Water Changes Made Easy…For The Serious Aquarist

I know most of you dred the one thing that needs to be done more often the most of us would like to….Water Changes.  I got very tired as my tank collection grew (which totals over 1,000 gallons now combined), so I built a system in the basement, where all of my tanks are, that simplifies and speeds the process of water changes.   For those of you who dabble in plumbing, all the easier.  

Heres what you can do, if you have the room…..the time….a little bit of money…..and a bit of ambition.

Purchase the folowing items:

• A 55 gallon polyethylene drum (or two if you have alot of tanks)

For each drum you’ll need:

•  
  • 1 - 150 -250 watt submersible heater (Titanium shell series with the external wall mountable temperature controller)
  • 1 - Air Pump
  • 1 - Air Stone
  • 6 Feet of air-line tubing
  • 1 - Mag 500 Sump Pump (Same type that you would place in an aquarium sump)
  • 6 feet of 3/4 Hose for pump discharge

  • Some hose clamps and teflon tape

• A bunch of 1/2″ PVC pipe fittings (Elbows, couplings, Tees…enough to do the job)
• 1/2″ PVC pipe, and PVC Ball valves for 1/2″ pipe
• PVC Primer and Pvc Pipe Cement.
• Python water chage kit (You’ll use some of the parts)

Heres what you do…

Set aside a corner of the basement or closet or utility room for the 55 gallon drum.  Drill or cut 3 holes in the top of the drum (or install adpters) for   A) 1″ Hole for a Water Fill Connector (To connect to your cold water supply to refill the tank after you use water for a water change), B) Large 6″ hole for inserting the pump, heater and air stone into the drum.    C) 1″ Hole for suspending a pool thermometer (Use to check the water temp BEFORE doing a water change).   Connect your cold water supply to the water fill connector (can be a quick disconnect type) on the drum using a reinforced flex hose (Like a Washing Machine Hose).   Install the 6′ piece of 3/4″ hose onto the output of the pump and lower it into the drum through the 6″ hole, make sure it is at the bottom of the drum.   Lower the Titanium shell heater into the drum, make sure it is at the bottom of the drum.   Connect the air-line tubing to the air stone, use a nylon cable tie to strap a small rock onto the tubing near the air stone to weight it down, and lower the air stone into the drum through the 6″ hole.   Fill the drum with water until it is just below the opening of the 6″ hole, will probably take 15 minutes or so to fill it.   Run PVC piping as you wish (above ceiling, behind wall, etc.) from a point near the 55 gallon drum to your tank(s) just above water surface where the water will travel from the drum to fill your tank.   Run another length of piping (Water Removal Pipe) parallel to the first, from the tank ( about 1/2 way into the tank from the top) to an area near a slop sink, or other area where the waste water will exit the house to the sewer, cess pool, or garden (Preferred).   Connect the pipe from the aquarium that will be used to fill the tank to the 3/4″ hose exiting the 55 gallon drum with desired fittings (Include Ball Valve).  Connect the PVC pipe from the tank used draw water out of tank to a few feet of Python tubing near the slop sink that has the Python faucet connector and suction aparatus on it, install a ball valve there. (Buy the short Python kit from the aquarium store).   Install two small outlet strips that have an on/off switch on them on the wall above the drum.  Label one “PUMP”, the other “Heater and Stone”.   (I actually hard wired a pair of duplex outlets to 2 wall switches and labelled the wall plates, but if you are not good at electrical work, use the outlet strip method).   Connect the airline tubing to the air pump, place air pump on top of the drum and plug air pump into the “Heater and Stone” labelled outlet strip.   Make sure both outlet strips are off at this time!  Plug the heater into the “Heater and Stone” outlet strip.   Plug the water pump into the “PUMP” labelled outlet strip.   Tie a piece of fishing line to the pool thermometer and lower it through the 1″ hole into the drum, connect the other end to a piece of pipe or pipe fitting larger than the 1″ hole to suspend the thermometer in the water about 6″ above the bottom of the drum.   Turn ON the “Heater and Stone” outlet strip…the air stone will aerate the water in the drum which will aid in releasing the chlorine from the water as well as keeping the water from stagnating.  The heater will begin to heat the water in the drum which may take a few hours depending on the temperature of the water, and the wattage of your heater, a bigger heater will heat the water faster.  It should not take more than 8 hours to heat the water from standard tap temperature to 75 degrees F, if it does, you need to get a more powerful heater (I use the 250 watt version, I dont have to wait as long for the water to heat up). 

Once the temperature reaches 75, the chlorine will also be out of the water (Ive proven this through testing)  Chloramines take longer to disperse so you might still want to add water conditioner to the drum, but I never have and the levels are always 0 after an overnight aeration and heat-up.  YOU ARE NOW READY TO DO A WATER CHANGE USING THE NEW SYSTEM!

To do a water change:

• Check the water Temperature of the water in the 55 gallon drum.
• Turn off the filtration and heater units in the aquarium
• Connect the Python Hose apparatus to the faucet.
• Turn the ball valve near the Python and faucet on the water removal pipe to the Open position.
• Turn on the faucet, pressure on high.
• When water level in the aquarium drops to level desired (usually 25% of the water removed), turn off the faucet and turn the ball valve to the Closed position (If you dont water will continue to siphon from tank)
• Go to the drum and turn the ball valve on the Water fill pipe to the Open position.
• Turn off the “Heater and Stone” outlet strip
• Turn ON the “Pump” outlet strip.
• Keep watch on the aquarium, and when water reaches the desired level in the aquarium, turn off the “Pump” oulet strip first, and then close the ball valve.
• To Refill the drum simply turn on the valve from the water supply to fill to just below 6″ hole as before.
• When the water is refilled in the 55 gallon drum, turn the “Heater and Stone” outlet strip back on.
• Turn back on, the Aquariums Heater and Filtration units.

You have just completed your water change.

You didnt have to worry about chlorine, you didnt have to worry about water temp, you didnt have to get out hoses and buckets…the whole process should take about 20-30 minutes, depending on size of aquarium and volume of water replaced.

Using this system, You have enough ready water on hand to do a 25% water change on up to 200 gallons of aquariums approx. every 8 hours if required. 

Enjoy your aquariums…