help! gravel vac!

[mudraker]

BTW, your rams would appreciate a few plants, even fake ones.

They like shelter and establishing territories...

 

[Chelseachuy]

well i know the gold rams are male and female. i went to a nice pet store and the man made sure he got me a pair. the bolivians im pretty sure not positive i have a male and female. one is really colorful and one not as much.

i have plants not real ones. just plastic ones. =)

 

[mudraker]

Fake plants are okay, the rams probablly won't care if they are real or not.

Its just that rams can get very territorial when they are nest guarding.

 

[librarygirl]

Mine you put in the water and shake it like a shake weight and starts it self because it has a valve. I think its the one made by lees its the most common one sold at petco

I bought one like that at Petsmart at first. You're supposed to shake it to start it. I shook it and made a mess and freaked out my fish (and myself) and never could get the darn thing to suction, ended up taking water out manually with a container. Went back and got one with a hand pump, just pump it a few times and it starts. Much better and cleaner. Although for me I can't use it to put water back into the tank because my tank is higher than anything I could put the buckets on, so I'm going to invest in an automatic changer soon, I''m looking at the Aqueon.

 

[maxwellag]

I just use the no pump ones and stick the whole thing accept the tunic underwater then extend the thing, let all the air out, and pt my hand over the end and push in. This forces water through the tubing to create a siphon.

 

[Chelseachuy]

this is so complicated i feel so stupid for not getting it to start.. any recommendations besides a python, maybe a more economical one? something easy to use!!!! the hardest part for me is to get it to start! i just tried doing my ten gallon and it was a complete fail couldn't even get it to suction!!!!

 

[roydooms]

Put the gravel vacuum in the tank and suck the other end ( hose ) until you get suction then stick it in the bucket.

 

[mudraker]

Try this:

Plunge the end of the vac into the water. With the vac facing upward, gentle lift it out of the water until the water starts to flow down the tube.

Repeat this one or two times and it should start to suck pretty well.

I do this sometimes when the shaking method fails.

Just keep with it. You will get the hang of it sooner or later. These things take time sometimes!

 

[Chelseachuy]

yes read my other thread i have another problem LOL. i got it started a lot easier in my 29 gallon tank for some reason but i failed because i didn't have a big enough bucket but when i was doing my ten gallon i couldn't get it to start at all.

all i think i did was drain the water. i would fill it with water then let it drain and it wouldn't suction for one try then it wouldn't continue but needless to say i kept doing that to just try to clean the gravel. but i need to get this gravel clean!!!!!

 

[mudraker]

At least you are trying hard You'll get there soon enough!

 

[Chelseachuy]

Just want to let everyone now I did successfully vaccuum my 29 gallon!! Thanks for all ur help.. It was very successful ! Now I need to conquer my ten gallon!!