How would you remove the remaining water...

[Andrewtfw]

I have drained my 75g. There is still about 1.5" of water in the tank. I would like to remove this water, but I do not have the option of tipping the tank. What would you use to remove this water? I don't want to waste a ton of paper towels. I am concerned that household towels may have residual detergent, so that is out too. Ideas?

 

[Nathan]

1.5in should still be enough to siphon.Try using a smaller diameter tubing. A shop vac might work too

 

[Frank Cowherd]

Air line tubing filled with water at sink, use to siphon out more water.

Or get a plastic milk carton, Use scissors to cut it down about half, leaving the handle. Then use it as a scoop to get the rest of the water out.

I would use the house towels if I were you. If you really think there is a problem with detergent, rewash the towels without detergent and dry them.

 

[TMSB805]

I normally hook up the python to faucet and let it do work. I've been able to get pretty much all the water out of my 300 in the past.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Thanks for your suggestions. I don't have the adapter to connect my python to the faucet. I will use a container as Frank suggested and then finish the job with towels. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

 

[impala_man2003]

use airline tubing

 

[Andrewtfw]

I used a towel. It did not take long at all. Thanks again.

 

[hollyfish2000]

for the future, I use my turkey baster to stuff like this

 

[Andrewtfw]

That's another good idea.

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[Tony]

A drinking straw?

 

[scientist0724]

for the future, I use my turkey baster to stuff like this

+1

I was just going to suggest this.

Arlene

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Wet-dry vac works great too, especially for larger tanks, and can pull fine substrate also.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I didn't have a true wet dry vac. I have a "bucket head" from home depot. The hose is far too short to reach up and into the tank. Anyhow it was easy with the towel.

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[jonclark96]

Why did you drain the tank? Just moving it somewhere else in the house?

 

[MarkK]

Removing the rest of the water? A sponge

A sponge, plain old sponge, without any abrasiveness at all, works best. You can go with small or large (like used for car washing).

Just soak up whatever water they will hold, squeeze them out in a bucket and keep going. As you get the water up you can use the sponge to clean the dirt, although you need to avoid scratching the glass with small grains trapped between the glass and your sponge.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Why did you drain the tank? Just moving it somewhere else in the house?

I am building a mattenfilter in the rear corner. I used plastic edging for painting around ceiling/wall edges as the supports for the sponge (I found a great thread on www.plantedtank.net). I needed to drain the tank to silicone the supports for the sponge inside. I also wanted to change the background. It has cracks throughout it for some reason.

I have not decided what the inhabitants of the tank will be. I was originally planning on moving my JD in there. Then I was considering adding a pair of Centrarcus, Sajica and Rainbow Cichlids, as these are all found in Nicaragua. Most recently, I have been considering planting the tank. For now, I just want to get it filled.

I will be posting another thread asking for suggestions for a pump/powerhead to place behind the Poret foam.

 

[Andrewtfw]

As I was telling DiscusnAfricans, as experienced as I consider myself to be in this hobby, I planned out everything except the simplest problem of them all- how to remove the remaining inch or so of water from the tank. I ultimately used a shammy for drying cars.I knew if I put the question out to my fellow CCAers, that I would be provide with a multitude of suggestions based on your own experiences. Thanks again!

 

[jonclark96]

Put up some pics of the process of building the filter if not too late.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Put up some pics of the process of building the filter if not too late.

I will on a new thread.

 

[Scorp1us]

Make the tank smaller.
Use some kind of divider (plexiglass or plastic) to create a section around the hose which will hold water back. Then with another divider sweep it over. You can use paper towels around the edges as a gasketor take some airline and split it down the middle and put that around the edge.