Could i ask a little question, when i gravel clean i watch that none of my fish get sucked up etc put my fish do not like the gravel cleaner they hide behind the tree's and dont move untill the gravel has been taken out and i feel its stressing my fish is there no other way or would taking fish out into a bucket untill i gravel cleaned and filled back up be better or will this also stress the fish transfering them from one place to another?

Please help thanks in advance

Could someone please help me urgently as my tanks need vacuming and my fish do not like this and would like to know the less stressfull way of doing this

or anyother way which wont stress them, they seem to hide and not move when iam using this vacum/gravel cleaner

help would be apriciated in advance

Thanks paul

TO clean the gravel at the bottom of the tank, you should have a "Gravel Syphon". This is a tube approximately 1.5 inches in diameter attached to a plastic hose - approximately 1/2 in diameter.

Some syphons are self-priming - and will start by themselves by gently pumping them up and down in the water. Others you will need to fill at the sink. Put your finger over the end of the hose and gently place the into the tank, keeping them full of water. When you lift the end of the hose into your waste bucket, the water will flow from the tank into the bucket.

The tube is useful, for when you stick it directly down into the gravel, the suction from the syphon is strong enough to make all the gravel float up in the stream and dance around in the water in the tube, but not strong enough to suck the gravel up the tube. The gravel will dance around in the tube while all the waste is sucked up the tube and into the waste bucket. When the section of gravel dancing is clean, you raise the tube gently and replace it on another section of gravel, wiggling it gently until it settles down into the gravel and the new section of gravel starts dancing in the tube.

If you clean your gravel every time you change water, the water sucked up the tube, cleaning the gravel can be your water change too. The gravel will stay much cleaner. If you are gentle and methodical, you will stir up the minimum of waste in the tank, and, since your movements are slow, you should not scare the fish too much.

Most fish learn really quickly what a water change is all about. Mine know exactly what I am doing. They dance in anticipation of the new water being added back in the tank. They love to race through the flow of fresh water and the bubbles it makes. It is funny!

Gently, slowly, methodically, you can clean your tank with the minimum of stress to the fish. They will soon learn to enjoy this time of caring.

Its a hose pipe with a vacum cleaner syphon which has a sucktion method, u have to suck on the pipe to start the syphoning and they do not like it all ill have to try doing it more lightly and gentaly see if that works

and would this help if i do it slower and genteley?

Instead of sucking on the end, fill it at the faucet with water. Put your finger over the end of the hose and carry it, both ends up to the tank. Put it down into the water, keeping both ends up so the water stays in the tube and the hose. Then, put your finger over the end of the hose and lift it out of the tank. When you release the hose end, the syphon will start without you having to suck on it.

Yes - try just sticking it down into the gravel and gently shaking it from side to side - only a tiny motion is necessary. When the water gets clear, pick it up and place it down a few inches over, and repeat.

I bet the fish will be fine with that. There should be no clouds of debris, no gravel flying everywhere, no anything!