Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
...for a 10 gal tank.
All the ones I have seen are just water siphons for water changes
All the ones I have seen are just water siphons for water changes
Looking for a gravel vacuum...
- Thread starter Joe_D
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Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
You can make a gravel cleaner out of a garden hose and plastic drink bottle.
Get a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle, like a bottle of Coca Cola or Fanta.
Cut the bottom off the bottle.
Remove the cap and plastic ring from the top. Throw the bottom piece, cap and ring in the recycling.
Stick a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door onto the lawn.
That's it. One gravel cleaner.
If you don't want to run the hose out the door, you can cut a length of garden hose and syphon the tank water into a bucket.
You can also buy clear plastic hose from a hardware store and put it on the top (on the outside) of the bottle's top. This will be a bigger diameter hose than a garden hose and will drain water faster. I had a set up like this for my big tanks and could gravel clean and drain a 400 litre tank in a couple of minutes.
Get a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle, like a bottle of Coca Cola or Fanta.
Cut the bottom off the bottle.
Remove the cap and plastic ring from the top. Throw the bottom piece, cap and ring in the recycling.
Stick a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door onto the lawn.
That's it. One gravel cleaner.
If you don't want to run the hose out the door, you can cut a length of garden hose and syphon the tank water into a bucket.
You can also buy clear plastic hose from a hardware store and put it on the top (on the outside) of the bottle's top. This will be a bigger diameter hose than a garden hose and will drain water faster. I had a set up like this for my big tanks and could gravel clean and drain a 400 litre tank in a couple of minutes.
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
I already have a very good (AC) powered aquarium siphon.
I just need something to use for filter material that will filter out debris before returning the water to the tank.
i will experiment using the foot end of nylon panty hose to use as a "filter bag".
I just need something to use for filter material that will filter out debris before returning the water to the tank.
i will experiment using the foot end of nylon panty hose to use as a "filter bag".
Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
You don't want to return the dirty water to the tank. The whole purpose of doing water changes and gravel cleans is to dilute nutrients and disease organisms in the aquarium. If you re-use the water after it's been filtered through the crap, you may as well just leave it all alone and let the crap build up until the fish die.
I may not be understanding you. My dirty water goes down the toilet or out the window. I attach a unrolled plastic netted pot scrubber to the siphon bottom to avoid sucking up my tiny fish. I pump appropriately heated water back into the tanks after adding conditioner directly to the ~50% drained tank.
ADsnail
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2020
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I had this question awhile back when I too was dissatisfied with what I was using. The Fluval Provac was recommended by others here. It's about as small as a vac gets, though still bigger than what I'd like for smaller tanks.
I vac first, which stirs up the water. Then I do the water change. What little remaining stir-up settles down quickly. Not letting it build up is important - I do this every 2-3 weeks. In fact, here's a picture of it because it's already out for water changes this morning.
I vac first, which stirs up the water. Then I do the water change. What little remaining stir-up settles down quickly. Not letting it build up is important - I do this every 2-3 weeks. In fact, here's a picture of it because it's already out for water changes this morning.
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Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
Some times I just want to filter some water and not remove any.
Like i said... "I already have a very good (AC) powered aquarium siphon"
Like i said... "I already have a very good (AC) powered aquarium siphon"
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
Stirring up the crud in the substrate and returning the water back to the tank just sounds like a very bad idea.
Why not just use a cheap syphon with some filter floss jammed into it and drain it into a bucket and pour the water back in? I do the filter floss trick when cleaning my shrimp tank so I don’t suck up the little guys!
Why not just use a cheap syphon with some filter floss jammed into it and drain it into a bucket and pour the water back in? I do the filter floss trick when cleaning my shrimp tank so I don’t suck up the little guys!
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
What is the difference between that and what I said?
Either way you are pouring filtered water back into the tank.
Isn't that also what all aquarium filters do?
Either way you are pouring filtered water back into the tank.
Isn't that also what all aquarium filters do?
No, you’re taking extremely dirty, waste filled water from the substrate and filtering the particulates and returning the waste water. That’s like using a screen to filter poop from your toilet water and using the water to refill your water bottle
An aquarium filter treats the water on a biological level, and chemical depending on the filter as well as it doesn’t disturb the substrate which in itself can release a lot of bad things into the water column.
Throwing the water out and adding fresh is by far the best option imo, especially if you have any amount of depth to the substrate (the deeper it is, the worse things can get by disturbing it, even if you’re throwing out the water)
An aquarium filter treats the water on a biological level, and chemical depending on the filter as well as it doesn’t disturb the substrate which in itself can release a lot of bad things into the water column.
Throwing the water out and adding fresh is by far the best option imo, especially if you have any amount of depth to the substrate (the deeper it is, the worse things can get by disturbing it, even if you’re throwing out the water)
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
I think a small bit of realty is in order
There is nothing in filtered water that is not already in a tank,
You are just taking out filterable particles.
Isn't that that what any aquarium filter does, besides harboring the beneficial bacteria ?
In any event this is to be done occasionally and only before a water change.
There is nothing in filtered water that is not already in a tank,
You are just taking out filterable particles.
Isn't that that what any aquarium filter does, besides harboring the beneficial bacteria ?
In any event this is to be done occasionally and only before a water change.
I think a small bit of realty is in order
There is nothing in filtered water that is not already in a tank,
You are just taking out filterable particles.
Isn't that that what any aquarium filter does, besides harboring the beneficial bacteria ?
In any event this is to be done before a water change.
Reality is, your substrate traps gunk, which turns into fun stuff like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. Stirring up the substrate releases this and in bad cases even throwing that water out still leaves enough in the water column to kill everything in the tank
It’s 2022 if there’s a product you can’t find on the market, there’s a good reason!
To each their own, I’m not saying it’s going to nuke your tank, just not a very wise practice as it has potential for very bad things to happen
Joe_D
Aquarium Advice Freak
Then just what is the point of ever vacuuming the gravel ?
Are you not stirring it up? i
Are you not stirring it up? i
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