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Siphon/Gravel Cleaners/Vaccums2007-11-24 23:40:00

What are they, and do you need to plug them into a sink? I thought I knew what they were, but now I am confused. Can they transfer water from the tank- to a bucket?

Any information on these will be helpful!

Answers:

You are confusing gravel vacuums with Pythons. They are different products - gravel vacuums take water out of the tank and drain it into a bucket (which you then take and dump out). Pythons hook up to a faucet so you can drain the water from the tank directly into the sink (no buckets involved). The suction caused by the running faucet is what allows the Python to work, whereas gravity runs the gravel vacuum.

Neither products are electric/battery-powered, and both are relatively easy to use. I own and use both, depending on which tank I am cleaning.

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I simply used to use a plain piece of about 1/4" flexible clear plastic tubing as a siphon that drained into a bucket. By poking this around in the gravel it acted like a very good vacuum cleaner. Just dip one end into the tank so the tube fills with water and with your thumb over the end drape it over the edge into the bucket and the siphon should start. It worked quite well actually. You do not need to buy anything expensive, just get 2-3 feet of this plastic tubing.

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They are vacuums you use to get the excess fish food and poo out of a fish tank. You do not need to plug them into anything. Take the tube end and create a suction by sucking on the end of the pipe and put the pipe small end into a bucket and use the large side to suck up the stuff out of the bottom of the tank. They are a little tricky to get started but they really work well!