# What do you use to fill your tanks?



## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

I've got a drinking water certified garden hose I use to fill my tanks from a utility sink that has threads on the faucet. On the male threaded end of the hose I've got a ball valve to stop the water if I'm moving between tanks or if for some other reason I need to stop the water. The system works well, a whole lot better than 5g buckets, but when I close the ball valve to stop the water pressure builds up in the hose and when I reopen the ball valve the surge of water blows gravel and decorations all over the tank. Increasing he volume would decrease the pressure right? I've been thinking of attaching a section of 2" pvc with a T at the end to diffuse the pressure enough to keep from disturbing everything in the tank. Has anybody tried this before?


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## football mom (Feb 19, 2006)

I just deflect the surge of water with my hand as I point it toward the upper glass, only surges for a minute, and then it's fine. I have always just used a common garden hose, not a potable water hose. No issues with that as far as I can tell.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

football mom said:


> I just deflect the surge of water with my hand as I point it toward the upper glass, only surges for a minute, and then it's fine. I have always just used a common garden hose, not a potable water hose. No issues with that as far as I can tell.


Is your hose by any chance an older garden hose? I'm not suggesting that "old regular garden hoses are fish-safe", but if your hose happens to be rather old, I've heard that the anti-microbial stuff in regular hoses can eventually wash out/wear out after awhile, so while you might have an old "regular" hose that's safe, mileage may vary with a newer hose.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who offers a few grains of salt since this is not only hearsay, it's conjecture about hearsay!)


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> I've been thinking of attaching a section of 2" pvc with a T at the end to diffuse the pressure enough to keep from disturbing everything in the tank. Has anybody tried this before?


I suppose a cheap, read dollar store, diffuser for the hose end. Plenty of fan spray nozzles available.


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## bachelor (May 16, 2009)

I use a python, though the threads wore out in less than a year, Its an easy fix though with a hardware store brass fitting, and some pure silicone. The pythons are a bit spendy at somewhere between $30- and $60 depending on where you buy it (got mine on ebay for 30ish including shipping). The great thing about pythons are that you can fill and drain by simply flipping down the piece that hangs in your sing. Water goes in, water goes out. I waited many years before finally getting one, and wish I got one sooner. Simply makes water changes much less work. FYI, you have a valve to cut the flow for emergency's but when you flip it back there is some serious pressure build up, so take care not to blast your poor fishies.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

thanks all


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## Phoolish (Feb 17, 2009)

I have what may be a silly question about filling tanks.

Do most people just fill directly from the sink through a hose and then add something to dechlorinate directly to the tank?

I always siphon with my python but then fill buckets and add additives and let it sit for a while. Have I been making things hard on myself?


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

You can add dechlor to the tank simultaneously to the addition of the water from the hose or before or after.
I add some during re-fill and some right after as insurance.
It really doesn't matter but you don't want to expose fish to elevated levels of chlorine or chloramine for any length of time, it can be damaging.


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## Savage25xtreme (May 6, 2009)

Phoolish said:


> I have what may be a silly question about filling tanks.
> 
> Do most people just fill directly from the sink through a hose and then add something to dechlorinate directly to the tank?
> 
> I always siphon with my python but then fill buckets and add additives and let it sit for a while. Have I been making things hard on myself?


that's the same question I had.... thanks for asking it :thumb:

what if you will also need to add buffers?


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

Pre-measure and add at the same time as refill.
I suggest as the water is coming in whether all at once or gradually during the the refill.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

smellsfishy1 said:


> It really doesn't matter but you don't want to expose fish to elevated levels of chlorine or chloramine for any length of time, it can be damaging.


But just like us and breathing car exhaust or something a few minutes won't do permanent damage, but prolonged exposure could. not adding the dechlor right as the first drops of new water hit the tank won't be even notived by the fish. Waiting two to three hours will. Just use your head. (if there was that much chlorine/chloramine in the water to be harmful at first touch, how could be drink it.

Since I have forgotten the Prime a few times in my years of fish keeping, I have started a slightly different routine. I drain 50% of the water in all of my tanks while vacuuming the sand(I do 50% weekly changes for everybody), then go around and add the prime needed for the whole tank volume. Only after every body has gotten their dechlor do I start the refill process (adding the premixed buffers as needed while the hose is running). Haven't had any "environmental disasters" since I started the new routine.


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## cichlid_junkie (Dec 19, 2005)

I have a hose attachment connected to the output of my UGJ. Pump the water out with UGJ pump through a potable hose to a nearby sink. Then I attach the hose to the sink to re-fill the tank. I just pour the declorinating chemicals in the hose before I attach it to the faucet.

hth


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I put a large carbon block filter inline. It removes the chlorine and some other chemicals as well as color, smell, and taste. I don't trust the hoses since a new one gives off chemicals and an old one begins breaking down and ..... gives off chemicals! I use a Python to fill and an old Python hose running to the floor drain to drain water. I've done up to 70% water changes with no dechlor. The replacement insert costs about $30 but lasts for 3 - 4 months if you hook it up to filter the entire house. If you connect it only to the water for fish, it should last much longer. I use a chlorine test strip to see when it needs replaced. It always reads zero and other tests show similar results but I think the chlorine test is simple and cheap and indicates that all is well without regularly testing for other chemicals in the water. After about four months with 6 people and over 1000 gallons of fish tanks, and filling a 2400 gallon pond and a 100 gallon pondlet, the filter still removes all the chlorine but begins to reduce the water pressure, at which point I replace it.


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## nipzie (Nov 24, 2008)

I just use water. 

How could I resist. I use a python, but for the price I paid I would DIY myself next time, the faucet fill/drain attachment is absolute garbage.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Savage25xtreme said:


> .....
> what if you will also need to add buffers?


Buffers tend to jerk water parameters around and then get used up and the water reverts back. Crushed coral or coral sand, or limestone, calcite, or even man-made "rocks" from concrete will more gradually harden and raise the water's pH. They will also get "used up" but it will take weeks and using a gravel cleaner or scrubbing some of the rocks and caves will restore a fresh surface.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)




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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

Mcdaphnia said:


> Buffers tend to jerk water parameters around and then get used up and the water reverts back.


Not if you use the right ones. Adjusting Ph with out dealing with the Kh will cause this. Since the digestive and repiratory waste will casue acidity, just adding something to raise the ph with out enough Kh will make the Ph swing back down as you get closer to a water change, only to swing back up when you do the change.

I keep the kh just a bit on the high side and my ph never moves (even if I negelct my water changes a bit. My tap water is ph 7.2, but I keep the tanks at 8.3 using just baking soda (to raise ph) and epsom salt (to keep the Kh up and Ph stable).

Buffering substrate and rocks can be helpful if you have low ph tap water (less than 7), but it work to much less dgree if you start with slightly hard water.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

I could care less about pH, and no longer measure for it. The more important factor is the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). My cold water goes through a carbon filter, and I add homemade dechlor, because our chlorine levels are so high here (around 4 ppm), at the rate of 1 drop per gallon. I age the water for 20 feet, and disperse the water through a tee at the end of a gooseneck. At present I am using Tygon food grade clear PVC hose, but would use a potable water hose if I didn't have this. The gooseneck and tee allow me to fill one tank and drain another. I have a stickon thermometer on the pipe coming out of the taps to help with adjusting wateer temp. I have been using this setup for around 10 years with no problems, doing changes of up to 90%, although the usual is 50%. I'm with Paul Loiselle on this, in that if my water isn't good enough, for the fish I want to keep, I won't keep them. So far I haven't had to do that. I have kept and bred SA, CA, Malawis and Tangs in the same Lake Ontario water with no modifications. None of the expert fish keepers at the society I belong to doctor their water, and between them have bred many hundreds of species.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

MalawiLover said:


> Mcdaphnia said:
> 
> 
> > Buffers tend to jerk water parameters around and then get used up and the water reverts back.
> ...


I have heard people say to make ice cubes with hot water because hot water cools off faster so you will get ice cubes sooner. It turns out they are wrong because as soon as the water cools to the temperature of the cold water tap, it is cooling off at the same rate as the cold water, so starting with hot water delays the time until you can plunk some ice in your beverage. The same thing would apply to starting with low pH water. Once you hit 7 or so, you are going to "work" the hardness and pH more slowly. And since sudden changes can be bad for fish, using a slower acting method is good.

If you use stronger chemicals, a doser, or a reactor would make more sense than a running tab of corrections. Baking soda has sodium in it, not calcium or magnesium so it doesn't harden the water and too much sodium in freshwater can cause bone loss in fish. The epsom salts contains high amounts of magnesium but the only calcium is an impurity. Coral and most kinds of limestone contain a ratio of calcium and magnesium closer to what would be natural, with a lot more calcium than magnesium.


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