nobody mentioned it would take forever to drain big tanks

anybody else ever have this problem? im actively filling up my 125 with substrate.. and man is it taking forever to drain... im not looking forward to dealing with this...

Use a thicker, or a second hose.. it goes faster.

lol im considering getting another now.. cuz here we are an hour later and still barely halfway.. also i really hate argonite sand.. this stuff is DIRTY! taking forever to get clean then it still mucks the tank up

If you are going to do frequent ater changes, you might wan to get a water pump to move it out faster. I'm thinking about rigging up one of my old pond pumps and draining my tanks that way. Now to get a quicker filling method...!!!

Hope your ready for some fish? They will be there before you know it.

I cheat and use my FX5 to help move water out of the tank. Still takes some time to drain.

Cant wait to see pics of this tank set up!

o jim im cheating lol. ive got a bare bones 30 long. with fully cycled sponge filters. ima just toss that together for the group while i knock out the few remaining steps on this bad boy. the sand is really kicking up a lot of junk so i gotta keep filling and draining till i reduce it some. really hate argonite!

DMD - I'm doing the same. In fact, the FX5 comes with a valve specifically for this. I've got that on my 125g Tang tank, and I love it. Turn a valve to drain. Turn another value to refill. Add chem's. Move on.

I just went to Home Depot an purchased a 20' piece of 1 1/4" hose for about $20. It will completely drain my 300 in about 20 min.

yep 1 1/4 hose works good.

I have 2 different ways I drain my tanks.. On the 300 I use one of fx5's hooked to 2 pieces of PVC right out the back door.. And then I also have a long hose hooked to an extra 1000gph pump to drain my other tanks.

I have thought about getting a pump to drain my tanks, since some of them are under stands. Syphon is to slow when some tanks are only inches from the ground. But I have always been concerned about the pump dieing because of the fish crap when gavel vacing.

fish poop shouldn't hurt the pump But gravel and sand will do a number on it.

On idea......Put a piece of filter material over the open end of the drain hose to the pump with a rubber band.