How to make a python for water changes

Just a quick thread to show ye how this works, a great piece of kit for people with large tanks.

This is the main part of the python



The parts needed are as follows

Round Tap Connector X 1

End connector's X 4

Stop Connector X 1

Y Connector X 1

All these parts can be got from your local diy store

You will also need to cut 2 short pieces of hose about 5 or 6 cm long.

When you have this made connect it to the tap and place the end of the hose in your tank, suction cups are handy for holding it in place put the end of the hose down to the level you want the tank to drain to, then remove the Stop Connector from the python

See pic below



For this to work ideally you would nead to have the top of your tank higher up than your sink Im not sure if this will work on smaller tanks.

when you turn on your tap some of the water will flow out the Y Connector and some will flow towards the tank this will force air out of the end of the hose, when you see some bubbles coming out of the end of the hose turn off the tap, this will allow the water in the hose flow back to the Y Connector and into the sink also creating a syphon from the tank.
The water will drain from the tank down to the level of the end of the hose



While the tank drains i cut back plants, clean the glass and boil water for refilling
I boil about 6 kettles of water to refill 100L and keep the temprature stable, you still need a bucket to bring the boiling water back to a resionable tenprature so the fish will not get burned at this time of year water from the tap would be in single figures but im hoping when the weather warms up i can refill straight from the tap.

This is the stop section connected to a end connector with a short piece of hose







If you wanted to save a few quid you could just connect the hose to the Y conector and tape it on, i had to heat the end of the hose to get the y conector on so its a tight fit, this would save you you buying 2 End connector's



Anyone using 1 of these should be carefull of sudden drops in tempatures or rises in tempatures, my tank will drop about 3 degrees while i do a water change but thats over about 3 hours wich gives me time to clean the tank and filters.

surprisingly i find that endlers love to swim into the ice cold water


LB

nice one LB, this is a great piece of info

Lb,

thats super.

I got a Rio 300 and was dreading water changes! Do you put tap water directly into the tank? Do you not have to treat it first?

Looks great LB.What is the cost for all the parts.

Great post LB fair dues on putting in the effort
with the pics etc.

I did my 1st water change by bucket when I 1st got
the 350L, never again lol. 9 trips with a 20L water drum
in & out and then treating each drum individually too! Took hours

2nd time what I did was cut my garden hose in half, put half
onto my gravel cleaner then ran it out to the back door,
this way as as I'm doing a gravel clean I'm also draining for
a water change too.

Then I run the other garden hose from the tap back into the
tank to refill it and mix the conditioners in accordingly.

Usually I'll run the tap slow so it fills back up over a
couple of hours so as not to drop the temperature too much,
other times I'll just stop short and throw a few kettles in on top.


I do my water changes sitting in front of the TV not running in
and out of the house carring buckets and spilling it all over the floor.

Thats a great idea above folks, yid be mad to be doing it manually
on bigger tanks imho


I do a 50% WC/gravel clean/glass clean every weekend with conditioners
thrown in afterwards with unheated water and their breeding so
their happy as Larry.
And when I got Hannibal with the tank he had severe hole-in-the-head
which has just about fully filled in and covered over so conditions
are perfect and clean as possible for them all.
Fish dont live in stable 78F water in the wild nor is their
river water usually labrotory conditions either!

6 hour manual water changes...........Fawhhgeddaboudittttt

Puggy wrote:

Lb,

thats super.

I got a Rio 300 and was dreading water changes! Do you put tap water directly into the tank? Do you not have to treat it first?

In an ideal world water should be treated first but i dont think it will do any harm to treat the water in the tank.

LB

Orca wrote:

Looks great LB.What is the cost for all the parts.

They can be got on the net for about a euro or 2 each but they shouldn’t cost too much from a diy shop

LB

Loggser wrote:

Great post LB fair dues on putting in the effort
with the pics etc.

Thanks mate ive been trying to get around to it for a few weeks

LB