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Aquarium guides/How to choose aquarium water change tools

How to choose aquarium water change tools

You need a gravel-vac siphon sized for your tank, a bucket kept only for the aquarium, and a dechlorinator such as Seachem Prime for the new water. Once carrying buckets gets heavy or the sink is far away, a long hose saves the trips: a plain siphon only drains to somewhere lower than the tank, such as a tub or floor drain, so to use a sink, choose a water changer that fits the faucet and uses the tap’s flow to pull the water out.

Cleaning inside a tank by hand
Shown: cleaning inside a tank by hand. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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How much water, and how far?

Work out how much water you change each time; the water-change calculator turns your percentage into gallons and container trips. A 25% change on a 20-gallon tank is 5 gallons, which weighs about 42 pounds: carried as 3 gallons and then 2, it takes two trips instead of one heavy, brimming bucket.

Then walk the route from the tank to the sink or drain. Stairs, narrow doors and carpet decide whether buckets or a long hose make more sense. Fill containers to a weight you can carry without spilling, not to the brim.

Which size siphon?

Match the siphon to the tank. A wide tube empties a big tank fast but can pull the water out of a 5 or 10 gallon before you have cleaned the gravel; small tanks are easier with a narrow tube, or a mini siphon. The tube should reach the bottom with its top still above the rim, and the hose should reach your bucket or drain.

Look at how it starts, too: some have a squeeze bulb or a shaking valve, others you start by filling the tube under water. The Aquarium Co-Op Mini, for example, has a 58-inch hose and no squeeze bulb. Our water-change tool pages list each one’s hose and how it starts.

Keep fish and floors safe during a water change

Stay with the siphon while it runs. Keep the tube’s end away from small fish, shrimp and fry, or cover it with a fine mesh or a sponge, and keep an eye on the bucket so it does not overflow. A siphon left running drains far more than you meant.

Unplug the heater and filter before the water drops, and let the heater cool in the water first if its top will end up in the air (30 minutes for Aqueon’s). The water-change sequence

Treating the new water

Treat the new water with conditioner for the amount you are adding, as its label says: Seachem Prime, for example, doses by the volume of new water. Bring it close to the tank’s temperature by feel or with a thermometer, and pour it in gently over a plate or your hand so the gravel stays put.

Then plug the heater and filter back in, watch for flow and leaks, and rinse and dry the siphon and bucket before you put them away. Keep that bucket for the tank only: soap or cleaning products left in a household bucket harm fish. The water-change calculator works out the amount and the bucket trips.

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