Refilling your tank(s)

[Adam Gottschalk]

I don't know what most folks do, but I quickly grew tired of heaving
buckets of water up on top of my desk to refill my 15-gallon tank--and I
haven't even started on my 40-gallon one yet! In addition, I mention
this because I thought it could be of use to some, though I am not in a
wheelchair, I am disabled, certainly "balance challenged" would be an
operative phrase. So I could pretty much guarantee the occurrence of at
least one major episode of major spillage.

So I got a power head, connected 8 feet of vinyl hose to it, and now I
wheel my home-made dolly-board with readied water out to the tank, pump
in the bottom of the bucket, and plug 'er in. I got a Maxi-Jet 900, I
think ($16?) and it pumps the 3 feet or so at a nice speed, not to fast,
not too slow. Tomorrow, I'll go get a box and a flip switch and drill it
into the dolly-board so I can turn the pump on an off instantly, rather
than having to yank an electric cord out of a socket (especially in the
close company of water). Not a big deal, but for me, it makes life a
whole lot easier and safer.

[Chris Palma]

I made a good mess my first few times doing water changes on my 75
gallon, so I did basically the same thing. The difference is that I
bought a low power pond pump. It makes water changes go very quickly and
I haven't had to sop up water on the floor the last two times. :)



On Tue, 4 May 2004, Adam Gottschalk wrote:

>
> I don't know what most folks do, but I quickly grew tired of heaving
> buckets of water up on top of my desk to refill my 15-gallon tank--and I
> haven't even started on my 40-gallon one yet! In addition, I mention
> this because I thought it could be of use to some, though I am not in a
> wheelchair, I am disabled, certainly "balance challenged" would be an
> operative phrase. So I could pretty much guarantee the occurrence of at
> least one major episode of major spillage.
>
> So I got a power head, connected 8 feet of vinyl hose to it, and now I
> wheel my home-made dolly-board with readied water out to the tank, pump
> in the bottom of the bucket, and plug 'er in. I got a Maxi-Jet 900, I
> think ($16?) and it pumps the 3 feet or so at a nice speed, not to fast,
> not too slow. Tomorrow, I'll go get a box and a flip switch and drill it
> into the dolly-board so I can turn the pump on an off instantly, rather
> than having to yank an electric cord out of a socket (especially in the
> close company of water). Not a big deal, but for me, it makes life a
> whole lot easier and safer.
>



NB: This email address is dead. If you would like to email me directly,
please use: cpalmaATSYMBOLastro.psu.edu

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Get a Python - No Spill and Clean - they are the business!!!!!
They do use a lot of tap water though (especially if your tank
is big). It will suck water out (and gravel vac) and put water
back in.

[NetMax]

"Adam Gottschalk" > wrote in message
...
>
> I don't know what most folks do, but I quickly grew tired of heaving
> buckets of water up on top of my desk to refill my 15-gallon tank--and
I
> haven't even started on my 40-gallon one yet! In addition, I mention
> this because I thought it could be of use to some, though I am not in a
> wheelchair, I am disabled, certainly "balance challenged" would be an
> operative phrase. So I could pretty much guarantee the occurrence of at
> least one major episode of major spillage.
>
> So I got a power head, connected 8 feet of vinyl hose to it, and now I
> wheel my home-made dolly-board with readied water out to the tank, pump
> in the bottom of the bucket, and plug 'er in. I got a Maxi-Jet 900, I
> think ($16?) and it pumps the 3 feet or so at a nice speed, not to
fast,
> not too slow. Tomorrow, I'll go get a box and a flip switch and drill
it
> into the dolly-board so I can turn the pump on an off instantly, rather
> than having to yank an electric cord out of a socket (especially in the
> close company of water). Not a big deal, but for me, it makes life a
> whole lot easier and safer.

Kewl :o) Is there any other hobby which has so many DIY gadgets
associated with it (mechanical for feeders, chemical for water
modifications, fluidic for water movement, electrical for controls, etc
etc).

If I can add to your excellent idea (which only requires everything to be
on the same floor ;~). Is there room on your dolly for a 2nd bucket and
a watering can? That way you can cart over a full &, an empty bucket to
fill during the water change. The watering can gets filled too, for
watering the house plants ;~).

If the gravel-vacuum hose you use will slip over your faucet (simplifies
filling the source pail) and slips over your powerhead, then you can
gravel vac into the empty pail, and then break the suction and move the
hose over to the powerhead to refill the tank. I suggest you invest in
one of these progressive hand clamps with the plastic ends, sold at
hardware stores. They let you clamp the hose to the tank, so you can
easily handle the pail-end of the hose without anything slipping to the
floor (it's like a third hand).

I would also suggest plugging the powerhead in before you start your
gravel vacuuming. The powerhead would harmless stir the water around in
your source pail (a little aeration doesn't hurt), so you don't have to
go near a switch with wet hands. When the gravel vacuuming is complete,
slip the hose end from the waste pail into the powerhead outlet (this is
where you need the clamp holding the other end of the hose in the tank
;~). The water will squirt a bit while you are fitting the hose on, but
at the bottom of a 5 or 6g pail, it shouldn't splash upwards.

If the source pail's water volume is the same (or slightly more) than the
waste pail, then you don't need to rush to disconnect the powerhead's
electrical plug. Let it run dry and as soon as you hear the air, you can
calmly (with dry hands) unplug the power cord :~)

Other options, besides using a Python type water changer, some people use
holding tanks which are located above their waterline. Drain/gravel vac
as usual, and then open a valve to allow water to gravity fill your
tank(s).

Just a few odd ideas.
--
http://www.NetMax.tk/

[Adam Gottschalk]

In article >,
"NetMax" > wrote:

> If I can add to your excellent idea (which only requires everything to be
> on the same floor ;~). Is there room on your dolly for a 2nd bucket and
> a watering can? That way you can cart over a full &, an empty bucket to
> fill during the water change. The watering can gets filled too, for
> watering the house plants ;~).
>
> If the gravel-vacuum hose you use will slip over your faucet (simplifies
> filling the source pail) and slips over your powerhead, then you can
> gravel vac into the empty pail, and then break the suction and move the
> hose over to the powerhead to refill the tank. I suggest you invest in
> one of these progressive hand clamps with the plastic ends, sold at
> hardware stores. They let you clamp the hose to the tank, so you can
> easily handle the pail-end of the hose without anything slipping to the
> floor (it's like a third hand).
>
> I would also suggest plugging the powerhead in before you start your
> gravel vacuuming. The powerhead would harmless stir the water around in
> your source pail (a little aeration doesn't hurt), so you don't have to
> go near a switch with wet hands. When the gravel vacuuming is complete,
> slip the hose end from the waste pail into the powerhead outlet (this is
> where you need the clamp holding the other end of the hose in the tank
> ;~). The water will squirt a bit while you are fitting the hose on, but
> at the bottom of a 5 or 6g pail, it shouldn't splash upwards.
>
> If the source pail's water volume is the same (or slightly more) than the
> waste pail, then you don't need to rush to disconnect the powerhead's
> electrical plug. Let it run dry and as soon as you hear the air, you can
> calmly (with dry hands) unplug the power cord :~)

Thanks for the tips! Yes, my dolly board has room for three 5-gal
buckets, and the idea of using vacuum water for the plants is great. I
see what you're saying about using the same hose, but hose is cheap and
having one permanently attached to the vacuum and one permanently
attached to the pump is not a problem. Good to know about letting the
powerhead run dry; already I was wondering if I really needed to
scramble to turn it off before it started sucking air. And I'll
definitely be getting a couple of clamps for the purpose you mention.

[NetMax]

"Adam Gottschalk" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "NetMax" > wrote:
>
> > If I can add to your excellent idea (which only requires everything
to be
> > on the same floor ;~). Is there room on your dolly for a 2nd bucket
and
> > a watering can? That way you can cart over a full &, an empty bucket
to
> > fill during the water change. The watering can gets filled too, for
> > watering the house plants ;~).
> >
> > If the gravel-vacuum hose you use will slip over your faucet
(simplifies
> > filling the source pail) and slips over your powerhead, then you can
> > gravel vac into the empty pail, and then break the suction and move
the
> > hose over to the powerhead to refill the tank. I suggest you invest
in
> > one of these progressive hand clamps with the plastic ends, sold at
> > hardware stores. They let you clamp the hose to the tank, so you can
> > easily handle the pail-end of the hose without anything slipping to
the
> > floor (it's like a third hand).
> >
> > I would also suggest plugging the powerhead in before you start your
> > gravel vacuuming. The powerhead would harmless stir the water around
in
> > your source pail (a little aeration doesn't hurt), so you don't have
to
> > go near a switch with wet hands. When the gravel vacuuming is
complete,
> > slip the hose end from the waste pail into the powerhead outlet (this
is
> > where you need the clamp holding the other end of the hose in the
tank
> > ;~). The water will squirt a bit while you are fitting the hose on,
but
> > at the bottom of a 5 or 6g pail, it shouldn't splash upwards.
> >
> > If the source pail's water volume is the same (or slightly more) than
the
> > waste pail, then you don't need to rush to disconnect the powerhead's
> > electrical plug. Let it run dry and as soon as you hear the air, you
can
> > calmly (with dry hands) unplug the power cord :~)
>
> Thanks for the tips! Yes, my dolly board has room for three 5-gal
> buckets, and the idea of using vacuum water for the plants is great. I
> see what you're saying about using the same hose, but hose is cheap and
> having one permanently attached to the vacuum and one permanently
> attached to the pump is not a problem. Good to know about letting the
> powerhead run dry; already I was wondering if I really needed to
> scramble to turn it off before it started sucking air. And I'll
> definitely be getting a couple of clamps for the purpose you mention.

Just to clarify in case someone gets the wrong impression, powerheads
cannot be run dry, as the impeller's rotor is lubricated by the water.
If they truly went 'dry', the rotor would contact the impeller walls and
score and melt them, or if the design uses a centre ceramic rod, then I
think that the motor would overhead (the water also cools the motor).

In your application, pumping water up several feet, the powerhead does
not actually run dry. As soon as there is enough air in the hose, the
water will bounce up & down in the hose against the impeller blades, so
the powerhead will 'tread' water instead of pushing it. In this mode, it
will not come to any damage in the few seconds it takes to unplug it.
With enough water sloshing around, I think a powerhead can safely 'tread'
water for several minutes with no damage.
--
http://www.NetMax.tk/

[flupke]

Adam Gottschalk wrote:
> I don't know what most folks do, but I quickly grew tired of heaving
> buckets of water up on top of my desk to refill my 15-gallon
> tank--and I haven't even started on my 40-gallon one yet! In
> addition, I mention this because I thought it could be of use to
> some, though I am not in a wheelchair, I am disabled, certainly
> "balance challenged" would be an operative phrase. So I could pretty
> much guarantee the occurrence of at least one major episode of major
> spillage.
>
> So I got a power head, connected 8 feet of vinyl hose to it, and now I
> wheel my home-made dolly-board with readied water out to the tank,
> pump in the bottom of the bucket, and plug 'er in. I got a Maxi-Jet
> 900, I think ($16?) and it pumps the 3 feet or so at a nice speed,
> not to fast, not too slow. Tomorrow, I'll go get a box and a flip
> switch and drill it into the dolly-board so I can turn the pump on an
> off instantly, rather than having to yank an electric cord out of a
> socket (especially in the close company of water). Not a big deal,
> but for me, it makes life a whole lot easier and safer.

That's an excellent idea. I think i have an old pump lying around
somewhere so finally it's going to be put to good use :)

flupke