Equipment Review and Discussion :: How to you get the water out of the tank?

[puiyanpuiyan]

Hi,
i am sorry to ask such a stupid question, but I just got a new tank...in the past I've been changing my RES water (they lived in a big storage box) by dumping it out and filling it at the tub. Now with this heavy glass tank I couldn't do it anymore.
What do you have to buy so that you can get the water out of the tank and fill it up with a tube?
Thanks for your patience!

[octpusgirl8]

A Python is the easiest thing to use for filling and draining a tank (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3910&Nty=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&pc=1&N=2004&Ntt=python&Np=1) It lets you drain the water right into the sink and fill the tank back up again with no buckets! You can also get a siphon and bucket.
I'd invest in a python though, they're really nice, especially once you have a big tank.

[DocShay]

Alternativly from the python you can pretty much make that with a special attachment that hooks to your faucet for about 3$ at a pet store, then attach a garden hose to that. Sucks all the water from your tank with the hose, and right into the sink. then just fill.

[BullDog]

My room is bathroom-adjacent, so what I do is get a garden hose, stick one end in the toilet and one end in the tank, get the suction going (you have to suck on the end of the hose for that, sounds gross but with a long hose I never get any water in my mouth) and it creates some pretty wicked suction!
Then to fill it back up, I have an attachment that hooks up to the faucet.

The only problem with almost any solution to draining the tank is that you'll probably end up with about a cm of water at the bottom, which you can either just leave in there, or soak up with a rag.

[steve]

Go for the Python. It is a bit overpriced but it works really well and a must have for larger tanks.

[jkw]

How do you solve the problem of getting enough suction to move the tank water through the tubing? I got a 75 foot python and have tried to use the dang thing from every faucet in the house but I apparently don't have enough water pressure to get the siphon going....so much for the 'vacuuming advantage'......ideas???