I was siphoning the water out. . Now I just set it in one corner of the tank set about 2 inches up from the sand....start the siphon and let it flow into my waste water bucket.

It I ever reach the point of not being able to lift the buckets I will look into some kind of pump system but until then this way works for me.

 

milk jugs, milk jugs, milk jugs.

 

Thanks everyone! I am going to just stick to the bucket way of changing things but I appreciate everyone's input!