Which is better at removing/adding water from/to tank, a shop vac or a submersible pump?

mistergray

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Which is better at removing/adding water from/to tank, a shop vac or a submersible pump?

Please share the brand/model shop vac or submersible pump you use for water changes.
 

MNFish

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Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump is pretty sweet as it gets the water down pretty low for going from mixing station into tank or bucket. Normally to take water out I just use a python. If you do not care to get all the water out with the pump I have used AQUEON Quietflow Submersible Aquarium Pump, Model 1200 - Chewy.com before as well, it is cheaper and is powerful enough to go from my mixing station to my tank with just about the perfect amount of flow.
 
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Jedi1199

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Which is better at removing/adding water from/to tank, a shop vac or a submersible pump?

Please share the brand/model shop vac or submersible pump you use for water changes.

I simply siphon to drain.

To return I use a 20G brute can on a wheeled dolly to bring the water from where I make it to the tank and use an inexpensive water pump to pump it in... Maybe $100-125 total...
 
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Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump is pretty sweet as it gets the water down pretty low for going from mixing station into tank or bucket. Normally to take water out I just use a python. If you do not care to get all the water out with the pump I have used AQUEON Quietflow Submersible Aquarium Pump, Model 1200 - Chewy.com before as well, it is cheaper and is powerful enough to go from my mixing station to my tank with just about the perfect amount of flow.
That looks similar to what I saw a guy on YouTube use. It seemed to make water changes a much quicker process vs using the python for water changes.
 
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I simply siphon to drain.

To return I use a 20G brute can on a wheeled dolly to bring the water from where I make it to the tank and use an inexpensive water pump to pump it in... Maybe $100-125 total...
How many gallons are you siphoning? How long does it take?
 
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For standard water changes i use siphon hose. I do occassionally drain sump and use a shop vac to get detritus out that has managed to avoid the filter sock and settles in sump
 
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Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump is pretty sweet as it gets the water down pretty low for going from mixing station into tank or bucket. Normally to take water out I just use a python. If you do not care to get all the water out with the pump I have used AQUEON Quietflow Submersible Aquarium Pump, Model 1200 - Chewy.com before as well, it is cheaper and is powerful enough to go from my mixing station to my tank with just about the perfect amount of flow.
Would you consider either method better: pump vs python? Is the pump slow moving water in/out?
 
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I simply siphon to drain.

To return I use a 20G brute can on a wheeled dolly to bring the water from where I make it to the tank and use an inexpensive water pump to pump it in... Maybe $100-125 total...
Exactly what I do. I used to use a pump to remove the water but found a siphon better because I can get some of the detritus off the bottom. The biggest thing is a flexible enough hose when siphoning there has been more then a few times the hose came out of the bucket lol so now I have a really long hose and circle it up on the bottom of the trash can so I don't accidentally don't pull it out while siphoning. Remember it comes out quick and fast when siphoning
 
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ehealy13

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Which is better at removing/adding water from/to tank, a shop vac or a submersible pump?

Please share the brand/model shop vac or submersible pump you use for water changes.


I have 2...one for removing the water and one for adding/mixing water in a 20g Brute can. I can do a 15g change in under 10 minutes.
 
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Tonycass12

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Sicce Ultra Zero Utility Pump is pretty sweet as it gets the water down pretty low for going from mixing station into tank or bucket. Normally to take water out I just use a python. If you do not care to get all the water out with the pump I have used AQUEON Quietflow Submersible Aquarium Pump, Model 1200 - Chewy.com before as well, it is cheaper and is powerful enough to go from my mixing station to my tank with just about the perfect amount of flow.
The sicce ultra zero pump is the best. I even use it when mixing my salt now. This thing has for sure taken the headaches out of mixing salt and doing waterchanges.
 
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MNFish

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Would you consider either method better: pump vs python? Is the pump slow moving water in/out?

I like python for removing water but I usually pick an area to stir the sand a little while I am doing it plus I have fresh water tanks as well making the python a must have. If you just want water out then a pump would likely be faster but with a syphon I feel I have way more control and can slow or stop suction at anytime. However just like anything in this hobby it comes down to many different preferences.
 
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ehealy13

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That’s some pretty good timing!
I premix the salt a day or 2 out, so that's not factored into the timing, but pumping from the DT to the waste 20g and refilling is pretty painless. It takes a little longer on the fill side, as I'm pumping water against gravity, but overall it makes it far easier, and easy results in frequency for me at least, LOL.
 
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Jimmyneptune

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I would use a python to syphon out. Use a pump, maxijet 1200 with a hose attached to the output, or you could poor pitchers of water into the tank. if your tank is a 32 gallon and you only need to change 10-20% that's 3-6 gallons more or less. I have a small 12 gallon that I will do 50% water changes and for me using a pitcher to add the water is easiest for a 6 gallon water change.
 
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I use pmup in my sump, and keep the hose connected, to drain water. This way I can also turn the pump on and use the hose to stir up detrius or if I feel my sump could use some flow, every once in a while. Then I have a pmup that sits in my mixing bucket to pump water back into the sump. Cheap enough that both can stay where they are.
 
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