Prefiltering water for water changes.

HI Ken

I hope you don't mind me putting a public post up but as I don't have 50 posts yet I can't pm you, feel free to move this to another location if needs be, but anyway my question.

You mentioned in previous threads i've read that you have a tank that you use to do water changes and then pump the water into your main tank....I was wondering if you have any pictures of your set up? i've checked your profile pictures but just found pics of your actual tanks.
I'm just curious as I will be getting a tank soon and looking for the best set up Idea's

Thanks

Stephen

 

Hello Poseidon,

I just use a plain 29 gallon aquarium to prefilter, heat and treat my water for water changes going into the main tank. This tank is completely bare, nothing in it at all other than water and chemicals (Amquel +, Nova Aqua + and Immune Plus) I use an Aqua Clear 70 (300gph) on this tank and it filters for 5 days prior to my water changes. Nothing fancy at all

In the AC 70 I have sponges and activated carbon and that's it.

I use a Mag Drive 700 (because that is the pump I had on hand as a spare from an old set up) in the link below:

You could use a pump with a smaller gph if you wanted and it would be a bit cheaper too.

I simply add clear tubing onto the pump, set it in the 29 gallon tank and pump the water from there to my other tanks. Again, nothing fancy

I'm doing a water change today so I'll try and get some photos for you. It's going to be a while though, but I'll be happy to.

Ken

 

That would be great Ken thank you.
And thanks for all the information as well. I'm just not very excited about the prospect of carrying buckets of water back and forth and the Pyton doesn't interest me cause of the water waste.

Thanks again

 

I hope you don't mind me posting here Poseidon seeing as you have said this is specifically for Ken but I thought I'd show you the water change system that I use. Just follow this link to my Tang tank & scroll down the page a little:


I've just used a 65lt plastic bin & a 500lt/hr pump on this particular tank as it's only a small tank but I run the same system on my large tank with an old tank instead of the bin & a 800lt/hr pump. The water flow is controlled by poly pipe & two taps so that I can either circulate the water within the preparation container or pump it into the main tank.

 

I'm all done Yeah!!!!!

Here are some photos you asked for The first 3 are just plain shots of my 29g, in the back ground on the dresser. Right outside the door is a spigot and hose I use to fill the tank.
In the 3rd photo you'll notice I use a surface skimmer. I have well water and sometimes silt will float on top of the water and this helps to remove it.

I have 7 photos total. I'll merge my posts once I have them all uploaded.

My cat Gabby likes to help with water changes She went to the beauty shop yesterday so she is sporting her new summer cut :shock:

Ken

These 4 shots are of the Mag Drive 700 pump that I use to pump the water to the 265g. I only use the pump for this one tank. For Wriggley's tank which is on the opposite side of the room from the 29g, I simply use air line tubing and siphon the water from tank to tank. By using the small tubing helps with acclimation since it has a slow flow. I can't stress my boy Wriggley.

When I go to do a water change for my new 33g, which is right below the 29g, I'm simply going to siphon it from tank to tank, no pump.

You'll see on the 2nd photo I've added a micron (50) pad on the intake of the pump. This helps to prevent debris from going into the impeller area and too adds another step in additional filtration.

Ken

 

The reason I use the Mag Drive pump is because once the water level of the 29 gallon tank gets below the rI'm of the 265g tank the flow stops without it.

Ken

 

Aw, lovely cat!!

What a great idea, now I know how it's all done, I did wonder to when I read that other thread before!! Very interesting.

 

Thanks Tigerfishy! I'll let her know. She wasn't too thrilled that I had the ottoman in OUR favorite chair so that I had room to play I gave her a treat and she's fine now!

It's all very plain and simple set up.

Ken

I've edited the title so that everyone can share and benefit from any information provided. I also moved the thread to the Water Changes section of the forum.
Thanks!
Ken

 

Thanks a million Ken that's really helpful.....and nutter no I don't mind at all....only reason I asked Ken directly was because I saw him mention his set up in another post......but I am interested in anyone;s setup that doesn't involves buckets

 

Hello Poseidon,

I'm glad it helped you!

Ken

 

I aerate my water for a few hours before I do water changes. I just use a 20 gal rubbermaid container, along with a submersible pump. I let the pump circulate the water in the container until I'm ready, then I just pump it into the tank. I found an inexpensive plug-in remote control outlet to be SUPER-handy for this. It lets me stand by the tank, and turn the pump on and off from afar. I use: