@#%$#@#$ stupid gravel cleaner

[gale]

I have the type with a ball in the end of the wide part and you just push it in and out of the water to get it started. Well with my 10gallon tank I don't know if it's because the tank is so small or the gravel cleaner is defective (I use a separate one for each tank) but it's a real pain in the butt to get the siphon started. I literally bang the stupid thing all over the place, uprooting my plants, moving decorations, and probably pissing off my fish and snails. Is there an easier type? Maybe with a hand pump in one end or something?

btw this is the only one I can find around here other than one that is tiny like the 6" model I use for my 2 gallon tank. Which works perfectly.

 

[Lateral Line]

I find all the gadgets and gizmos they sell to make maintenance "easier" are simply frustration sources. When I need to start a siphon, I suck on the pipe. People tell me how bad that is for me, but I've been doing it like that for over 40 years and haven't developed white spot yet.

 

[keane]

I find all the gadgets and gizmos they sell to make maintenance "easier" are simply frustration sources. When I need to start a siphon, I suck on the pipe. People tell me how bad that is for me, but I've been doing it like that for over 40 years and haven't developed white spot yet.

lol

Gail, it's not just yours.....i have the same problem with my vac.....supposed to jerk it up and down to start the syphon off but just end up trashing the sodding tank layout and freaking the fish out!!

What I do now is use my "syphon ball" to start it off and all works perfectly.

The syphon ball came with my fluval cani filter but I am sure you could pick one up from a LFS.

Other alternative, as LL says is to start the syphon by sucking the tube!

Nice, not!!

steve 8)

 

[kenneth_kpe]

i do 2 things depending on my mood
1) suck the end of the tube
2) fill the tube beforehand full with water, holding it at level so that it forms a u shape, and then starting the syphon by placing one end in the tank and the other in the pail, works everytime

 

[Blue Lobster]

I find all the gadgets and gizmos they sell to make maintenance "easier" are simply frustration sources. When I need to start a siphon, I suck on the pipe. People tell me how bad that is for me, but I've been doing it like that for over 40 years and haven't developed white spot yet.

Look in the mirror behind your ear, that's where the white spots would be.

 

[gale]

I'm not sucking on the tube. Uh uh no way no how. Yuck. I found a cleaner that has a pump start but it's only at UK stores so I'm waiting to see if they ship to the US. I would do the method where you dip the whole tube in the water but there are toys and furniture and stuff right around this particular tank and I don't want fishwater dripping all over stuff. I'm pretty picky about that.

 

[silvershark]

Marina do a battery powered one, i bought this cos i'm lazy and like to sift the gravel for fish waste etc and dont fancy it in my mouth. its got a filter "sock" on the water out end that you can take of and simply attach a garden hose pipe to. it works wickedly but the only problem i ever had cost me my prize female betta; on the inlet it has a wide attachment for vacuuming with a few slots around the outside, which are just big enough for some (most!) fish to swim into, it killed my betta so i became cautious and now watch whats near the inlet and chase it off with my net. i think they actually enjoy doing this as when i dip the net in they all rally round and try to beat me! Unless of course i've brought up suicidal fish?

PS the great thing about this is that you only have to START it with the battery powered motor then switch it off and you got a natural syphon, making the batteries last a whole lot longer!!

 

[DannyBoy17]

Yay, I tohught I was the only one who started the syphon with my mouth! Its really a game of beat the clock, or else you'll be drinking tank water. I have a long enough tube that I can get it from my mouth, to the water bins in just enough time.

--Dan

 

[jamestothemax]

hahahahahaha yeah sucking on the tube does the trick nice and easy.

when I do it I put the end of the tube against the collar of my shirt and suck it through the fabric so I dont make contact with the pipe.

Dont know if it makes a difference but gives peice of mind.

Can't say I have got white spot but I have heard of a few cases of salmonella poisoning from sucking on the tube so be careful.

those auto start ones you shake up and down have to have the large part of the syphon under the water. eg the larger diameter tube. the valve is at the top of that tube and if its not submerged it wont work.

but yeah there are plenty of other ways to get it started. I tend to fill the large part of the syphon with water in the tank. lift the end up out of the water and as teh water starts to fall down the pipe quickly dip the large end back in before it empties.

as long as you get it in before it empties and dont let air go up teh pipe it should do the trick

 

[SirMinion]

I too start the syphon by sucking the tube.
I must have swallowed gallons of fish & terrapin water over the years and I'm not dead yet!

As someone famous once said, "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger"

 

[pjfish]

Put your finger over the end of the hose. Put the vacuum cup end in the tank, pionted up to let the air out so it will fill with water. Then hold it up out of the water and keep it above the level of the hose (still keep your finger on the end). Let the water run down thru the hose and the air go up thru the hose to the vac cup end. When the hose is full of water, put the vac cup back in the tank, tilted up to get rid of the last of the air, put the hose end in the bucket and remove your finger. You should now have a good syphon going. Sometimes, you might get water running down your arm, but at least you aren't drinking any. Works for me.

 

[daza]

How high is the tank compared to where you place the bucket when siphoning? If the bucket is below the tank completely then gravity should do most of the work.

 

[Tech-Frog]

Sucking on the pipe?
Yum Yum... Might try that

Sucking on the pipe?
Yum Yum... Might try that

 

[onemisterchristian]

Try this... PYTHON!!!!I just bought one off of ebay. You'll have an awfully hard time convincing me it's not the best thing in the entire universe!

 

[penguinpimp1990]

i put my collar over my mouth and suck on the end of the tube, its pretty nasty but the easiest way to et things going. Its espically nasty when you get the occasional swig of aquarium water in your mouth but nothing a mouthful of scope doesnt take care of! brackish water tastes espically nasty