# gravel vac stinks



## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

bought a gravel vac and tried to get some old food off the tank floor today. the vac was at max flow, but did not pick up ANY gravel. i'm sure i got some old food out, but am disappointed with the performance of the vac. is my gravel too heavy, or was i doing something wrong? it kind of worked, but kinda seems like a waste of money at the same time. what are your thoughts on gravel vacs?


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

i find that i have to have nearly the whole vac underwater and when it does it works fine, but kinda hard in an 8g.

try getting the whole thing under.


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

that's what it might be, cause i cant get it fully submerged in my 10 gal either. i will look for a shorter one. that might do it. thanks cossie.


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

Meh you dont necessarely need a new one, try putting it in diagonally first and slide it across the gravel or dig it in the gravel a little and see if that helps, otherwise get a shorter one lol.

GOOD LUCK

ps. fancy enetring potm or totm or even pet of the month?


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Ok so I just went myself and bought a gravel vac for 35 bucks the other day cause after the move I couldnt find the home made one I built a few years ago, and at first I was not to happy with it cause it's one of those auto syphoning ones that you hook to your faucet and has a flow control knob on it and a gravel comb, so when I was first useing it, it didnt seem to suck up much of anything so I then, took off the gravel cone attachment and just started poking the tube into the gravel in a up and down motion and after I figured out the flow control and messing with it over a few hours I got it to work the way I wanted, the only other downfall is the plastic connectors, I can just see the plastic threads stripping over time.

And in the manual it shows to use it at a angle under water.


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## Kurt R Furan (Mar 11, 2011)

Haha, sorry but that just makes me laugh. I don't have any trouble with my siphon and it's just a tube attached to a little hose! I'd say when it comes to your gravel vacs, the simpler the better. Maybe I'm just ignorant, though.

You may try making it so the end the water is coming out of is a LOT lower than the aquarium. Gravity will help with the pull


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

right. the fact is that when i vac, the top of the chamber is not even submerged, so this must be the problem. if i cant find a shorter one, i will just cut this one with a hacksaw. that should do it.


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

baileysup said:


> right. the fact is that when i vac, the top of the chamber is not even submerged, so this must be the problem. if i cant find a shorter one, i will just cut this one with a hacksaw. that should do it.


Doing that may work, but at the same time, water tension is water tension and gravity is still gravity. Making it shorter or longer doesn't really do anything beneficial, it just changes the equation.

If your tank sits at X high. and your hose after cutting it will only sit X high as well. That's less vertical movement for gravity to help with water tension. I have no issues using my 18 inch gravel vac on my 10g tank. 

And my hose isn't even long enough to hook it up to my sink as I do my 125.

You need a bigger fall and less of a rise to get better flow through the gravel vac and that's your one and only problem. I.E your tank sits 40 inches high with the stand, 5 gallon bucket sits 24 inches on the floor. That's only 16 inches of help that you're getting as 40 inch drop to the ground and then a 24 inch rise. Water tension and gravity can only do so much.



chronoboy said:


> Ok so I just went myself and bought a gravel vac for 35 bucks the other day cause after the move I couldnt find the home made one I built a few years ago, and at first I was not to happy with it cause it's one of those auto syphoning ones that you hook to your faucet and has a flow control knob on it and a gravel comb, so when I was first useing it, it didnt seem to suck up much of anything so I then, took off the gravel cone attachment and just started poking the tube into the gravel in a up and down motion and after I figured out the flow control and messing with it over a few hours I got it to work the way I wanted, the only other downfall is the plastic connectors, I can just see the plastic threads stripping over time.
> 
> And in the manual it shows to use it at a angle under water.


These are AWESOME. I have one and as long as you're relatively gentle with it, it won't strip. Mine is perfect after 2 years of owning it. Granted, it's not cast iron plumbing, so it only needs to be as tight as it needs to be to seal. Even then, who cares if a few drops exit into the sink and go down the drain right? Keep the hose pieces outside of the sink nice and tight, doesn't matter about the rest.

When you hook it up to the faucet, you don't even have to use the control valve on it to start. Hook it up, place the chamber in the water, adjust the faucet hook up to flow out (drain), turn the water on. It will suck soo much water out so quickly you'll have to be efficient at gravel siphoning as you will suck the tank dry before you know it. And of course, this is why there's a flow valve.

Sure you use more water, but you have to also realize that its time vs money thing. Is it worth taking more time to do, or worth paying the few cents over?


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

couldn't i just stir the gravel up good, and have my filter catch most of it right before changing the filter cartridge? my tank is MAYBE over 2 ft off of the floor. not very high, but i may be able to pop the screen off of a nearby window, and have it flow down out of the window. that would give me the height i need, and i will also try the vac at an angle as suggested.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Ya once i relized that turning up the flow rate made it work better even though it siphoned real fast was the best way to go just have to clean half the gravel each time of water change but it did work really good once i got it all figured out, my old vac i made myself was just a tube i found with a hose i attached to it and i would have to suck on it to syphone so this is a big improvment plus it fills the tank for me too.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Sounds like your gravel vac is too big, you might have got the one for bigger tanks. Which ten gallons need a smaller vac.

Could you post a pic of your vac?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I ahve found that if there is any part of the vac that sticks over the water line it runs slowly. It really needs to be submerged for max. efficiency.


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

here's a pic of the vac. it's 10 " long. they did have shorter ones but those were of a weird funnel type design, and everyone at the store said that they don't work nearly as good as this one. this was the shortest model of this design, and i've yet to try it as recommended by you guys (at an angle, and get the output hose as far below the tank as possible). even if the angle trick isn't enough to fully submerge, i can surely take off a couple inches with the hacksaw.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Thats too big for a 10 gallon in my opinion... You need a smaller gravel vac, most will say on the packaging which gallon tank its intended for..


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Ditto, If that thing ever works at full speed you will suck up the fish and empty the tank in no time. I only use a wide vac like that for my 30 gallon and then I watch it carefully.
Get a thinner one.


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

yer mine is very thin


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

will do. smaller/ thinner it is. thanks


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

here's a pic of my new gravel vac (the one that PetSmart told me didn't work good). it turns out that it's exactly the one i need for my 10 gal. i know that it works well, because i was at my LFS today, and i watched the guy there using one identical to it on his small tanks. it will do nicely. the funnel may have to come off it though. i wounder about those petsmart people sometimes :chair:.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Hmm Have never seen a funnel one before- I'm going to have a look at them next time I go to Petsmart.
Don't throw out your other syphon- you may find yourself with bigger tanks in the future. This hobby tends to become addictive. There are so many fish out there- so few tanks !


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

True dat, Mousey!


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

the funnel part comes right off to leave just the straight tube (2 parts). actually, i took the funnel off before i even tried it, cause i heard that it doesn't work as good with the funnel on it, and that's how the guy at my LFS was doing it with good results. i guess maybe i should try it with the funnel on to see what the difference is though.


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