stupid aquarium tricks...

[Scooterman]

Put small computer fans blowing directly across your water surface to cool the tank, cheap just beware it will increase evaporation.

 

[N1Husker]

I use my Mag 7 pump to refill my tank when I do a water change. I have pvc pipe screwed into the pump that goes up and over the edge of the tank. I have a ball valve on the piping and on the end that goes into the tank, I have holes drilled into the pipe where the water comes out. I just pour the water from buckets into the bucket that has the pump in it instead of lifting it up over the top of the tank. Everything stays on the floor. When I am done I have the wife unplug the cord then I shut off the valve and lift it out of the water to prevent a back siphon. I then open the valve letting the excess water to go back into the bucket. Disassemble it. done.

 

[spieszak]

i wheel out the 35 gallon rubbermaid... it has some version of a pond pump in it... not sure what honestly, been a while.. it does all the work. pump is plugged into a power strip, so i use the toggle to turn it on and off... i should really thing about some pvc on the end though, so i can hang it over the lip of the tank... still looking to do the stenner pump for automatic changes though...

 

[rainydave]

I use my Mag 7 pump to refill my tank when I do a water change. I have pvc pipe screwed into the pump that goes up and over the edge of the tank. I have a ball valve on the piping and on the end that goes into the tank, I have holes drilled into the pipe where the water comes out. I just pour the water from buckets into the bucket that has the pump in it instead of lifting it up over the top of the tank. Everything stays on the floor. When I am done I have the wife unplug the cord then I shut off the valve and lift it out of the water to prevent a back siphon. I then open the valve letting the excess water to go back into the bucket. Disassemble it. done.

I just started using this method a few months ago. So much easier, and less disturbance to my tank occupants, than dumping over the top.

 

[N1Husker]

I agree Dave, it also lets me use my Mag 7 that was just sitting around doing nothing. I do enough of the sitting around, doing nothing, my pump needs to go to work.

 

[Peppie]

There is a picture out there somewhere of Kevin seeding his tank.
Come on Kevin, you know what they say.......
Pics or it didnt happen!!!!



Oh yea BTW I just drill a hole in the bottom of the bottom bucket to get them unstuck. Works every time

 

[Duffer]

....Oh yea BTW I just drill a hole in the bottom of the bottom bucket to get them unstuck. Works every time

AH HAHA! Didn't need that stupid bucket anyway! :fish:

 

[spieszak]

Oh yea BTW I just drill a hole in the bottom of the bottom bucket to get them unstuck. Works every time

The bonus to this is how much lighter they are to lug around once when you fill them.

 

[panther_119]

wont the tap water put contaminants in your tank? I know it is a very small cup but still...

 

[panther_119]

so my stupid trick. i drilled a hole in the side of the house. put a pvc pipe through the hole. sealed the wall. hooked up the pipe to a amp master 3000. that is hooked up to my sump. so when i want to do a water change. i turn a ball valve. turn on a switch. water change done. woooo hoooo

How do you seal up the wall?

 

[panther_119]

o my post # 29 was in reference to post # 10 by duffer.

 

[kpiotrowski]

There is a picture out there somewhere of Kevin seeding his tank.
Come on Kevin, you know what they say.......
Pics or it didnt happen!!!!

wife has the pic on her old phone.....but YOU are my witness!

 

[Duffer]

We are on a well. It's not perfect (but it's pretty good water. I've had it tested) and I've started 'draining' the thaw water off myself but for the house-sitter I try to make it as simple as possible so I don't bother her with it.

We're not talking months of vacation. Just long weekends. And our system is about 220 gallons total. All good worthy concerns tho

Your mileage may vary

 

[Duffer]

How do you seal up the wall?

Punching thru the siding is trickier. I'll let someone else address that.

Punching thru the floor, here's what I did: My hole saw is just a bit bigger than the O.D. of a 1/2 inch pvc coupler. I made the holes and then I wrapped each pipe coupler with electical tape. (hard to describe so bare with me) one layer over the entire coupler. then a 2nd layer over the upper 2/3. Then another layer over the upper 1/3. So the taped coupler's O.D. is now cone shaped. Then when I stuffed it into the floor it wedged and sealed the hole. From the under side I stuffed the insulation back into place and duct taped it up some.

A 90 then to the foundation vent. A 90 out thru the vent screen which I just punched a hole in. A 90 after the vent along the side of the house to the nearest gutter and a 90 down into the gutter drain

 

[trido]

I keep a coat hanger straightened out with a 90 degree bend on each end, very close to the tank. I use it to help out stranded snails, lift LPS out of the sand when they get partially buried and occasionally move an SPS off of another when I'm in too big of a hurry to remount it. This keeps my arms dry at least three times a week saving me from having t breaking out my ladder and towels to do a 30 second job.

 

[CarlaW]

I keep an old toothbrush handy to clean intake screens on my return pump, and now, the screen in the biopellet tube on my OBD skimmer.

Really small bottle brushes work real good on cleaning out the ends of 3/8" tubing that I use for my Aqua Lifter pump.

 

[spieszak]

I keep an old toothbrush handy to clean intake screens on my return pump, and now, the screen in the biopellet tube on my OBD skimmer.

Really small bottle brushes work real good on cleaning out the ends of 3/8" tubing that I use for my Aqua Lifter pump.

i use the cheap spin brush ones for 'scrubbing' rocks that i can't reach well if/when i'm fighting algae

 

[Maxx]

OH My word, you have increased the quality of my life and saved me years of aggravation, I cannot even begin to thank you enough. Why couldn't I have thought of something like this? No more rolling around on the floor with 2 buckets wedged between my knees as i feverishly pull and pull trying to free one from the other.

Well...there goes our entertainment for the rest of the night....
Sigh.

Guess I'll back to American Idol....

 

[glyconny]

Great thread with a high, "Why didn't I think of that?" quotient!

 

[lmannan]

There are sure some interesting things I am going to try. I usually end up following others so rarely do I find something useful that hasn't already been discovered haha.