I'm exploring ideas to make water changes easy and be done in just a few minutes. Currently I siphon through a 1/2 hose into a 5 gal bucket sitting on the floor. This process goes fast, but replacing fresh water into the tank is where my hassle comes in. I've looked at a 110v bilge pump to put into the 5 gal tank and pump fresh water into the tank but these pumps are high $.

My tank is on a 48" tall stand which allows the the tank to be seen at eye level in the house, but doing any maintenance (water change) has to be done from a ladder and carrying 12-15 gallons at a time up and down is a PITA.

Anybody use or know of somekind of pump that's affordable for this ? For the record, I've seen the hoses you hook to your tap water but I use RO water which I bring 5 gals at a time into the house.

If you own a drill, you could get one of these:

Drill Pump - All Purpose Drill Water Pump

If not, you could always get something taller than your tank to put your 5 gal container on and siphon into the tank.

Hope this helps,
Don

If you want a double-whammy, I know the Magnum 350 canister filters have attachments to turn them into a pump for water changes. Then, not only will you have a pump for water changes but you'll have an awesome canister filter as well.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Hi gizmo..... You know, a few years back I had a 175 tank and ran both the marineland magnum 350 and marineland H.O.T. Magnum filters on the the tank. I invented my own set of hose for the magnum 350 along with a sponge filter to do tank vacuuming and later used the same method for water removal and replacement when doing water changes. Worked like a charm but for right now, the $250+ price tag don't look so good.

Good news is..... I stopped by harbor freight today and bought a pond fountain pump for $14 and think this is going to do what I want..... I'll try it this weekend when my water change is due and report back on how it works.....