Question on connecting faucet to Python

[etu1002]

Hi,
I recently moved to a new apartment. The faucets at the kitchen and bathroom are not one of those traditional ones that can be easily connected to Python water changer. What should I do? Perhaps, there is some sort of adaptor that will fit? It will be huge pain to do water change on my 90g without the Python.

Thanks
Eric

 

[chriscoli]

In theory, you should be able to remove that center aerator and put in an adapter for the python. In practice....I couldn't actually get the aerator out of the faucets in my last house. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did.

 

[Becca]

It's going to be a PITA - hire someone !

I'm not really even kidding. WE had this issue in our first condo, but were able to get the "universal adaptor" to "fit" the sink. The thing was so horrible that we'd just drain out a window with the python and use 5 gallon buckets to refill. The tank was 150 gallons.

 

[etu1002]

Thanks for the reply. I was able to remove the aerator at my previous place but not with these ones.
It already caused me backache filling up a 90g when I moved in. Can't imagine doing it for a 150g. Luckily I already sold my 2 other tanks.

 

[JLW]

You may need to get one of these adapters from Home Depot....

http://tinyurl.com/q9lm5l9

 

[JLW]

OK, ok, I'll give you a serious suggestion.

Assuming the tanks aren't downstairs or something, you can use the python hose to simply start a syphon, and drop the "other" end of the python hose into the toilet. It's easy to start it by filling the gravel vac, letting it mostly drain into the hose, and then submerging it again to let the air out. MOST PEOPLE SHOULD BE DOING THIS ANYHOW. Python's venturi adapter wastes a tremendous amount of water -- depending on elevation and what not, it can be anywhere from 5-20 times the amount of water you're draining (so, if you do a 10-gallon change, you've used 50-200 gallons of water to do it).

You can, of course, also drop the hose out the window and into the vegetable garden, too, which is even better. Unless it's a marine tank.

To get the water back into the tank, you're going to need to get yourself a Brute garbage can, label it "FISH TANK ONLY" and buy a set of wheels. The wheels are really hard to find, and you may wind up ordering them online. Park that thing in front of your sink, pull the faucet head down, and use a $1 quick clamp (the spring loaded ones) to hold it in place. Turn it on, fill up the brute, add your dechlorinator, and wheel it to the tank. Get a Little Giant sump pump (about $50-80, you can get cheaper ones at Harbour Freight for as little as $15, but they won't last) and a length of regular garden hose (a "leader hose"). Drop that into the brute, plug it in, and fill the tank.

You're going to learn the smoothest route between sink and tank fast. Things like lintels are not your friend.

 

[Becca]

OK, ok, I'll give you a serious suggestion.

Assuming the tanks aren't downstairs or something, you can use the python hose to simply start a syphon, and drop the "other" end of the python hose into the toilet. It's easy to start it by filling the gravel vac, letting it mostly drain into the hose, and then submerging it again to let the air out. MOST PEOPLE SHOULD BE DOING THIS ANYHOW. Python's venturi adapter wastes a tremendous amount of water -- depending on elevation and what not, it can be anywhere from 5-20 times the amount of water you're draining (so, if you do a 10-gallon change, you've used 50-200 gallons of water to do it).

You can, of course, also drop the hose out the window and into the vegetable garden, too, which is even better. Unless it's a marine tank.

To get the water back into the tank, you're going to need to get yourself a Brute garbage can, label it "FISH TANK ONLY" and buy a set of wheels. The wheels are really hard to find, and you may wind up ordering them online. Park that thing in front of your sink, pull the faucet head down, and use a $1 quick clamp (the spring loaded ones) to hold it in place. Turn it on, fill up the brute, add your dechlorinator, and wheel it to the tank. Get a Little Giant sump pump (about $50-80, you can get cheaper ones at Harbour Freight for as little as $15, but they won't last) and a length of regular garden hose (a "leader hose"). Drop that into the brute, plug it in, and fill the tank.

You're going to learn the smoothest route between sink and tank fast. Things like lintels are not your friend.

Or hire someone to do all this ****e for you.

 

[etu1002]

Thanks guys. Draining the tank is not a problem. As Josh suggested, I can drain it by syphon. It's the filling up that I really need to connect a hose between the faucet and my tank.

 

[chriscoli]

I've also filled tanks in a way similar to Josh, but what I did was to put a Rubbermaid bin in the bathroom tub, and turn on the tub faucet to let the bin start to fill. Then drop into the bin a pump with a hose long enough to reach the tank and fill that way. The hard part is watching both the tank and the bin in the tub to make sure that the flow into the bin matches the flow out of the bin to the tank....and then making sure I don't get so distracted with that that I overflow the tank.

 

[mchambers]

I'd ask at Strosneiders

 

[jonclark96]

Is there a bathroom with a shower close by? There is an adapter, maybe even on that Python sells, that you can use to hook up to the pipe that the shower head attaches to. You'd have to unscrew the shower head every time, but ultimately not a big deal. You may have to get an extension for your python if the distance is too far to reach.

One the draining tank side of things, I bought a submersible pump and hooked up a garden hose using quick disconnects. I pump water out of my tanks and into the yard. Way quicker than using a siphon, and you don't have to worry about getting the siphon started.

 

[etu1002]

Thank you all for your suggestion. I will see if I can remove the shower head and connect to a hose. I might even go to Home Depot to look for an adaptor to connect my faucets to a hose. If all these fail, I will fill up the tank using a pump like Christine suggested. Would fountain pump do the job? And what GPH should I get? The stand and tank are both 2 foot tall.

 

[JLW]

A 500-GPH pump should be a minimum.

 

[FishEggs]

Looks like you need an aerator key to take that aerator out.
Just change the bathroom sink faucet to a utility sink faucet like this one.
then put a female hose coupling on the end of your python hose. you will just have to put the original faucet back on the sink before you move out.

 

[lkelly]

Is there a bathroom with a shower close by? There is an adapter, maybe even on that Python sells, that you can use to hook up to the pipe that the shower head attaches to. You'd have to unscrew the shower head every time, but ultimately not a big deal. You may have to get an extension for your python if the distance is too far to reach.

One the draining tank side of things, I bought a submersible pump and hooked up a garden hose using quick disconnects. I pump water out of my tanks and into the yard. Way quicker than using a siphon, and you don't have to worry about getting the siphon started.

You can get a "T" adapter before your shower head and run that to a hose for refill. Just make sure to switch it back to shower output before your significant other takes their turn.

As for my technique, I have a Little Giant that I picked up for basically free at a huge estate sale. I pump from the tank into the sink (a faster siphon) via the Python and then switch off the pump, leaving it connected, and turn the Python to fill mode. It has cut down on my water change time and the pump has a long enough cord that I can reach all the tanks on each floor without any unplugging.

 

[JLW]

Yep -- I was only half joking when I suggested it, FishEggs.

Swapping out the faucet really isn't THAT hard, and you can get a new faucet for $30.

You probably won't even have to put the old one back in; they'll probably never notice! :-D