small plumbing advice on equipment for a water change

[seldin]

I want to put a water pump into a 5 gallon bucket and slowly put salt water from the bucket on the ground, to my fish tank with a valve on the other end so I can adjust flow during a water change.

So I need recommendation for a size and model of water pump to go in bucket, tubing size for maybe 6 feet and a valve for the other end that I can adjust from a drip to strong, depending on my needs.

Thank you,

 

[seldin]

Thread closed

 

[Actinic Atoll]

What size pump did you end up going with?

 

[seldin]

I took a guess, because I wanted to make sure the pump delivered water up to 5 feet, figured I would return it, if it was not powerful enough. However, this was a good size. I also have a ball valve to adjust flow as necessary.

Homasy 400GPH Submersible Pump 25W Fountain Water Pump with 5.9ft Power Cord, 2 Nozzles for Aquarium, Fish Tank, Pond, Statuary, Hydroponics

 

[Actinic Atoll]

Right on thanks.

I have a leftover Sicce Syncra 1.0, 250 GPH pump that I have been using lately to transfer water from the RODI to the mixing container. It does 15 gallons in a reasonble time considering the pump size, although it's bassically a siphon configuration. I also use it for mixing salt, I find it works better then a small wavemaker.

I've been thinking of doing something similar to you by then pumping the saltwater to the tank, about 4.5' of head. So I might get a little bigger pump for that. The little Sicce would probably be a little slow at that height for that purpose, also I may hook it up to a spray bar in the bottom of the salt mixing container that may also benefit from a bit more power.

400 GPH seems to be a good size.

 

[seldin]

I try to buy this stuff on Amazon because of good return policy. Also, comes to my door with no hassles and same for returns.


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[Donewiththisplace]

Was gonna say a mj1200...or what ever company makes them now. If I'm not mistaken was about 265 gph and should have enough power to pump that distance...especially up a 1/2" or 5/8" tube.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

I am going to mix some saltwater tonight, I will see how long it takes the little Sicce to pump from Brute to Brute, for curiosity. I'll try to remember tomorrow to pump it from the mixing Brute to the tank.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

OK I pumped 15 gallons of RODI from a 50 gallon Brute on castors into a 20 gallon Brute on the floor, using the Sicce 250GPH pump and a 5' length of 1/2" hose.

It took just over 5 minutes, which works out to 180 GPH.

When it was done pumping both buckets were about level, so it was pumping downhill the whole time.

We will see how it does tomorrow pumping into the tank.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

Today I pumped the water into the tank. It took about 8 minutes and 20 seconds giving an average of around 110 GPH.

It's a borderline reasonable time, however I can use a bucket I'm sure in the same amount of time. Another consideration is the hose doesn't even have a barbed fitting on there yet, it's just kinda friction fit into the pump with the whole 1/2" tube unobstructed.

I want to make a "hook" out of some 90 degree fittings so that I can hang the hose on the tank, so I don't have to stand there. This would add a little restriction too so I think stepping up to around a 400 GPH pump would be just right. If a 400 GPH pump also looses around 150GPH due to head pressure, that would leave me with around 250 GPH of flow which would fill the tank in under 5 minutes. It never hurts to have a little bigger pump for mixing purposes too.

It's not that I am a performance freak, rather anything that makes maintenance easier makes the hobby more enjoyable.

 

[reefiness]

Looks like you want something like I built. Check out my build thread in my signature. Post #85 has a picture of what I built. Looks around the tank and I use it to empty and fill my tank through. I change 30 gallons so I use a mag 7.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

Thanks man I will check it out.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

Thanks man I will check it out.

That looks like it works great, I think I will go with the spray bar attachment as well, that is a good idea.

 

[reefiness]

That looks like it works great, I think I will go with the spray bar attachment as well, that is a good idea.

yeah i decided to go with that option because one day when I was manually siphoning out water and looking down at the bucket, one of my large wrasses got too close to the siphon tube and got stuck to it. He got a nice hiccy and lost a bunch of scales.

 

[Actinic Atoll]

I'm thinking I might just have a straight pipe with holes in it, that way I could use it for vaccuming up my barebottom. It would make it safer for getting in closer to those fleshy corals as well as safer for the fish.

 

[seldin]

...I want to make a "hook" out of some 90 degree fittings so that I can hang the hose on the tank, so I don't have to stand there. ..

Actinic,

I bought a hose hanger on Amazon:

Search "adjustable fish tank water hose holder".

 

[Actinic Atoll]

Will do thanks.