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It didn't seem to work well, and when I called for help with it, the lady said she'd have somebody call me back...I never got a call back....so the Python went back.

It simply didn't work well at all. It seemed that for every 4 gallons that I was dumping down the drain, less than one came out of my tank. So that would have cost me about 100 gallons of clean tap water in order to do a water chage on a 55 gallon tank!! Time is important, as you can't make it, save it for later use, or buy it.

Personally, I'll reccomend a garder hose siphon. My tank is in the second story of the house, so I have my wife hand the hose up to me through the window and do it that way. The second story drop makes for an awesome suction. A cheap garden hose will actually flatten out due to the suction power. Even at that, it blows the Python away, and doesn't waste clean water from your tap. I got a better one and havn't tried it yet, but it should be even better.

It takes me about 1/2hr to do two 55 gallon tanks and one 30 gallon tank...and that's with the cheap hose flattening out, which restricts flow some.

So, I'll compare:

Python time- so long I gave up after about an hour
Hose time- 30 mins

Python cost- $70 (50ft version)
Hose- $20

Not only all that, but the garden hose can be used to wash the car or water the lawn... try that with a python and see how well it works!!

I don't use my Python hose in that manner at all. I use the sink siphon mode to start it. and then I disconnect it and either run the house outside, or down the floor drain in the furnice room, or heck whe the tank was upstairs I just put the hose in the bath tub. then once drained. I use the fitting on the tap again to fill it back up.

So all you're doing is priming it to siphon with the Python. If you're going to do that, why not just get a hose and siphon it?

In many cases, the elevation of a tank and the elevation of the point of drain are not such that you can siphon. That's the benefit of the Python. It uses the faucet water to help suck the water from the tank.

The garden hose is a 3/4" inside diameter... the Python can't compete with it.

that totally sucks that the python didnt work for you. i can definitely tell you that the water pressure in your house might affect it. in the townhome i lived in--the suction didnt seem that good. but i just moved to a house and i use the kitchen sink now. my mom saw me how i hooked it up(shes 55 yrs old and doesnt know how to work the remote control to the cable box) but she didnt like how dirty my tank was one day...and cleaned it while i was at school. and it probably takes like 10 min for my 46 gal tank.

i dont know. my point is that i still recommend the python. maybe you should try buying a second one. see if that works?? or try it at a friends house just to make sure.

and also----i noticed problems when i would take the python tube in and out of the water AND Then trying to suck water again. i start the python when its outside of the water. when i hear the suction happening---i put it in the water and leave it. if you take it out of the water then air is then sucked into the tube...and the python stops working. it works the same way with my fluval 304.

and with the garden hose---dont you have to put your mouth at one end to and suck to start the suctioning?

thanks
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0.0.1 Red Eared Slider

No, I don't have to suck on the garden hose.
That would be pretty difficult to suck out all that air. Here's what I do:

1)have wife hand me the hose to the seconf floor window of the living room.
2)she hooks the hose to the faucet and turns it on while I hold the end in the tank.
3)when I get water up top in the tank, the hose is full and primed.
4)she then unhooks the hose and the siphon begins.

It works really well since the hose is larger than your usual siphon hose. I can pull the hose out of one tank and put it in the other and it will keep sucking.

when I'm done, I pull the hose from the tank and it drains out. I then have the wife hook the hose back to the faucet and turn on the water. Usally, a hose's outside hose faucets will run a higher pressure than the inside ones...this is better for watering the lawn and other things.

If you have a window and hose handy, you shoud give it a try sometime. You may decide you like it better than the python. If you like the large vacuum tube, I'm sure you can attach the hose to the end of the python so you can still use it.

One problem with a water hose - you can't control the temperature of the water going into your tank, and this procedure must SUCK in the middle of winter. I use my Python for my ceacilians, and I keep their water on the warm side.

I'll admit, though, that in the summer, especially with last year's drought in MD, a water hose is not a bad idea, IF you can have 2 people working on the procedure. I don't always have the luxury of having a helping hand in the house.

Katrina