Siphon Sorrows
- Thread starter OrkyBetta
- Start date
Macracantha
Fish Crazy
What type of Vac is it?
Macracantha
Fish Crazy
is it electrical?
vantgE
I know you agree
I had a problem with the first one I bought, brought it back to the store and had them change the the main part, but they said they had never heard of it happening before, and they don't work that well anyways (but definately woth it to have). I'll just try and give tell you what worked for me
The hose should be filled with watter before trying to syphon watter out, that means turning on the tap with the attachment on the fill setting, till watter begins going into your tank then quickly without turning off the tap open the bottom up to the empty position, and the tank should start draining though slowly,
If the sink tap drain area you are useing is below the tank you could then turn off the watter from your tap. Or what I suggest (from the begining) is pulling everything off the hose and setting it up with one end in the tank and the other in a drainage area below the tank, just suck on one end to start as if it were a normal syphon but this should start easier.
(I drain mine down out the patio onto the lawn or in the winter down the basement into a drain near the watter heater and softener) and then hook up to the tap to refill
The hose should be filled with watter before trying to syphon watter out, that means turning on the tap with the attachment on the fill setting, till watter begins going into your tank then quickly without turning off the tap open the bottom up to the empty position, and the tank should start draining though slowly,
If the sink tap drain area you are useing is below the tank you could then turn off the watter from your tap. Or what I suggest (from the begining) is pulling everything off the hose and setting it up with one end in the tank and the other in a drainage area below the tank, just suck on one end to start as if it were a normal syphon but this should start easier.
(I drain mine down out the patio onto the lawn or in the winter down the basement into a drain near the watter heater and softener) and then hook up to the tap to refill
One end hooks up to the faucet? if so its a cheaper version of the python to use it
hook the "faucet pump'' up to your faucet trun on water making sure valve at the bottom is open try turning it and gently pulling it down.then put the other end in the tank and vacc the gravel.to fill the tank turn adjust tap temp. make sure the other end is in the tank securely then cose the bottom valve fill tank add water treatment shut off water open the bottom valve and rol hose up letting it empty into the sink -Anne
hook the "faucet pump'' up to your faucet trun on water making sure valve at the bottom is open try turning it and gently pulling it down.then put the other end in the tank and vacc the gravel.to fill the tank turn adjust tap temp. make sure the other end is in the tank securely then cose the bottom valve fill tank add water treatment shut off water open the bottom valve and rol hose up letting it empty into the sink -Anne
Hi OrkyBetta 
Starting a gravel vac is easy once you get the hang of it, but a little confusing to figure out at first. It just takes some practice,
The idea behind using a siphon is that water will always run downhill, so you always want to keep your bucket lower than the tank.
What I suggest you do is fill up your kitchen sink with water and put a bucket on the floor in front of it. Take as much time as you need fooling around it until you see exactly what has to happen to get the water flowing through it freely.
First put the small end of the hose into the bucket. Then, with the larger end, scoop up as much water as you can. Raise the big end and watch how the water flows faster the higher you raise it and slower as you lower it.
Now, scoop up water and raise the big end to let it start flowing down, but once you see it come through the hose and start downward, immediately put the big end back under the water. Ideally, this should be at about the time it almost runs out of the wide section. If your timing is right, the water rushing in will catch up with the water in the hose and it will all continue to flow down into the bucket. It will work better if, when you put it back under water, you hold it with the opening facing up. If you don't lift it too high, it will flow a little slower and it will be easier to get it back underwater before it is too late. This is the whole thing. It will take practice, but once you have got it to work, it will do the same thing in your tank.
If you want it to have more suction, lower the bucket; if you want it to flow more slowly, raise it. To make it stop, just take the big end out of the water and let what is already in the hose flow through.
BTW, I'm not familiar with the particular brand you have, but some are fancier than others. If yours is anything more than a hose with a plastic tube on one end of it, make sure that there are no gadgets that are closed that should be open to allow the water to flow through.
Once you have the siphon action going, experiment with pressing the big end down into the gravel. A good way to pull up the dirt is to press it down until dirt starts to come up, then lift it and press it in at a spot next to where you were working. Once you get used to it you can try moving the gravel sideways a bit.
Good luck and please let me know how it works out for you.
Starting a gravel vac is easy once you get the hang of it, but a little confusing to figure out at first. It just takes some practice,
The idea behind using a siphon is that water will always run downhill, so you always want to keep your bucket lower than the tank.
What I suggest you do is fill up your kitchen sink with water and put a bucket on the floor in front of it. Take as much time as you need fooling around it until you see exactly what has to happen to get the water flowing through it freely.
First put the small end of the hose into the bucket. Then, with the larger end, scoop up as much water as you can. Raise the big end and watch how the water flows faster the higher you raise it and slower as you lower it.
Now, scoop up water and raise the big end to let it start flowing down, but once you see it come through the hose and start downward, immediately put the big end back under the water. Ideally, this should be at about the time it almost runs out of the wide section. If your timing is right, the water rushing in will catch up with the water in the hose and it will all continue to flow down into the bucket. It will work better if, when you put it back under water, you hold it with the opening facing up. If you don't lift it too high, it will flow a little slower and it will be easier to get it back underwater before it is too late. This is the whole thing. It will take practice, but once you have got it to work, it will do the same thing in your tank.
If you want it to have more suction, lower the bucket; if you want it to flow more slowly, raise it. To make it stop, just take the big end out of the water and let what is already in the hose flow through.
BTW, I'm not familiar with the particular brand you have, but some are fancier than others. If yours is anything more than a hose with a plastic tube on one end of it, make sure that there are no gadgets that are closed that should be open to allow the water to flow through.
Once you have the siphon action going, experiment with pressing the big end down into the gravel. A good way to pull up the dirt is to press it down until dirt starts to come up, then lift it and press it in at a spot next to where you were working. Once you get used to it you can try moving the gravel sideways a bit.
Good luck and please let me know how it works out for you.
vantgE
I know you agree
I suppose I have a lees supergravel vac, The idea behind a regular style one is that the watter has to be suckeed or pulled over the point to where it falls down with no airbubbles, and as the watter moves down(by gravity) more is vacumed into it's place, To start it just ensure you place the one end in the aquarium the other end lower then the aquarium as straight as possible, press out any kinks, then suck on it you may have to take a couple mouthfulls of watter before you get the hang of taking your mouth off the hose in time, which should be done once watter filling the diameter of your tube is sucked out of the aquarium over the top and begins to fall down
An alternative way which might not work too well includes submergeing the entire vacume in your tank and maneuvering it so there is no air in it only watter then plug the hose end with your finger and keep the other vacume end submerged, setup like above(with hose hanging out of the tank no kinks and as far bellow the tank as possibly then point down into a bucket and let your thumb off, and the watter drain into into it hopefully starting the syphon
An alternative way which might not work too well includes submergeing the entire vacume in your tank and maneuvering it so there is no air in it only watter then plug the hose end with your finger and keep the other vacume end submerged, setup like above(with hose hanging out of the tank no kinks and as far bellow the tank as possibly then point down into a bucket and let your thumb off, and the watter drain into into it hopefully starting the syphon
pnyklr3
Fish Addict
It's hard for me to get a pic in my head of what yours looks like, but here's how mine works.
I put the cylinder into the tank, and then shake it up and down. There is a ball at the top of the cylinder, before the hose, that rattles up and down. It stops rattling when I have the syphon moving the water out of the tank.
I put the cylinder into the tank, and then shake it up and down. There is a ball at the top of the cylinder, before the hose, that rattles up and down. It stops rattling when I have the syphon moving the water out of the tank.
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