Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have always dreaded doing water changes in my 135 gallon aquarium so water changes were never done as often as they should have been done. They suggest changing one-fifth to one-quarter of the tank's water at least twice a month. For the past 45 years I have been carrying buckets of water to and from my 135 gallon aquarium to do occasional water changes. When I was younger, it wasn't that hard for me lugging the heavy buckets, it was just time consuming and I found it very boring filling up all those buckets with both old and new water. Now that I am almost 70 years old and have developed a back problem, it has gotten to be quite a chore for me to do water changes. We siphon and dump 20-30 buckets of water into the bathroom stool which is about 15 feet away but then I have to lug 20-30 buckets of clean water with the chlorine and chloramine removed from the laundry room which is about 50 feet away when refilling the aquarium. This week, we decided we had to do a water change and clean the aquarium. It was a job that I dreaded but had to be done. I just happened to run across a video on the Internet showing a young man doing a 40% water change of a 120 gallon tank in about 30 minutes. The video didn't show him doing much except walk away and return a few times, he was sitting down most of the time while his 120 gallon tank emptied and then refilled itself. It was a very poorly made video which didn't explain or show exactly what he was doing. In fact,the video was sped up and was only 3 minutes in length, but I got the idea. He didn't mention what brand he used for this task, he only referred to his being similar to a brand made in England. So I scoured the Internet for this brand but I was not able to find one for sale anywhere. I immediately began searching Amazon for such an item and I found this Python item, I read about how it functioned and it was just what I was looking for. I immediately ordered one specifying next day delivery. Since I am an Amazon Prime member, it was only an extra $4 for next day delivery. The Python system arrived the next day and I immediately hooked it up as per the instructions. It's so simple a child could probably do it. I have a very small bathroom with a small lavatory about 15 feet away. I never could use it to fill the buckets but with the Python system, I found that it was the perfect place to use the system. I connected their pump device to the bathroom faucet, hooked up the tubing to it and placed the other end of the tubing into my tank. I then went into the bathroom,and turned on the cold water. When I turned on the faucet, to my amazement my aquarium water began immediately siphoning into the bathroom sink. Using the large siphon tube, I was able to clean the gravel as the water siphoned out. After about 15-20 minutes, about 30% of my 135 gallon tank had drained and I was then ready to refill it. There is a shut off valve located in the tubing a few feet away from the tank end that allows you to stop the draining. I went into the bathroom, adjusted the water temperature to match the aquarium temperature, then as stated in the instructions, I pushed the bottom part of the pump up and turned it to the right to lock it in the fill position. Upon switching the valve to open, the water immediately began filling my aquarium. This device did in about 30-40 minutes what would have taken me most of a day to do using buckets. I now understand why the lad in the video was sitting most of the time, I was also sitting most of the time. My wife, who was skeptic at first, now thinks it is one fantastic device. My only main concern was adding tap water that did not have the chlorine and chloramine removed. As the tank was refilling, every few minutes I would squirt some Prime Water Conditioner in front of the filler tube. I am hoping it was sufficient in removing the chlorine and chloramine from the tap water and none of my fish die. It's now been 8 hours since the water change and they seem to be still in fine condition. Only time will tell I guess. I just wish I had known about this device long ago. My 45 year old son has an identical tank at his house, he says he will continue carrying buckets of water to and from his tank as he is also concerned about the chlorine and chloramine. My wife and I are betting that he will change his mind and get one of these Python systems for his tank if my method of chlorine and chloramine removal work. .