Which Gravel Cleaner
- Thread starter IAmATeaf
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My own impression, looking at the pictures, is that the siphon in the picture has almost no wide portion to it. That means that there is no way for the gravel to be stirred up and cleaned without it going through the narrow tube. I use siphons that have a straight tube of the larger diameter and that tube reaches from the water surface to the bottom of the substrate.
They are like this or even this.
They are like this or even this.
At a depth of 52 cm, I would be using the 24 inch siphon. It will stick out above the water a bit when you have the tube all the way at the bottom of the glass. The 10 inch one means you will be up to your elbows in water to use it properly.
Ended up getting a Hagen large siphon in the end from here http
/www.gardencentre.co.uk/shop.asp?uid={50891BE0-1E01-490C-9A10-24DC770C1FD6}&action=menu&cat=Ponds/Aquatics&subcat=Gravel%20Cleaners
Just wanted to say BIG thanks to OldMan47 for his advice. If I had listened to my LFS I would have ended up with a 10" siphon but the 24" is perfect, no more wet arms, the power of the thing is unbelievable, just sucks everything up, I have a slate substrate and it was even picking this up. It has an easy auto start which is helped by a 1 way valve so a few pumps even when the water level is low and the thing starts. In fact if anything the thing siphons water way too fast as I ended up taking out 7 buckets of water instead of the usual 6.
Just done a 30% water change and clean, finished the whole thing in around 1 hour and 15 minutes as opposed to 3-4 hours it took with the crappy Argos thing.
What I need now is some sort of stop valve on the tubing as even though it came with a bucket clip which can clamp the pipe to supposedly stop the flow of water there's just simply too much pressure and it continues siphoning.
/www.gardencentre.co.uk/shop.asp?uid={50891BE0-1E01-490C-9A10-24DC770C1FD6}&action=menu&cat=Ponds/Aquatics&subcat=Gravel%20CleanersJust wanted to say BIG thanks to OldMan47 for his advice. If I had listened to my LFS I would have ended up with a 10" siphon but the 24" is perfect, no more wet arms, the power of the thing is unbelievable, just sucks everything up, I have a slate substrate and it was even picking this up. It has an easy auto start which is helped by a 1 way valve so a few pumps even when the water level is low and the thing starts. In fact if anything the thing siphons water way too fast as I ended up taking out 7 buckets of water instead of the usual 6.
Just done a 30% water change and clean, finished the whole thing in around 1 hour and 15 minutes as opposed to 3-4 hours it took with the crappy Argos thing.
What I need now is some sort of stop valve on the tubing as even though it came with a bucket clip which can clamp the pipe to supposedly stop the flow of water there's just simply too much pressure and it continues siphoning.
When I am going to siphon more than one bucket of water I put my thumb over the hose end that was in the bucket and just throw the open hose end back into the water in the tank. It has nowhere to go so the flow stops. By keeping both ends of the siphon under water I don't lose the fill in the hose. When I come back with an empty bucket, I just put my thumb over the hose end, move it to the empty bucket and we are going again.
Now that you say that it sounds so simple and obvious but something that I didn't think of so thanks for that, still learning 
Will give it a go at the next water change.
One last question, my tank with the lid off has an earthy smell, is this normal as the wife was whinging that the house smelled, is there anything that can be done or is this just normal?
Will give it a go at the next water change.One last question, my tank with the lid off has an earthy smell, is this normal as the wife was whinging that the house smelled, is there anything that can be done or is this just normal?
If it smells faintly like fresh turned garden soil, it is humming along with a healthy bacterial colony in the filter. If it has anything like a foul smell, it is time to start looking for decaying food or some other problem.
Yes it is that type of smell.
What do you mean by 'Bat gravel cleaners'?
chrisbassist
Fish Addict
When I read it I assumed he meant battery operated vacs. But I could have been wrong.
CORRECT
the best and fastest way to do water changes is
get the gravel cleaner you move up and down in the water to get started connect it to a long hose that you run to the sink/drain
run the hose out go back to the tank pump the gravel cleaner to get it started drain the amount of water you want take the gravel cleaner out of the tank when finished
no buckets needed
then fill the tank back up from the same hose from the tap adding tap water conditioner
when i was doing water changes i used to be able to do a 350 gal tank with a 25% water change in about 45 Min's that was drain gravel clean and fill
no need to worry about temp drop as its good for the fish and replicates rain fail
my temp used to drop from 86 down to about 77 in the winter and much less in the summer you may want to watch the temp drop and don't let it drop below 76 slowing down the fill rate if needed
job done fish keeping should be mad as easy as poss so you have more time to sit back and enjoy
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