What Kind of Pump for water changes?

[Sir Alex]

I was wondering what you guys use to pump the water out of the container when doing a water change. I have a really slow little pump and I also have a big one but the part for attaching it to a hose got broken and they don't make them anymore.

 

[Bifferwine]

I use a Rio pump. You can probably find hose attachments at the hardware store. They are usually in standard sizes.

 

[Sir Alex]

3/4 inch is way to small and 1 inch is just a tiny (really tiny) but too small. It's metric (25mm). They don't even make the pumps any more. They're all 3/4" now. I found I can use the return pump that came with my 75 gallon tank but I'm going to need to use that soon.

 

[Wes888]

I just use whatever nearby. I used a QuietOne 6000 last week's water change.

 

[Sir Alex]

Is it worth it to spend $70 to get a new pump just because the thing is broken? It's kinda useless now.

 

[Bifferwine]

You could get a MaxiJet for much cheaper.

 

[Sir Alex]

Not really. The 1300 gph maxi jet costs $110. The 1500 gph pump at lowes costs $70.

 

[Bifferwine]

You can get a MaxiJet 1200. And just use vinyl tubing . That's like $20.

 

[Sir Alex]

You can get a MaxiJet 1200. And just use vinyl tubing . That's like $20.

That's onyl 295 GPH. The little one I have is 290 GPH and it has a really hard time pushing the water up the hose and then when it does it takes like nearly an hour to empty the container.

 

[BL1]

How far are you pumping the water? I use a maxijet 1200 with about 6ft of tubing to do my water changes and it only takes about 5 mins on my 75

 

[Bifferwine]

I use a MaxiJet 1200 to move water from my sump to my fuge, and it moves pretty quickly as well.

 

[Sir Alex]

Oh lol, I looked at the pump it's a 291 GPH maxijet. The hose is probably like 6 to 7 feet long. It takes a bit more than half an hour to empty a 30 gallon (or so) container.

 

[Bifferwine]

I think your pump is busted!

 

[Sir Alex]

I think your pump is busted!

Hmmm, that's weird. It feels 100 times more powerful than my 250 GPH koralia powerhead. I don't see any reason why it would have gotten messed up.

Wait a second, I was thinking about a different hose. It's actually quite long and all bent.

 

[Sir Alex]

I just tested the hose at certain height and then cut it in half and now at the same height it comes out quite a bit faster. It took about 5 mins to empty a 1/8 (or less) full bathtub.

 

[sen5241b]

Got 2 Rio 6hFs I use to mix water.

 

[Sir Alex]

I think I'll just invest in decent pump.

 

[little_fish]

I just tested the hose at certain height and then cut it in half and now at the same height it comes out quite a bit faster. It took about 5 mins to empty a 1/8 (or less) full bathtub.

omg, i smell an engineering in the making! A kid after my own heart :)

 

[Bifferwine]

OMG nerds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

 

[Sir Alex]

OMG nerds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

...

They weren't very accurate my readings. I need to have a 30 gallon container with each gallon marked on the side. Then I fill it up and take the end of the hose to the same height as the tank. I then run it for 1 minute and see how many gallons it takes out. I multiply that by 60 and then have an accurate measurement of how many GPH the water is coming in to the tank.

You think I'm a nerd now? You should have seen me when I was younger! :mrgreen: