I got a new aquarium cleaner and I’m kinda afraid of it

Well to be precise, my sister bought me this when she saw how long it took me to do water changes on my 5 tanks and how messy of a process it is. Or. She got tired of all the towels in the house being used to clean up fish water… which I guess is fair.

And. It’s huge. 25 feet of tubing with idk what it’s called, a siphon chamber? That’s longer than my torso and that I’m not even sure how it works. It’s terrifying to look at. And I also relate too much to the cartoon in the upper right corner.

It allegedly connects to your bathroom sink and dumps all the old water out in the sink while replacing it with clean water from the tap

Wish me luck and if I die please take care of my fish

biofish said:

View attachment 154108

Well to be precise, my sister bought me this when she saw how long it took me to do water changes on my 5 tanks and how messy of a process it is. Or. She got tired of all the towels in the house being used to clean up fish water… which I guess is fair.

And. It’s huge. 25 feet of tubing with idk what it’s called, a siphon chamber? That’s longer than my torso and that I’m not even sure how it works. It’s terrifying to look at. And I also relate too much to the cartoon in the upper right corner.

It allegedly connects to your bathroom sink and dumps all the old water out in the sink while replacing it with clean water from the tap

Wish me luck and if I die please take care of my fish

Click to expand...

the cories will have a new friend
the fish will be scared of it like how a dog is afraid of vaccum
if it is a good one i'd like a link because i am using some random walmart one right now

I have the same Python 25 footer, it’s fantastic. Particularly if the supplied fittings screw right onto your faucet. I can’t believe I used to carry buckets back and forth like a chump.

I own one of those systems. The green device gets connected to a faucet that is properly threaded, sometime you just have to take off the aerator on the faucet. The green device is simply a venturi, it has the point that connect to the faucet, to the hose, and an outlet on the bottom, the bell like structure at the bottom.

When the water is turned on at the faucet is runs past the point where the hose connects, this pulls the water from your aquarium into the sink. If you close the bell like structure on the end of the green venturi then the water will flow from the faucet into the aquarium.

With the system you do not need any buckets because the water goes directly from the tank to the sink or from the sink directly to the aquarium.

Using cold water only I would run the system in syphon mode to pull the water out of the tank. Once you have removed enough water from the tank, close the valve on the tank end of the unit and shut off the faucet water.

Get enough water treatment ready to put into your fish tank based on the volume of water in the full tank, go to the Venturi end and adjust the water temperature to what the water temperature is in the tank. Then double check that the valve close to the gravel cleaner is close, then close the bell like structure on the venturi so that the water goes towards the tank. Add the water treatment to the tank then open the valve on the tank side to let the water flow in.

The system is good but wastes some water, not good if you are on a septic field. Also be cautious, the python hose seems strong enough for the vacuum when syphoning but I don't know how much pressure it can hold when filling.

When I bought my first large tank (a 90 gallon) in 1995, they sold me one of these Python water changers...I have never looked back. I would not have fish tanks were it not for this appliance. There are other identical brands, the Aqueon is good (same basic principle), and some members here have made their own DIY with a hose. The downside is that it does waste tap water when you are siphoning the tank water out, because the cold water tap (don't waste hot water draining the tank) has to be on to create the suction. But otherwise, a great device. When I moved to my previous house, I needed extensions and had 75 feet in order to reach from the fish room to the laundry sink.

Sgooosh said:

the cories will have a new friend
the fish will be scared of it like how a dog is afraid of vaccum
if it is a good one i'd like a link because i am using some random walmart one right now

Click to expand...

Our dog isnt afraid of the vacuum

1. Screws into faucet
2. Connects to tank via the long tube
3. Opens and closes the Venturi System
4. Control Valve at tank end.

Byron said:

When I bought my first large tank (a 90 gallon) in 1995, they sold me one of these Python water changers...I have never looked back. I would not have fish tanks were it not for this appliance. There are other identical brands, the Aqueon is good (same basic principle), and some members here have made their own DIY with a hose. The downside is that it does waste tap water when you are siphoning the tank water out, because the cold water tap (don't waste hot water draining the tank) has to be on to create the suction. But otherwise, a great device. When I moved to my previous house, I needed extensions and had 75 feet in order to reach from the fish room to the laundry sink.

Click to expand...

Does the water have to be on to get suction going? I just thought that was an option and not something you had to do...

Python is great, after many years the connector to the gravel chamber has cracked so air leaks a bit.
If you want to save water, you don't need to use the venturi siphon. Just fill up the gravel chamber with water, lift it vertically till the water in the hose goes over the tank (and below the tank level), put chamber back in tank.

Pro-tip, make sure the other end of the hose is lower than the tank, and (this is important) outside

Oblio said:

Python is great, after many years the connector to the gravel chamber has cracked so air leaks a bit.
If you want to save water, you don't need to use the venturi siphon. Just fill up the gravel chamber with water, lift it vertically till the water in the hose goes over the tank (and below the tank level), put chamber back in tank.

Pro-tip, make sure the other end of the hose is lower than the tank, and (this is important) outside

Click to expand...

Awesome! Thank you!

Rocky998 said:

Awesome! Thank you!

Click to expand...

If you look at the top figure in the link, all you have to do is establish what is shown and it will siphon. It also explains why you need an anti-siphon on air pump lines. If the pump stops and the water happens to rush into the tube, aided by capillary action, well, the rest is left as an exercise to the student

Oblio said:

If you look at the top figure in the link, all you have to do is establish what is shown and it will siphon. It also explains why you need an anti-siphon on air pump lines. If the pump stops and the water happens to rush into the tube, aided by capillary action, well, the rest is left as an exercise to the student

Siphon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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What does an anti siphon look like? I think I may have one...

The lower down the venturi end is from the top of the water level the tank is the more water you can pull, but with this system you don't need to get the venturi end below the water level if you run the water through the Venturi. I use the same system but because I live in a two story house I just put the end without the venturi out the dog door into the grass, and start the syphon manually. I have 10' of drop then and that is more than enough to maintain the siphon.

An anti siphon on the air lines is simply to prevent a syphon on the air lines by only allowing gas and fluids to go into the tank rather than in either direction, they are one way valves. You don't think you can accidentally start a siphon with airlines but it happens pretty frequently.

Rocky998 said:

Does the water have to be on to get suction going? I just thought that was an option and not something you had to do...

Click to expand...

Yes it does in my case because I am on one level (the fish room and the sink room are the same level in the house). I sometimes turn the tap off when siphoning the tank, jut to temporary halt it while I do something related...and the "draining" still continues by so minimal it would take hours. However, if the tank is on one level and the sink (or outdoors) is a level below, then it will drain once it is started.

I would say you have a very nice sister to give you such a useful tool for water changes. I use the python whenever I do a water change EZ-PZ.