Fluval FX6 Water Changes

[Nazim]

Just bought myself a Fluval FX6 and am planning my first water change using it. Problem is, I'm not entirely sure what the best way is to go about this.

I saw a you tube clip where some guy has connected a standard garden hose to the drain of his Fluval and allowed gravity to both empty the canister and part of his fish tank. He's then hooked up the hose to a mixer tap connector and reversed the process to fill the tank back up. My plan was to:

• Turn off the power
• Attach a hose to the drain
• Release the drain valve to empty out the canister plus 10-20% of the tank water
• Shut off the drain valve and the inlet/outlet valves
• Remove the lid and rinse out the media
• Put the rinsed media back in
• Replace the lid
• Open up the inlet/outlet valves
• Attach the hose to a mixer tap
• Turn on the water
• Turn on the power

My problems are:

I have not been able to find a connector for the flexi type hose that comes with the FX6 to connect it to a standard garden hose. I "think" the flexi tube is around 15mm diameter with the rubber connector being a bit wider. The you tube clip suggested replacing the provided hose with a 20mm hose would do the trick. I guess I could find some 20mm tubing at Bunnings etc?

I have also not found a decent connector for the mixer tap. I found one called Pope plain tap connector, but it seems each time I would have to push the hose onto the connector - rather than have a way of the hose snapping on - bit of a pain.

Can I get some advice on what others use please?

Also, do please let me know if there are flaws with my planned approach. I don't feel like I have the right answers to this issue just yet - so happy to learn from others

[luis]

Is this the video?

They are using 16/22mm hose on the left and standard garden hose I think is 12/16mm. You need something like this, not sure if you can find it at Bunnings:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ISTA-Hose-Adapter-12-16mm-16-22mm-Connect-converter-filter-pipe-aquarium-/281026128717?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item416e766b4d

Some say to avoid garden hose due to concerns over antifungal treatments.

I use about 7m of 16/22mm clear tubing with a water changer control valve on the end and I do 70% PWC–see the DYI siphon thread. Tap connection involves unscrewing the aerator and screwing in the water changer.

[luis]

One more thought: are you planning on leaving the hose attached permanently?

If not, what is going to happen to the water in the hose after you fill up the tank and want to disconnect it from the filter side? When siphoning from the top you can just plug the hose with your thumb but this won't work if the filter end of the hose is lower than the tap end, you'd have to be very very quick to avoid making a mess.

If I were doing this I would be looking at getting some Eheim-style double taps to use on the drain hose. Or use a siphon.

[Chuckmeister]

I would not recommend doing water changes this way.

It looks great but pumping chlorinated water through your filter will kill the filter every time. you run a risk of going through a mini cycle every time you do a water change.

Filters are the heart of your tank and seems to me to be a risky way of changing water.

I also dont really like the idea personally, of back blowing the filter. Filters are designed to catch crap. The large particles, by design, are the first to get caught. When you back blow the filter you would risk back blowing the crap wouldn't you?

[Nazim]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@Luis - that was the video I had seen, amongst a few others. Thanks for the feedback. Thank you for also pointing out the possible ill-effects of using a garden hose. I will have to buy some more tubing I also half watched a video where this guy was somehow using his fluval tap to fill water in from the top of the tank. I must rewatch and see what I can learn from it. Also, thanks for the link about the siphon video - more watching and learning to be done

@Chuckmeister - thank you for your feedback as well. You're right, I hadn't considered the implications of pumping chlorinated water back through the filter. Got my blinders on with the prospect of not having to use buckets any more

For now, I'm going to keep using buckets until I figure everything out. I did manage to find a hose connector which should work fine as far as draining water is concerned, so at least I can potentially let gravity remove some of my water for me, which is still much better than the system I've had so far. Apologies for acting like a complete newb. Just been driven to distraction with so many things on my plate and can't see the woods for the trees at the moment.

[Chuckmeister]

I did a vid on how I change my water. Its easy to modify with what suits you. Smaller hoses, smaller pvc piping etc.

http://www.aceforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=58969

if you modify it with using regular garden hose and smaller pvc (as I use large hose) you can put a tap connecor on the end for the refill part (instead of putting the hose in the hose as you'll see in mine)

[luis]

How did the water change go? Have you worked something out other than buckets?

[Nazim]

How did the water change go? Have you worked something out other than buckets?

Got called into work, so couldn't do the water change. Have got the right type of connectors for the outlet hose to my garden hose, so should be able to at least drain the cannister and some of the tank water into the yard. Have not thought more about how to re-fill just yet - hopefully this weekend

Update:

Just occurred to me that the answer has been staring me in the face. Instead of allowing the water to flow back in via the filter, as I had originally planned, all I need to do is plug it into the mixer tap, put some conditioners in the water and fill the tank back up using the hose - From the TOP. Might need to wedge the hose in between the tank lids to keep it in place. As I said previously, can't see the woods for the trees at the moment.

[luis]

Exactly. Grab a clamp from bunnings to keep that hose well secured.

[Nazim]

Water change was a resounding SUCCESS.

Ended up buying 2 Hozelink brand female adapters (12.5-15mm) for the canister hose and the garden hose, plus a double-male Hozelink brand adapter to connect them together. I was concerned about the seal as the hose that comes with the Fluval FX6 has spirals on it, so I laid down a towel where the hoses joined up, but the connection was impeccable.

I simply turned off the filter, hooked up the hoses to the drain and opened the valve to let gravity do its thing. While that was happening, I did siphon out a couple of buckets worth of water - basically vacuuming the finer particles from the substrate, but it wasn't a big chore. Once I had a good 15% of the water out, I turned off the inlet/outlet valves of my fluval to allow the remaining water in the canister to empty out and then undid the lid and took out the filter media for a rinse.

Next step was to shut off the drain valve, put back the media baskets, pour in a bucket of water, replace the lid and turn the inlet/outlet valves back on and fire up the filter. I then connected up the garden hose (the end which was draining in the garden) to a mixer tap using a pope tap adapter (this was a bit fiddly, but now it's in place, it will not be a hassle), put in some conditioners and filled up the water from the top of the tank. I did not bother clamping the hose in place as I wedged it between the heavy lids I've got and I also stood around watching the process. I made sure the water temperature was spot on by feel and also made sure that the pressure of water flowing back in wasn't too high as to risk making the hose flail about.

This was the smoothest water change I've ever done and all thanks to the expensive Fluval FX6. Very pleased with it and should have done this years ago.

Thanks for your input on the subject folks. I'm glad I went away from trying to refill the tank through the Fluval - made no sense to do that really. I guess I was infected by the youtube clip I saw.

[PlecoSam]

Glad it works for you, and I dont like filling directly from the tap but why dont you simply connect your gravel vac to the hose and vac and siphon water out that way?

[Nazim]

Glad it works for you, and I dont like filling directly from the tap but why dont you simply connect your gravel vac to the hose and vac and siphon water out that way?

I could, but I was just multi-tasking a bit Worked out pretty good.