Waste cleanup techniques?

hello!

i'm trying to develop a good cleanup process for removing axolotl waste. i have this nifty siphoning vacuum (mine is the mini) that is great for removing yucky water and waste along the bottom... but not so great for putting new water back in. it also sucked up quite a bit of my substrate.

the only way for me to add new, clean water to Gilligan's tank is by refilling a small pitcher and pouring it as gently as i can. i tend to submerge the pitcher a bit so its not quite so harsh. as you can imagine, this was a tad too stressful for little Gill and I would much rather do it a different way, for his sake.

so! i'm just curious about how you guys clean your tanks? got any good tips of the trade for a newbie?

thanks!!

Big 5 gallon buckets from your friendly local Home Depot! Fill it with water and add your Seachem Prime Dechlorinator.

Swag said:

Big 5 gallon buckets from your friendly local Home Depot! Fill it with water and add your Seachem Prime Dechlorinator.

Click to expand...

i've got one of those, too! but like i said, it stresses him out when i pour it in, and i'm wondering if there's an alternative to that.

Not really, have to put it in somehow! He'll get over it. How big is the tank? I use a little 10 quart bucket and I do a 20 quart water change on my 20 gallon every week. I don't really have to do that, because I have a planted filter... But I do it anyway, just to be safe. I just put some big rocks in the corner of the tank and pour the whole bucket in onto those rocks. A few seconds of turbulent waters won't harm an axolotl, and I reckon to them the sooner it's over the better.

Swag said:

Not really, have to put it in somehow! He'll get over it. How big is the tank? I use a little 10 quart bucket and I do a 20 quart water change on my 20 gallon every week. I don't really have to do that, because I have a planted filter... But I do it anyway, just to be safe. I just put some big rocks in the corner of the tank and pour the whole bucket in onto those rocks. A few seconds of turbulent waters won't harm an axolotl, and I reckon to them the sooner it's over the better.

Click to expand...

oh, okay! that makes sense. i have him in a ten gallon for now, at least until he gets bigger!

I just take mine out every time I do a water change. I have a nifty tuperware container with all my cleaning supplies. They were far too interested in the syphon and we were afraid they would get sucked up, so we just take them out. lots less stress on them and on us

I got some large PVC pipes to use as hides and I found that setting them up on one end (so they are sitting up the long way) and pouring the new water into the tube helped to minimize turbulence and keep from stressing my axie (who used to freak out every time I added water). Sounds silly, but it worked for me, and beats the hand siphon I was using that took forever.

If you want to get real funky you can set up a sturdy platform somewhere above your tank, or relocate your tank to a place with a counter or strong shelf above it, and place the bucket of water above the tank and use your siphon to siphon the water back into the tank.

Orrr you could put the buckets below the tank and use a submersible pump to pump the water back up to the tank.

Man what a great idea, going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for that one.

I use a tub that holds roughly 15 gallons ish and set it inside another tub, This keeps the sides intact. 15 Gallons of water weighs a lot and if you have a thin plastic tub the sides can collapse.

When i am doing a water change i set the tub on the floor below the tank and use the siphon to drain the tank. i Take everything out of the tank so i can use the suction to suck up any loose bloodworms.

If you have never used a siphon before the trick is to make sure you have no air in the tub. Place your thumb over the hose end then dip the tube end into the tank, lift up into the air keeping the hose end as low as possible and all of the air in the tub will rise up the hose, release your thumb and water should shoot out of the hose end then quickly place your thumb back on it.

Place the tube end back into the water and make sure no air bubbles are inside and its full of water, release your thumb and the water will now siphon from the tank down to the tub.

Once the tub is full i slide it along the floor to the bathroom and then pour it into the bath.

To refill the tank i place the tub on top of the tank vertically making sure that both ends of the tub overhang past the glass edges then i fill the tub up with buckets of water and add the relevant amount of dechlorinator and bio support.

When i'm ready to refill the tank i do the same thing with the siphon but place the tube end into the tub and fill it from there. Once i release my thumb the siphon sends a steady stream of fresh, clean water down into the tank. I position the hose end in the corner and just walk away. 10 minutes later the tank is refilled and i take the tub off and pack it away.

I'll be doing a half tank change tomorrow so maybe i'll take some pictures as i do it to show the process

Three words: Python. Water. Changer.

It's my new best friend! I have several tanks, and I'm getting too old to haul water buckets around. The Python attaches to your faucet and has a valve that allows it to both remove water and refill the tank. When refilling, you just add the conditioner to the tank first.

When sucking the water out it's just like using a siphon but more powerful. The Python comes with a gravel vacuum on the end, but I cut mine off because I hate the things. Since I have one tank with only tiny fish (guppies etc.) I've attached fiberglass window screen to the end of the hose to prevent "suck-ups". It also comes in handy to prevent sucking up stones, Marimo balls etc. It still works great as a waste vacuum. The only issue is that if you accidentally suck something down the hose (like a fish), it empties straight into the sink and down the drain. I use a sink strainer just in case.

You can use the faucet to adjust water temperature and pressure. There's also a shut-off valve at the tank end of the hose.

For refilling, I point the hose either at the corner of the tank, or at a tank ornament or big plant. The axies get tossed around sometimes but they seem to recover right away. :happy:

I just made a half tank water change post, hopefully this will help

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-gallon-step-step-half-tank-water-change.html

That Python Water Changer sure sounds nifty!