I was looking at gravel vacuums online tonight, but I don't think I quite understand how it works exactly. They look just like a bunch of tubing to me! How does the suction process begin/continue?

The big round plastic tube goes into the tank- that is the part actually used to clean the gravel. You need to have a bucket (or a handy sink or toilet) ready for the other end - the flexible plastic tubing - which is where the water and crud will drain out from.

To start it working, you can either suck on the end of the flexible tubing and then just take your mouth away quickly and point the tubing into the bucket as soon as the water starts coming through the pipe (which is what I do), or you can simply submerse the whole thing completely under water in the tank, then lift the flexible tubing part out with your thumb over the end, postion it over the bucket and let go. Either way works fine; the water will continue flowing through on its own without any help.

Once you've got the siphon flowing, you stick the round end deeply into the gravel and move it around, fairly vigorously. You''ll see all the dirt and goo come flying out of the gravel and get sucked up the tube and out into the bucket. It sucks the gravel up too, but because this is so much heavier, it just falls back down again. Work your way from one end of the tank to the other, making sure you have vacuumed every bit of gravel. Then simply lift it out when you're done. Because it removes water as well as dirt, the gravel vacuum usually forms part of your normal water change; you may need to remove only a little extra water afterwards to do your normal-sized change.

Gravel vacs are very clever things.

I had a lot of trouble with my siphon at first. But then I found a method that really works for me. I submerge the large end of the vacuum in the water, and make sure the tube is in a bucket below the tank. It is important that the end of the tubing hang below the tank (if your tank is on the floor, or on a low table, it is difficult to get the suction going). I then shake the hard plastic vacuum up and down vigorously. This method works just as well as sucking on the tube. Then follow emmahj's wonderful instruction on how to clean the gravel. I love that part!

Good Luck!
-PenelopeFish

also the bigger the tubing the faster the water flow. I like the smaller tubing since it allows me to cover more gravel before I need to dump the bucket. The water is dirtier, for me, using the smaller tubing . The larger tubing seemed to take more water with it.

Just as a F.Y.I for anyone having trouble starting a siphon.

Put the big end of the siphon tube down in the tank. Then feed the rest of the hose into the tank making sure all the air is expelled from the tube. If the tube gets an air bubble trapped in it just back the tube back out of the water until the air is released. When the entire tube is filled with water just put a finger over the end you want to go into the bucket or drain and keeping you finger in place put the end of the tube into the bucket or drain and then remove your finger. The siphon will start immediately, no sucking or pumping.

Excellent replies--thanks folks. I think I understand the idea now. I have river rocks in the bottom of my tank (not gravel). All the rocks are approximately 2 inch x 1 inch ovals. Will a gravel vac still work for me? I've noticed while pouring in new water (during water changes) that there is a LOT of crud bouncing up from the bottom which worries me a lot.

Hi Silver!! I have a tank with river rocks and it does just fine for mine. I have learned though to take only 1/2 of the water I plan to and then clean real well and then remove the next 1/2 of water do to everything getting stirred up. That works great for me.

So I went to Petsmart a couple days ago and bought a gravel vacuum. Wow, this is such a great invention! It is such a simple device, yet so effective. It was amazing how much nasty stuff was hiding underneath my river rocks. I will now be using the vacuum every time I do a water change. Thanks again for everyone's valuable input!

i made a DIY vacuum.

Here's what I used to do:

I put a bucket lower from the tank so i just siphoned water with junk out of tank in the bucket...
BUT my tank is just a 14g so in order to perfectly clean it, i had to remove much more water than I should (more than 40%)...

so here's what I did:
I put chifon at the end of the suction pipe to keep the dirt from fallin in the bucket.
I also put a water pump in the bucket to continuously pump clean water back in tank.

So I can vacuum and vacuum and vacuum endlessly till my tank is crystal clear!!

Nice i will try that

Keep in mind when gravel cleaning, that it should be done with a straight up and down method. Distubing the gunk as little as possible, The gases trapped in the gunk can be released into the water, causing sever problems with your fishy's!

Hmm, interesting... Could you elaborate a bit more?

Hey guys how do you gravel clean a pond?

Thats a really good idea kflynt! I have used a piece of old tights over the end of the syphon the other day when i wanted to get some water out to dissolve the salt in and because i was adding it back didn't want gunk in it. However a water pump to put the water back is genuis! I could use it to refil the tank after a water change as well because i can't hold the bucket high enough to syphon it back in.

Where did you get the pump from? was it expensive?

Cheers,

Rachel

Tamianth means hydrogen sulphide, which can sometimes build up under the substrate in places where the water /oxygen flow is very limited. e.g. under large heavy ornaments or in fine-grained substrates like sand. You will know HS if you ever encounter it because it smells powerfully like rotten eggs! If there is a lot of HS present it can harm the fish when released into the water - e.g when you disturb it by siphoning - but if you move the siphon tube straight up and down, not around and around, any bubbles of HS are drawn straight up the tube and do not get into the water.

To be honest, I have very rarely encountered HS in a well-maintained tank which does not have a fine-grained substrate, masses of thick plantings or heavy / hollow ornaments. GF tanks especially tend not to have it much because the GF stir the gravel up so much when rooting about for food that HS does not get a chance to build up.

I was just curious if anyone else on here had the no spill and fill siphon. I recently got it right after christmas, and I love it! Its a savor! My fiance was tierd of dumping the 5 gallon buckets after water changes, so when i found this thing like $25 cheaper at walmart then petsmart, I bought one, and I absoluelty LOVE it! Hooks to the sink, starts the sucking action automatically. Then everything just goes down the sink. When Im ready to fill the tank back up, I just puch alittle connector piece next to the piece hooked to the faucet, and the water goes back through the tube. Then I just add my dechlorinator as the water goes back in the tank! WONDERFUL INVENTION!!! Anyone else use it?

Actually it's not a plain water pump.
All "normal" water pumps were a lot bigger and more expensive.
It's a pump for fountains. U dont use the "fountain stuff" and u get a small normal water pump..

I got it from Praktiker. I dont know if u ever heard of it. It's kinda like a supermarket sellin technical stuff. You must have somethin similar in the Uk!

Feel free to ask me anythin you need!

I've been using a bit of tubing with a piece of garlic bag stretched over one end to stop it from swallowing gravel and it works great but I bought a proper vacuum anyway... and I can't get it to work.

It a medium size and seems huge. It has an enormous fat end which is really long and I can't see that it can generate enough suction to lift the gunk, let alone the gravel halfway with it. I've had the hose extended it's full drop down to a bucket from table height and even tho it's flowing, it's too weak.

Maybe I should make the fat end half as tall? What is the secret to make it go like the picture?

This is the type I can't get to work:

Can anyone help me with this little problem. I guess I left some water in the siphon hose last time & now dry ecky stuff is on the inside of the hose. i tried running hot water through but can't get the ecky stuff to break lose from the hose.

Any suggestions?

For everyone : After cleaning your tank, rinse the hose & then hang it up to allow it to dry.

Well.. I don't know how big or how long your hose is, but I used to play the clarinet, and maybe this will help. I had a cleaner that was a sturdy string (maybe twine or something would work) that was a little longer than the length of the tube, with a weight tied on one end and a small-ish piece of rag tied to the other. You drop the weight down the tube and wiggle it till the weight comes out the other end. Then you pull the rag through, and if it's the right size, it'll wipe the inside of the hose.

I've never done it, but it might work...