Python syphoning system
No more back breaking water changes!
By: Corey Ratzlaff

Hello, my name is Corey Ratzlaff. I live in Wichita, Kansas and have really
enjoyed raising my discus. While there are many pet/fish shops here many of them rarely carry discus because people just don't know how to take care of them. I have been successful with my discus and attribute many of my success to Sam's webpage.

I don't know if many of you know about the "python syphoning system" but it has proved to be very implemental in the care of my discus.

I was thinking one day when I was breaking my back with five gallon buckets, cleaning out my aquarium every week, "I can't do this forever, what happens when I get old?" A short time after I was strolling through Wal-Mart and came across something in the fish suppplies area. It showed a cartoon on the package of a guy doing something very similar to what I had been doing.

Breaking your back and slopping water everywhere. For those of you that
don't know what the "python" is, on one end is a cleaning attachment like
any normal gravel intake end. On the other is an attachment that hooks up
to a faucet, almost exactly the thing you use to fill up a water bed. To
drain your aquarium you simply make an adjustment on the attachment and turn on the water. Your aquarium is syphoned out (as much as you want). By making another adjustment, you can redirect new, clean water back in.

How do you put the chemicals in? I don't know what other discus owners do, and at first I thought that discus were so sensitive that I had to mix the
chemicals and water separately before putting back in. This for me however was not the case. I measured out of a full aquarium increments of ten gallons up to about 25 ( I have a 55 gal) and made the appropriate markings on the side with a marker. In one 5 gal bucket I mix up all the chemicals in the amount of water that I am going to replace. While I'm putting the new water from the faucet back in, I either have someone else pour it in or I pour in the "chemicaled water" about half-way through the filling process just so that I can spread it around with the water current from the faucet.

I can't imagine doing it any other way. If you are cleaning out, or water
changing your tank every week, this tool is a must have. If you have a
Wal-Mart nearby you go get one, otherwise you can find the python syphoning system on the net. You can also purchase extra attachments like longer hoses etc. I'm sure many of you have heard about this, but if not, you have to try this, it makes having discus much easier and much more enjoyable to take care of.

Thanks.

Corey

To read more about this system, please visit Python Products.