"green" water changes for large tanks

[NDsuperduty]

Im sitting here doing a water change on my new 200g with the water going full blast on my store sink working the python, and even though I am not some hippie worried about the earth all the time I do find this too be a huge waste of water. Does anyone use a gravity siphon to change the water on a large tank? How big of a tube do you need so it doesn't take forever?

[barrettsline]

"green" water changes for large tanks

I use a 1" hose from lowes. I can do a 75% change on my 210 in about 30-40 minutes. That's drained and refilled.

[TangoMIke]

I use gravity and cart it into the yard to water the trees vegetables and plants. Call it my exercise LOL. But I do get nice tomatoes....

[tbui1178]

I use a 3/4" garden hose. Not sure how long it takes to drain, but the entire process is about 45min on my 300g. I take water down 80%.

[mistahoo]

Re: "green" water changes for large tanks

I used to use a powerhead or pump with a hose connected to it on my 100g. Now I use what you use on the 100g and use the powerhead with hose on my 30g. I do 100% water change in about 20min on a 100g and about 5 on my 30g. I drain & refill at the same time to avoid stressing the fish.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

[mistahoo]

Re: "green" water changes for large tanks

You can also use a 1" hose and run the water on the python until a siphon is started. It'll be slower but more "green" so to say

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

[NDsuperduty]

"green" water changes for large tanks

I have a few ideas I may try, but before I wasted my time I wanted to see if others tried it.

Way I see it we already waste more water than the average person by having aquariums, so it only makes since to attempt to limit as much excess waste as possible.

[SunnyHouTX]

I waste more water than the average aquarist when I do water changes. On the plus side, I do have a nice green patch in front of my apartment

[mistahoo]

Suck on a tube for a more "green" water change! The larger the tube the better!

[Totenkampf]

i have a large powerhead with a 3/4" hose siliconed over the nozzle. that gets the WC done pretty quickly. I also have a manifold on my 75G that i can use to reroute the canister filter exhaust out to a sink. since i live in the country and have an aerobic septic system, 100% of the water ends up watering the landscape so i dont feel too badly about it.

i have rigged a magnum 350 up to a gravel vac before and that worked pretty well and gave me the flexibility to just vacuum with the return staying in the tank or to do a WC at the same time.

[crazy42bmx]

Yea, i just pump it out of the tank via hoses and water the trees plant n what not in the front of my apt. At least the waters being used and not wasted down a drain. Its really good on trees n stuff too.

[troy tucker]

I use a 1/2" water hose its 75ft and I water my yard. The tank is 40" off the floor and another 12" out the door. It will run the sprinkler for about 30 min. on a 90% change. I still use a bucket for small tanks and just vac. but all water goes to the plants...

[waterdog]

Has anyone ever thought of how much water you use to flush your toilet. It is the the second most useful way to utilize used tank water.

[wesleydnunder]

I plumbed a 3/4" pvc line through the back wall of the fish room to a hose bib outside. The inside fitting mates with the hose fitting on the python. One I start the syphon I connect the python to the inside fitting and run the hose outside to the plum trees or the garden. It takes a little longer to drain but I feel better about where the wastewater is going.

Mark