The Puffer Forum

Well my tank has been set up with just water in it for a week as wanted to check for leaks etc, all good! The problem arised when I needed to empty the tank as I only had one of those 'pump it' vac thingies. Boy did it take ages to work out for such a simple contraption! My questions are... the amount of force and pump needed to get it going, will this scare the wits out of fish everytime I clean and do a water change? As it does take some heavy action to get it going. Do others have better gadgets to empty water, clean gravel and siphon for food? (my worry is it won't be powerful enough to collect debris?) Also a last question with the hand siphon, the picture shows and it only seems to work when the end of the hose is lower than the water you are pumping (for the pressure I assume), this won't work the other way round when I want to transfer water changes into the tank as won't beable to get the containers of new water higher than the tank - please help!

Also a little unrelated, my tank at the top is closed off, meaning I have slideable doors and can limit fish jumping, they are two corners that have small triangular gaps cut into them and at the side is an 1 and half inch panel can remove completely (as well as taking the doors out). Is there any equipment I should be worried about trying to attach or get into the tank? I am thinking canister filter for GSP, with two heaters for the brackish conditions. Later converting to LR and protein skimmer (obviously the pieces of rock and decorations I get will need to be measured to fit the hole!) but was having blonde moment (many of them in fact) that was worried the prescriptive gaps may limit my equipment.

Lastly yes I am blonde in hair colour and in the head! My problem is I have to see things work sometimes to really get them or if it new to me and do not know the specifics of the equipment then worried will have too many technical difficulties if dont prepare! Thanks all and for any advice.

pics would help us help you. if you need to pump water back into the tank use your powerhead or return pump from your sump (if you have one) and an extra piece of tubing, it can be lower then your tank.

Or just pour the bucket of water into the tank, that's what most people do

As far as the hand siphon, yes, it *might* freak out your fish, but then again, it might not. It depends on the individual fish and how jumpy they are.

There is a trick to starting a siphon quietly and easily.. first block the bucket end of the hose with your finger or thumb so no water can get out. Then dunk the siphon end underwater, filling it up. Lift it back out of the water (open end up so the water stays in) and let the air bubbles bubble out so water goes down the tube to your finger/thumb on the lower/bucket end. When the air is all bubbled out, put the tank end back under water, put the other end into your bucket (lower than the tank) and take your finger/thumb off.. the water already in the siphon will drain down into the bucket and start the siphon for you.

Or you can do it the old fashioned, dirty way and just suck on the end of the hose LOL

Myaj wrote:Or just pour the bucket of water into the tank, that's what most people do

I do that

Ah reallll blonde! For some reason was not sure if I could do that (no idea why). lol. will get pics soon of what I meant with the tank (cameras charging!)

Couple more questions:

As getting a GSP, when change from high BW to SW, I will be changing the layout of the tank to cured LR. Is it acceptable to have the fish out for a short period of time with heater and filter and have probably an hour at most (not sure how long it would take to get decs out and back in) to do this? ( I know this is years down the line, but wish to know alllllll aspects).

Secondly - my tank at the bottom measures 36" by 15" and is a 50 gallon US, is 40ish lbs / 20kgs of coral sand / sand acceptable for roughly a 1 1/2 to 2 inch base? Are there any other recommendations on types of sands for a fish only tank? Also is silver sand suitable? (take it beach sand is not suitable due to possible pollutants and the salt that it already contains)

many thanks all x

Have you read the GSP article in our Library? Also read the cycling articles. I don't see any reason to push a young GSP into SW. Save some $$$ on salt.

Doh! For some reason I only ever saw the recent articles, did not realise the drop down menu till now, I have read the emergency cycle but have now just seen the fishless cycle, so off to read that, I have also read your excellent article Pufferpunk on GSPs! I am going back to re-read the paragraph on cycling in that one.

Edit - so argonite and crushed coral sand over silver?

More Edit - Have found this: http://www.dartfordaquatics.co.uk/produ ... t=52&sub=0 - which is 24kg of Aragonite Coral Sand for £20.99 which hope is along the right lines? Thanks all!

No need to pay extra for bagged "live" sand that isn't live anymore. If you can find a bin with loose sand that will do just as well.

Not sure I get? I have been to many aquarium stores, but have only found the bags being sold so far..not sure if they sell loose in the UK, didnt think the aragonite was live..confused;)

or I have now found this http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquar ... e-25k.html - plain ol' coral sand ( I hope!)