I bought this drill powered pump a while back for a work project and never used it, so I had an idea to use it for two things. One works perfectly, the other has an issue.
1. Water changes
As a cheap alternative to a Python or other sink attached siphon, it works just fine. It takes a small amount of coordination, but with a simple garden hose (the one I bought came with one little section of hose with a female end only... the 5/8" hose fits tightly on my siphon wand) you can easily pump water from your aquarium to just about wherever. I only tested it about 25', but I'm sure it can make it through a window or door to the outdoors just as easily. It claims to move 200gph, but I'm sure that depends on how fast your drill is going. It moved water pretty darn fast for me.
2. Gravel Vac with return
The idea came about due to the fact that I'm cycling my aquarium, and wanted to keep my water, but not all of my waste. I had been accomplishing this by siphon vacuuming with some filter material in the wand, and then dumping the "clean" water bucket back into the aquarium. I figured by simply clamping the outfall hose back onto the aquarium, I could take my time vacuuming and accomplish the same thing without the bucket.
The problem here is the pump is lubricated with *something*... which means that the water discharged comes out ever so slightly greasy (fortunately I checked this before using it in my aquarium). I checked and re-checked the manual and it only calls for regular maintenance lubrication with either "vegetable oil or mineral oil" but it doesn't specify what it was lubricated with at the factory. It also does not mention anywhere that the pump should not be used for drinking water... which I imagine it would were the lubrication toxic.
This is where someone with more knowledge can chime in!
Is vegetable oil or mineral oil harmful to aquatic pets?
I don't know whether these types of lubrication can be harmful to our pets; regardless, I don't really want a greasy sheen on my aquarium water. And considering I don't know what the factory lubrication is comprised of (maybe silicone? I rubbed my finger on it and it was clear), I'm not going to risk putting it in my aquarium.
I may still clean it thoroughly and use it for this. From what I can tell, the lubrication is only to prevent the pump from burning out before it's primed with water, but for this application it's easy enough to prime with water it before activating the drill. If need be, I could prime it with a drop of veg oil, and rinse it out into a separate container before putting it in the aquarium.
Anywho, just my two bits on an idea that struck me, in case it has struck anyone else.
Bottom line, I wouldn't use the water from the discharge in my tank without cleaning the lubrication out first, but for water changes, go for it.
