Python issues

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DragonFish71

Great white snark
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Apr 4, 2009
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Does anyone else have trouble with the suction power of their python in larger tanks?


When I'm cleaning our smaller tanks (55g, 5g, 29g, 14g, 40g, 29g, 10g, 20g) I have no problems with suction and get those tanks cleaned fairly quickly. When I move to our 120 or 80 I have problems. Since I'll be setting up two 115g tanks sometime soon, I want to figure out what the problem is and fix it. My python has a 50 hose and all the standard fittings that came with it.



For cleaning the 80, 29, 5s, 20, and a 10, I have it hooked up to our kitchen sink, upstairs. The problem isn't as bad and I can somewhat live with it, but when I do our 120 eeesh


To clean our 120 I have hooked it to our basement bathroom sink and directly to the pipe coming in from the wall for the shower head, both are bad for suction. The pipe for the shower head has a bit more pull to it, but still not enough. Our 55, 40, one of our 10s, and a 14 are in the basement, I hook them to the bathroom sink and they clean fine.


I've also tried using it without hooking it to a water source, just letting gravity do the work, that doesn't clean for crap (literally) no poo gets sucked up, just water.


Any ideas? And thanks in advance.
 
I think I'll tag along. I have a 55g tank and for doing water changes it seems fine but the vacuming has always felt kinda weak. For the most part I haven't minded because I was only doing 10-20% water changes but with my new fert schedule I have to do 50% weekly and it takes forever to get that down...
 
go with a shorter vac tube... my 12" tube has twice the suction of the 24" tube. you might just get a 12" tube (if thats the shortest you can get) and cut it down to around 6-8"
 
I don't notice a difference going from my 5g to my 29g, but I do notice that I lose suction if water is touching the sink adapter. I have a very shallow sink in the bathroom where I have to connect the python. The drain doesn't work too spectacularly. If the water level gets high enough to cover the bottom of the sink adapter, it reduces the venturi effect and kills suction. Water pressure and tank height relative to the sink are also critical factors. I have my 29g on top and my 20L on the bottom of the same stand. The 29g PWCs go much faster than the 20L because I'm working with gravity instead of against it.
 
I have noticed a minor difference between going from the stock tube and going to a 36" tube. Though I will put up with a slower gravel clean to having to get my hands wet.
 
Could it be that the pressure is weaker in your basement? If it works fine in other places in the house then I would say the python works fine. Not sure how you could fix that though, maybe some type of adapter to a smaller pipe to get more pressure? I'm not a plumber, if you haven't noticed yet. ;)
 
I don't notice a difference going from my 5g to my 29g, but I do notice that I lose suction if water is touching the sink adapter. I have a very shallow sink in the bathroom where I have to connect the python. The drain doesn't work too spectacularly. If the water level gets high enough to cover the bottom of the sink adapter, it reduces the venturi effect and kills suction. Water pressure and tank height relative to the sink are also critical factors. I have my 29g on top and my 20L on the bottom of the same stand. The 29g PWCs go much faster than the 20L because I'm working with gravity instead of against it.

Yeah, I've noticed that too, but even when I hook it up in the shower it has issues.

All the tanks in the basement are on their own stands, but of course each has a different height and depth. The 120 being the deepest until the 115s are up. Those are 31 inches.
 
Could it be that the pressure is weaker in your basement? If it works fine in other places in the house then I would say the python works fine. Not sure how you could fix that though, maybe some type of adapter to a smaller pipe to get more pressure? I'm not a plumber, if you haven't noticed yet. ;)


I asked y fiance about that, which is why we started hooking up to the pipe that comes through the wall. I take off the whole shower head assembly, put on the adapter, put on the python and go. It still sucks at sucking. I did notice a bit of a change when I used the 12 inch tube instead of the 18. Ughhh I wish I was a plumber!
 
I have noticed a minor difference between going from the stock tube and going to a 36" tube. Though I will put up with a slower gravel clean to having to get my hands wet.


Unfortunately for me it doesn't suck up the poo. With a common pleco, 24 giant danios, 4 cichlids and 5 catfish, there's a ton of poo each week. *lol*
 
Does anyone else have trouble with the suction power of their python in larger tanks?


When I'm cleaning our smaller tanks (55g, 5g, 29g, 14g, 40g, 29g, 10g, 20g) I have no problems with suction and get those tanks cleaned fairly quickly. When I move to our 120 or 80 I have problems. Since I'll be setting up two 115g tanks sometime soon, I want to figure out what the problem is and fix it. My python has a 50 hose and all the standard fittings that came with it.



For cleaning the 80, 29, 5s, 20, and a 10, I have it hooked up to our kitchen sink, upstairs. The problem isn't as bad and I can somewhat live with it, but when I do our 120 eeesh


To clean our 120 I have hooked it to our basement bathroom sink and directly to the pipe coming in from the wall for the shower head, both are bad for suction. The pipe for the shower head has a bit more pull to it, but still not enough. Our 55, 40, one of our 10s, and a 14 are in the basement, I hook them to the bathroom sink and they clean fine.


I've also tried using it without hooking it to a water source, just letting gravity do the work, that doesn't clean for crap (literally) no poo gets sucked up, just water.


Any ideas? And thanks in advance.


You said you had a fifty foot hose attached to you python? You could try a shorter hose. Water is 8 lbs a gallon, and that would reduce the weight of water you are pulling to match you water pressure
 
Your problem is probably elevation. whats the difference in height between the water level in the problematic tanks and the sink adapter? also, is it problematic from the start or does it just get bad after removing a certain amount of water? Cliff your idea is helpful but not for that reason, more tubing means more friction which means the water will move slower. fittings will do the same but more so. In pipes (and tubes) the main driver is elevation change between the ends of the pipes/tube via the Bernoulli equation (h1+v1^2/2g-hf=h2+v2^2/2g where point 1 is above point 2, hf is the frictional loss from 1 to 2).
 
I once had a suction problem with my python, I found out one of the fittings was loose enough to let air and the tiniest amount of water gargle and bubble out. Tightened up all my fittings and I was back in business.
 
Well... if you really want power... and the outside hose faucet is readily available.... for my 55 gallon I hook my python up to the outside hose faucet to empty it. You can vary the sucking power by how high you turn the water on - and you can drain the 55 gallon in minutes if you turn it on high (not recommended if you have fish in there). My hose faucet is right outside the window from the tank, so I just hook it up there. Obviously to fill it I have to figure something else out though :)
 
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