# Python Question...Do's and Don'ts.....



## BubBleBee (May 7, 2010)

Hello all....so i just acquired a python...my question is when doin a w/c with the hose and when I'm adding water to fill the tank from the tap when do I add *Prime*.... I don't wanna harm/kill any of my fishies...Any advice is greatly valued....Thanx in advance....Cheers.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Put the Prime in the tank before you start the fill.


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

I add the Prime right after I turn the water on to refill.

Another big don't is don't get distracted when refilling your tank, its absolutely amazing how little time it takes to refill a tank


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

josephl said:


> I add the Prime right after I turn the water on to refill.
> 
> Another big don't is don't get distracted when refilling your tank, its absolutely amazing how little time it takes to refill a tank


I've already tested this "don't" a couple of times.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

dont use a fine mesh net in the sink to catch sand when u r cleaining the sand. it will block the drain and the sink will over flow.

also on a do note.to save water when drianing sometimes i find i can detach from the tap and there is enough siphon power to drain with the water off......especially if you r paying for water


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## Tsunami28 (Jan 31, 2011)

Also DON'T walk away when you are draining it. I learned that lesson when my poor oscar was gasping. Luckily I caught it in time and he was OK


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Tsunami28 said:


> Also DON'T walk away when you are draining it. I learned that lesson when my poor oscar was gasping. Luckily I caught it in time and he was OK


That's an easy one to solve. Dangle the siphon 6" off the bottom when you walk away. If it gets to that level the siphon breaks. I've done that. That's not nearly as messy as walking away while filling.


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## BubBleBee (May 7, 2010)

Wow awesome responses....thank you all....I plan on draining out my window coz the hose is long enuff to reach out....If I understand what everyone is saying...
1-Vaccume the gravel.
2-Drain watchin really closely, but cuz I'm doin out the window no worries as long as I don't drain too much...I will take Gary's advice leave the syphon 6" or so from the bottom so I don't end up drainin all the water.
3-Add Prime as the tap water starts going in. Watching really close again so I don't over fill.


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## Tsunami28 (Jan 31, 2011)

Because of the shape/size of that particular tank, I couldn't leave it 6" off the bottom, it just wouldn't stay. At any rate, it was a good learning experience, lol


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

Haha, I will repeat what they said... but basically..

Things NOT to do.

1) Don't take your eyes off the tank while filling.... I have done this a few times.. work on one tank while filling another, only to hear a waterfall effect come from 5 ft away...... amazing how much water it can put on the floor in 15 seconds or so it takes to realize what is happening and turn off the water.

2) Make double, triple, check your sink is clear every few mins. I had a screen on my sink and it's on the other side of the house... um.... err.... I had water 1" deep in 2 rooms within 15 mins.

3) Don't use the python on your QT tanks unless you clean it in between tanks. Cross contamination means it is no longer a QT.

Do's.

1) When draining water, use either cold water (to save on electricity). If the tank is above the level of the tap, you can start it draining with the tap and just turn it off. The siphon will keep draining without wasting too much water.

2) Do check your temps every few mins. Just put your hand on the hose to "confirm" the temp. One day I went from drain to fill and frogot to turn on the hot water. Within 5 mins I had a loach swimming funny on the bottom of the tank... I had dropped the water temps 10-15 degrees in that time. Put warm water back in the tank and all was good. Also, depending on the size of the tanks (and what else your doing in the house at that time), your hot water tank might "run out" too so gotta be careful of that.


All in all, the python is a great tool. One of the first things I bought and something I would never give up. BUT... don't get distracted!!


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## BubBleBee (May 7, 2010)

Johnny....can u explain:
3) Don't use the python on your QT tanks unless you clean it in between tanks. Cross contamination means it is no longer a QT.

I do not intend to use the python for my QT...but I would like to know more on this topic.

Also please explain why I need cold water on when draining the tank....I will be draining out my window.

1) When draining water, use either cold water (to save on electricity). If the tank is above the level of the tap, you can start it draining with the tap and just turn it off. The siphon will keep draining without wasting too much water.

Thank you for the input also greatly apr8'd


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm not Jon, but the reasons are:

Quarantine is an isolation tank. So if you put anything you use in your QT into another tank and then don't clean/disinfect afterwards, before putting into the QT tank, you risk contamination.

For a lot of people, they use the python because they don't have to option to gravity drain, which means the tap is running the whole time. Hence the word of warning on how to save on power (electricity/gas depending on your hot water heater).


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## BubBleBee (May 7, 2010)

Thanks Gary...but I'm having a hard time wrappin my head around the whole concept...you wouldn't happen to know of where I can watch a vid explaining how to use a python would ya....


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I didn't watch the whole thing, but here's a python video: YouTube - How to do a water change! Part 2

The principle at work here is hydrostatic pressure. As the water goes through the python adapter, a negative pressure zone is created. The stronger the flow, the more powerful the negative pressure is, allowing you to suck water uphill even. Hope that makes sense.


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## BubBleBee (May 7, 2010)

Ahhhhhh.....yes I now understand fully the concept behind water running while emptying the tank....thanks for helping me out and in helping me understand....Science of any kind was never my strongest subject in skool.....


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## Shell Dweller (Jul 11, 2010)

I do w/c on 11 tanks every Fri or Sat depending on time available. I connect python to tap and start draining (into my sink making sure nothing else is in the sink) all my tanks in whichever room I'm in and then refill them one by one. I add conditioner before refilling. I NEVER EVER LET MYSELF GET DISTRACTED while doing this. It doesnt take long to overfill and have quite a mess on your hands to clean up. I let myself get distracted twice before and I had a lot of water to clean up.  If you MUST do something else TURN OFF THE TAP before you do anything.  It is so easy to get distracted while doing water changes so you must stay focused on what your doing. After doing tanks in one room I then go to the next room. It takes me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours in total to do all my tanks. Then I go back and do any other maintenance needed such as clean filters, etc. 

I drain my tanks with the tap on full cold, but I dont pay for water. When I refill I adjust the temp at the sink until I get the temp I want then close the valve to refill. Either way when I'm draining or refilling I am at the end of the hose making sure the water is going where I want it to go.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Python is definitely the best purchase I made for large WC's. All the comments so far are great. Definitely be careful when refilling. I flooded my each of my tanks once, and my tanks were stacked! And a lot of water comes out very quickly. For draining I now have a safety siphon from jehmco. It has a powerhead attached to it which pumps the water out. No need to have the tap on the drain the tank. And you can set the level you want to drain the tank down to. Then I use the python to refill.

Safety Siphon Aquarium Drain


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## Shell Dweller (Jul 11, 2010)

Hi Daniel; That is a good tool. But I see one problem at least for me. When I do a water change I am also cleaning the gravel at the same time. Unless I could use a gravel cleaner attached to the pump at the same time.


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## splat (Nov 17, 2010)

hi ,

i dont mean to hijack your thread but i am wondering something about the Python.....it doesn't work in my house. i hooked it up to the outside tap and it worked like a charm and i loved it. when i hooked it up to my indoor faucet i was unable to empty the tank at all...it would empty for a couple minutes and then slowly stop. filling the tank works fine.

anyone have an idea why it doesn't work in the house?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Filling works fine because it's coming out of your tap pressurized. However, when draining, it depends on the negative pressure created by the flow of water, so if the pressure of the water is low and you are trying to drain close to flat or uphill, you're going to have a problem.

You'll have to describe your scenario to get some answers, ie, how tall is the tank, where you are draining it to, at which water level does it stop etc. It's a simple physics problem, but we need the equation you are creating to solve the problem.


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## LikeItLow (Jan 11, 2011)

i just watched that video. is it true about not vacuming too deep into the gravel as there is beneficial bacteria deeper down? cause i almost always vacume all teh way down.


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## Jonney_boy (Apr 28, 2010)

I always vacume all the way down without any problems. The good bacteria is all over your tank, on the glass, in the gravel, in the hoses, in your filter, etc. cleaning the gravel won't hurt it enough to make a big difference on a stable tank.


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## LikeItLow (Jan 11, 2011)

yeah i didnt think it was a problem. hearing it in that vid was teh first time i ever heard it.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

They're firmly attached also. You may lose a small amount, not a significant enough amount to cause any problems. You always lose some with cleaning, since they're attached to everything.


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## splat (Nov 17, 2010)

thanks 2wheels for trying to help me. my tank is 50 gallon tall..so i think it's about 4.5 to the top of the tank when on the stand. it doesn't matter what water level i try to drain...it stops working even if the tank is full. it will drain maybe an inch of water, very slowly and then stop working. i have a split level house and it's hooked up the shower nozzle downstairs (about 5 stairs down), I also tried the laundry faucet downstairs but the shower worked *slightly* better. i also tried hooking it up to the kitchen faucet which is on the same level and about 15 feet away. i have also tried my friends python (thinking mine is broken) with the same results. when i hook it up to the outside faucet, which is right outside the window from the fish tank it works great. 
could it be that there is not enough water pressure in my house? or should any water pressure makes this work? i am sure there are no leaks since it works so good on the faucet outside.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

It could be that you don't have enough water pressure, but you're saying that it doesn't work even when you hook it up downstairs. In that scenario, you should even need the tap as it can be done by gravity. Perhaps you can get another member in Kamloops to help?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

check to see if the shutoff valve (that white switch at the first connection) is flipped to the proper side. (ie. parallel with the hose = open, perpendicular to hose = closed)


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I've heard about pythons but have never used one so I found this video very interesting.

I have a question for python users. The guy who made the video used the python to drain the tank, but he used a bucket (a really big one) to refill the tank.

Is it possible to use a python to fill a tank, too?



2wheelsx2 said:


> I didn't watch the whole thing, but here's a python video: YouTube - How to do a water change! Part 2
> 
> The principle at work here is hydrostatic pressure. As the water goes through the python adapter, a negative pressure zone is created. The stronger the flow, the more powerful the negative pressure is, allowing you to suck water uphill even. Hope that makes sense.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

*All your python needs*

absolutely yes. remember to set the water temperature similar to the tank's temperature and don't do what i do and fill the tank with straight cold water!

instead of typing out how the python works and bla bla bla, here's some videos of how the python works, the methodology behind it's function, and instructions (thanks to the lady who uploaded this):

Using a Python Hose to Change Fish Tank Water 





Refilling a Fish Tank With a Python Hose 





Using a Python Hose to Drain Water Out of a Fish Tank


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

Morainy said:


> I've heard about pythons but have never used one so I found this video very interesting.
> 
> I have a question for python users. The guy who made the video used the python to drain the tank, but he used a bucket (a really big one) to refill the tank.
> 
> Is it possible to use a python to fill a tank, too?


yes but if your adding buffers first it helps to use the bucket then you can dissolve it in there before pouring into the tank 
that way the tank doesnt go from hard > softer with all the new 0kh/gh tapwater > hard again when you add the buffers at the end, it stays consistently hard even while filling (some ppl dont care, personally i think its better for the fish this way... more stability)

i use a 3.5G bucket to fill after using the python to empty, some members with larger tanks have a large barrel that they fill the day before their water change and add buffers and have an airstone and heater in the barrel to bring it up to temp, then drain your tank with the python and use a small pump to pump the aged water from the barrel to your aquarium


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

If you are doing a large tank you just add the buffer with small spoons. That's what I do. I found things like Equilibrium a real mess because it doesn't dissolve very quickly.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

yep they dont dissolve to well and i have to put in quite a bit to get my water up to 18 degrees hardness (1 tablespoon of the kh buffer and heaping half tablespoon of the gh salts per 3.5G bucket) so i put it in the bucket and swish it around once its 1/4 full then add prime and fill it rly fast from the bathtub so its turbulent
luckily my tanks are only 37 and 10G and i do 50% changes twice a week

Zenin (ninez) was the one who came up with the genius barrel idea and thats what he does, il that when i get a big tank.

for your discus tank the water is probably so soft it doesnt matter, africans like it hard.. if i dont do it this way the kh goes from 18 down to 12 then back up to 18 its a larger swing


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## splat (Nov 17, 2010)

2wheels,

how would it work downstairs without the tap...ie just gravity?
how would i get it started? and yes the switch is flipped the right way


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

splat said:


> 2wheels,
> 
> 1.)how would it work downstairs without the tap...ie just gravity?
> 2.)how would i get it started? and yes the switch is flipped the right way


1.) if your tank is higher than the draining sink or toilet, then gravity can pull the water from the tank. 
2.) you can start it by sucking the hose hard at the hose end where water will be coming out from or use a water pump to pump the water out. .

watch the video above and use the faucet tap if all else fails. the video i have linked in the above post explains how it works. if it's too complicated, maybe the python may not be the solution for your tank draining requirements. a simple garden hose would suffice and make things simpler.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yep, what Jobber said. I kept fish as a kid long before the python, and part of the ritual was a mouthful of fish water.


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