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Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:05 am
by Dutch
Pixelated_Pirate wrote:How are you guys adding water directly from a hose? How do you monitor the water temp if it is straight from a garden hose... and how do you remove the chlorine from it?
I'm in luck, we have a very good quality of drinking water here. The temperature is something that took me a bit of practice. I now know what the right temperature feels like on my hand and I know how to set the tap of my shower (to which I have the garden hose attached).
While filling I just check the temp of the tank and try to keep it steady.
Jones, what's a Python? (I'm guessing it's not the animal you're referring to.
)
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:06 pm
by Tinman
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:43 pm
by Pixelated_Pirate
Hmmmm I'll have to check that out...
The only thing that scares me is the water source coming from another room... I don't want the tank over flowing or anything...
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:18 pm
by bslindgren
I use a regular gravel vac. You can hold it above the sand, but if you want to stir the sand a bit (which I am told is good to aerate it), just hold the tube at about a 45 degree angle and almost no sand will et sucked up. The diameter I have is about 1.5 inches for the vacuum tube and I think the hose is 3/8th or perhaps 1/2 inch. That gives a slow flow, so I use the same hose to return fresh water. It is a slow process but there's no risk of stirring up sand unless you direct it straight at the sand. Obviously the size of grains matter as well - mine is Target pool filter sand which I think has more consistent grain size than play sand.
I agree with Emma that the buildup of gunk seems to be minimal compared to gravel.
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 3:25 am
by Dutch
I've been trying out my new "gravel cleaner". It's just a flexible hose and a PVC tube long enough to reach the bottom, and it works great. If I narrow the opening I can control the flow a bit and can clean for ages before filling a bucket and I will have a lot of junk.
Also learned about a great way to clean algae off the window. Just use something like a credit card. I have an old card stuck in a PVC tube (yes, I had some left over from my quarium drain) and it works wonders.