Spool for Water Changer?

Hey guys,

I use an Aqueon Water Changer for my tanks. I have to use a 50 ft one because my sink is so far away from my living room (where the aquariums are).

The problem I have is with storage. When I just wrap the hose up using my arm, the hose tends to kink.

What do you do to store your long water-changing hoses? Should I get a garden hose spool or something from Home Depot, or are there any smaller options that work well? These plastic hoses kink much easier than a garden hose, and I want to avoid that.

Thanks

 

Use a big plastic muck bucket. They are found at feed stores & commonly used when cleaning out horse stalls. Very inexpensive.
Plenty of room to wrap around a 50 ft. Hose into.

 

Saw these, but it looks like they would waste a lot of fresh water to run the suction when cleaning

Any comments on water wasteage from users?

 

Saw these, but it looks like they would waste a lot of fresh water to run the suction when cleaning

Any comments on water wasteage from users?

A lot of people mistakenly leave the tap running the entire time they are draining water. You only need to run water to start the suction, then you can turn the tap off. Really doesn't waste much, in my experience.

 

A lot of people mistakenly leave the tap running the entire time they are draining water. You only need to run water to start the suction, then you can turn the tap off. Really doesn't waste much, in my experience.

I saw it promoted for draining low tanks- I assume tanks lower than the sink - in that case it would need to stay running

Any idea what amount of new water must pass the fitting to draw the tank water through - would it be 50/50 ?

 

I don't have any tanks lower than the sink (at least not by much), so that's never been an issue for me.

No idea, but it only take a few moments of running the tap to get good suction going.

Wasting water hasn't been an issue for me: avoiding kinks and storing the plastic hosing has been more of a challenge. But maybe just coiling it into a wide-bottomed bucket as suggested will do the trick.

 

It's hard to explain but easy to show someone: over-under roll the hose. It's the only way to put away hoses and cords and have them tangle and twist free consistently as well as be able to use a partial spool.

You hold the end of the hose in one hand(let's say left), then with the hose hanging (not wrapping around your arm), alternate pulling loops over hand, then underhand with your right hand.

Found a video where he breaks it down very clear. He's wrapping xlr cables but it's the same with a hose:

If you do this right you should be able to walk right back to the faucet while wrapping without getting twists or tangles. Once you're there the storage solutions are endless. Outside I use a planter bucket, inside I have latching stackable tubs.

When you see that guy with an extension cord that looks like a candy cane is growing in it and trying to break free, it's because he wrapped it around his arm the same way for years. It's an easy way to start a fight in my garage to wrap one of my nicer air hoses that way.

Edit: Alejandro a single stage low pressure side injection venturi is commonly in the 40-50% differential pressure range and depending on your water pressure may draw somewhere from 10-30" of vacuum. It's not always a more pressure more max head lift thing either, venturis have a sweet spot. If you could find a multi stage that is tuned to your water pressure you can get it running better than 20% differential pressure so wasting 2 gallons down the drain would theoretically pull 10 gallons from the tank with no head. As far as I know the basic water changers are in the earlier group, so waste ~5 gallons to change 10 if lift is required.

 

We just shove our hose in a 5 gallon bucket. The hose doesn’t kink and it’s easy to carry the bucket with the hose and the pump to the next tank. I don’t use the faucet connector type changer, just pump old water outside and fill up my bathtub to fill. The hose is probably 45 feet.