question about water changes

[cberchiolli]

I was wondering how exactly to get water out my aquarium using a gravel vac. i saw them doing it to where the water is directed into the sink. thought i would have known by looking at the pump.. whoops..

 

[OhNeil1969]

It really depends on what type of gravel vac you have. There are the ones that you screw onto the end of your faucet. There are others that just relay on gravity suction (like syphoning gas from a car's tank) and will empty into a bucket. Do you have a gravel vac now? If you have a large tank I would recommend getting the kind that attaches to your faucet. It really is a labor saver.

 

[cberchiolli]

yea i have one that is attached to the faucet and i cant get it to suck water out of the tank... i have the water running as well.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Yeah, buckets are a pain. I used buckets when I started out. Learned real quick that it was no fun. I cant even imagine using buckets on my 150g, 125g, and 40g... I do 50% weekly PWC's.

Walmart sells an off brand of the python... it's Lees brand. I think I paid about $25 or so for mine.

 

[cberchiolli]

having a hard time figuring it out.. Its not creating suction for some reason?? any help

 

[cberchiolli]

im pretty sure its a decent one paid 70 $ its called gravel vac as i brand i do think... Just having a hard time getting it to work in reverse. i can get it to pump water in the tank though.

 

[mfdrookie516]

sorry... somehow I missed that you had one. It's late!

Got good water pressure? One thing about them. I don't use the faucet part for the removal process.... only filling. I just open a door or window enough for the tubing to go through, go to the end, suck on the hose for just a second to get it started, then go back to my tank and start vacing. When I'm almost done siphoning water out, I go to my faucet, get my water temp right, then put my finger over the tubing, go to my sink, hook up, turn on, put in prime, kick back until it's full.

Only thing I can think of that would cause it not to create any suction would be a loose connection somewhere causing air to get in, or low water pressure.

 

[cberchiolli]

hmmm. ima just try the siphoning route, have a window relatively close.. appreciate the advice, ammonia has started to climb in the beginning cycle and i have fish.. just trying to help em' out a bit. this is the first spike of the cycle.. is it possible to siphon with a 50 foot hose?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Yeah, I have a 50' hose. Sometimes, I even hook up a water hose if I decide to use the back door instead of the window beside the tank.

Just be careful not to let too much cold air in.. These past couple weeks have spoiled me

 

[OhNeil1969]

I've had the same problem with no suction with my 50 foot Aqueon gravel vac on my 60 gallon tank. I've found the best solution is to let it create suction with no water, just air, first. At that point I put in the tank and it works fine. It really has to do with the height of the suction part and the faucet. I don't have the same problem with my 29 gallon tank and it's in the same room. It is, however, lower than my 60 gallon.

 

[cberchiolli]

so one end in the tank and the other out the door and jus suck to make suction? or use the faucet? cant figure it out

 

[OhNeil1969]

so one end in the tank and the other out the door and jus suck to make suction? or use the faucet? cant figure it out

Jonathan and I have 2 different ways of dealing with the problem. I will start my vac on the faucet but not in the tank. I'll start to hear it sucking the air from the suction end. At that point I put it in the tank and it works just fine as long as I don't take it out. If I have to take it out for some reason and need to restart it I'll drain it of all the water (just hold the suction end higher than the faucet and roll it up until all the water is gone) and restart the water change.