Alright...this may be a really silly question to those of you who are verterans, but I have been trying to siphon my gravel forever, and I haven't accomplished anything. It's an eleven dollar plastic vac from petsmart. Do I need an electric one or is there even such a thing? Or is there some trick that I'm missing. All I have accomplished is making my tank look like a dirty pond...I can't even see them swimming around. HELP!

So it doesn't get any suction? Is it one of those where you have to pump it up and down under the water for a while until it gets started? I started off with one of those and then I got one of the Pythons. The pythons you hook up your faucet and its powered by the water flow from your faucet. If pumping it up and down doesn't get it started, you might have to get the suction going by sucking on the end of the tube. Be careful to pull your mouth off before you end up inhaling a bunch of tank water, but if your tank is that dirty, thats prolly what you'll have to do until you can get a better vacuum.

Also, since it seems it seems bad, be careful about vacuuming. Do it in an up and down motion, don't sweep it across. If you haven't been able to vacuum some gases may have built up beneath the gravel that can harm your fish if released.

sometimes i have to suck the end of the tube to make the water come out. !

EWWWWW! But whatever takes! Is there such a thing as as an elctric gravel vac?

I haven't heard of an electric vac before. I have the cheap one too and you just have to pump it up and down in the water a few times to get it started. Make sure your hose is hanging down. If you hold it too high, it will be hard to get started. I have heard the pythons are great too.

I fill the hose and vacumn tube with water from the tap, putting my finger over the tube end. I carry it to the tank and stick the tube down into the tank, upside down so it does not empty and gets no air in it. The other end is put into the waste bucket that is lower than the tank - the floor or a chair. When you need to empty the bucket, just put your finger over the end and stick the end up into the tank under the water surface. It will keep its prime and be ready to syphon again when you return from the sink. No sucking on yucky tubes is necessary.

You can also buy a small rubber syphon bulb from an auto shop or a boat shop - it can be used to "suck" on the end of the tube if carrying it from the sink is not practical.

I like the simple vacumns. I cannot use tap water so a Python is out. I have found the fancier the equipment is, the move things that can go wrong. I have a large vaumn tube, a medium sized one and a small one for various tanks. You can also buy extra plastic tubing by the foot at HomeDespot and the like - to extend the hose to the bucket. If there is a curl of hose in the bottom of the bucket there is less chance that it will pop out and dump water all over the floor.

Try again - I bet you will get the hang of it really quickly. It does work well and easily.

Here is what I do. I fill the large end with water from the tank and tip it up using gravity to send some water into the tube. Keeping the large end up I submerse it. Then begin to suction. Just make certain water is still coming out the other end before you tip the siphon down. Sometimes I have to do it twice but it never takes more than 30 seconds to get it going.

Good luck. They really do work once you get the hang of it and you will never have to suck fish water... I promise. I did see a waterless vac on Big Al's website. You could check that out, too. I thought about it so I wouldn't have to do a water change to vacuum my gravel.

I hope this helps.

This one I know!

I place my trusty bucket next to my tank. Then I dunk the barrel of the hose down in the tank just under the water line. When I have filled the barrel I lift it upwards letting the water flow down the hose to the bucket. Quickly plug the small end with your finger stopping the flow. Now put the barrel down into your gravel, unplug the hose & hold the hose down into the bucket the water will flow.

Run the barrell around throw the gravel. I always make sure to get under the decorations & stuff, as "gunk" can collect there.

To stop the flow just pull the barrell out of the water.

Don't forget to keep an eye on your bucket. You don't want dirty fish water in your carpet

Oh A word of advice......always hang your siphon hose up somewhere to allow it to dry out between cleanings. I forgot & curled mine up in the bucket, not realizing there was still some moisture in the hose. Now I have some dark stuff in the hose. Not mush but it really bugs me & I can't figure out how to clean it.