Whater changes

[JR]

I do 25% a day on my Discus. I am not able to do that now. I have a company that is going to start this Sunday taking care of all my fish every sunday. They are charging a 100$ to do this. Will that be enough for my Discus. I do not know how long I am going to be down. For a extra 50$ they will do that tank 3 times a week.

[PaulineMi]

Once weekly with light feedings would work. I don't recall your tank size and stocking levels.

If you'd like to stay involved and not knowing if you can get to your tanks....could you put a pump in the discus tank with a hose to a drain that you could just plug in and unplug to remove water? There could also be a pump with a hose the from the aging barrel to your tank. You could plug that in to refill your tank and just unplug it when done. These pumps and hoses could remain in place while you recuperate.

When the maintenance people come they could fill your aging barrel for you and do a thorough tank clean. You could get twice weekly water changes if this would work for you.

[BillT]

If only changing water is your concern, you might look into making an automatic water changing system.

Minimally it would involve:

A way to get new water into the tank(s) and
A way to get excess water out of the tank(s):
Depending upon the details of your situation there many ways to achieve this.

? A drilled tank and bulkhead fitting so excess water can exit from the tank (or a sump) to the a drain. New water coming in from a higher level water source, a pump, or a valve from you water line (with a filter to dechlorinate it).

? A siphon and something like a hang on the back filter to keep the siphon full of water, but with an overflow to a drain to remove excess water at some level high enough on the box not to break the siphon (this method however is pron to failure). NBew water would be the same as above.

? A pump on a timer to remove water from the tank (or a sump); this would pull the water out of the tank (or a sump) which could be replaced by a float valve from a higher water stash (or a plumbing line).

The last method might be the safest from a water spill point of view, but might be more expensive for many tanks. Mostly I use the first method.
there maybe commercial products that do this, but it pretty cheap if you DIY it.
I use a $40 yard sprinkle system timer and a $5-10 plastic sprinkler valve to turn water on and off.
A $20-40 plastic filter housing with charcoal to remove chlorine.
PVC plumbing for connections.

I think filling a container higher than your tank and dechlorinating the water in there so it could flow down hill to the tank might be the easiest to setup.

Generally bulkheads are the most expensive things followed by valves to regulate flows.
Drilling glass tanks is the most difficult thing. Plastic is easy (tanks are lighter too and acrylic is more optically clear although it scratches easily).

Don't know if this might work for you, but it works well for lazy people like me. I like timers.

[Mugwump]

Nice idea, Bill....but I doubt if JR will being doing anything like this presently....he needs an easy short term fix....

[Barb]

What Pauline suggested gets my vote.
Barb

[JR]

It is a 180 gal planted tank 8 full size Discus  12 Cory and 6 pearl Gourami. I can't get to my tanks yet they are all in the basement. Going to rent a chair lift next week. I will be able to go down there than

[PaulineMi]

A chair lift will be really nice for you to have. At the very least you can relax and watch your fish.