# using a gravel vac for the first time



## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

how the world do i work this thing?
http://www.petco.com/assets/product_images/1/1083811558B.jpg
okay, i bet you are all laughing now!
my tank has been cycled a bit over a week (i think thats about right) so im pretty sure its okay for me to vacum right? or do you not never vacum unless your ammonia, etc is up.


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

If it has only been cycled for a week I don't think you need to vacuum yet. How big is the tank and how many fish do you have in in at this point? What type of fish are they? You vacuum when you get sludge on the bottom (in your gravel) at this point you probably do not have that much in there. although many people vacuum when they do water changes, so that should be about once a week. When I had gravel I tried to do half of the tank at a time when doing my water changes.


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

well i still need to know how to work it because i am going to use it to do a waterchange thursday. since i split my tank its harder to do a waterchange now with less room to work.
its a 5.5 gal with two bettas and a snail


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

How to work the gravel vac....
1. insert vac into tank
2. start syphon into bucket (big end or vacuum end inside of the tank)
3. Plunge vacuum head into gravel (at this point you will see "sludge" rise up into vacuum head as well as some of your gravel
once water is clear and the sludge has moved up the head of the vacuum, move to diferrent spot and plunge vacuum head into gravel again.
4. repeat this until done

note that once gravel starts accumulating inside of the vacuum head take your thumb and place over hose end at the bucket. this will stop the syphon temporarily aloowing the gravel to fall back into aquarium without losing your sludge that you have amassed inside of the vacuum head. once the gravel is back into the tank, take thumb off of hose and get some more sludge from a spot in your tank that you have not cleaned yet.

since you only have a 5.5 gallon, you will need a small vacuum, probably the smallest that they make and work pretty quickly.

Good luck and hope that this helps


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

seems a tad big for a 5.5 gal - just by the picture, I can't tell if it is a self-pumping action or suckage-assistance type can you link the page of the actual product and not just the picture?


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

i dont have the one in the pic. just was using it as an example. its all manual self pumping.


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## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Do like I do, buy a 'two for 99 cents' turkey baster. No pumping, no sucking on the hose. The baster primes and gets it going in one easy motion. 

I don't like to take any more steps than I have to...


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

i just suck on the end. i have sucked tank water into my mouth once, but it wasn't that awful. didn't taste like anything. i just spit it quickly into the bucket and got a drink of tap water, lol.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I've been doing the suck on the end thing too....I wondered how everyone else did it! Nothing in my mouth yet though, knock on wood.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

um, for all the science deprived, syphon is easily achieved if you put the vaccum in the water, then lower the hose in slowly after it, making sure the water fills the whole line, once you have about 5 inches of tube left to put in the tank, plug the end with your thumb, pull the tube back out of the water and aim it at the bucket, release thumb, it will start pumping on its own as long as the water level is below the top of the tank, gravity rocks!!


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

WOOHOOO!!! I'll do that at my water change tomorrow............yucko at putting it in my mouth. Thanks Bill Nye! (  )


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

haha glad i can help, learned that gettin gas the hard way? (not illegally for those that care) but... it might take you a time or two to get it going. just keep playin with it, and remember, you have to have the tube almost completly full of water as you pull it back out of the tank!


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

And OMG today.......I SHOULD have done it your way but um.....I didn't. And guess what?? I got a nice swig of aquarium water.......Greeeaaaat. Explosive diarrhea here I come!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Your tank water should be fine to drink. If ifs yuck, change more water. Its yuck for the fish, too.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Someone else said that to me too.........I'm just paranoid like that!


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

yea, im paranoid about fish water too, even though it probably much cleaner than most lakes, and i dont mind swimmin in them.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I swam in them as a kid....but not as an adult. Things brushing up against my feet freaks me out. I'm weird.


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## Mr Aquarium (Jan 18, 2005)

Sorry your got water in your mouth, but I think they all forgot to tell you to LOOK at the hose  that's why it is clear.
I do it this way also, will untell i can't carry water anymore, but i'm one of the few that refuse to buy a python to do it.
I can have my 3 tanks done in less time with buckets "I use three for w/c"
then it would take to drag out a python and get hooked up 

Posted by Ilovecichlids - 
"How to work the gravel vac....
1. insert vac into tank
2. start syphon into bucket (big end or vacuum end inside of the tank)
3. Plunge vacuum head into gravel (at this point you will see "sludge" rise up into vacuum head as well as some of your gravel
once water is clear and the sludge has moved up the head of the vacuum, move to diferrent spot and plunge vacuum head into gravel again.
4. repeat this until done"


I do it pretty much the same way only a bit faster,
I Stick the thing in the gravel,
watch the hose where it comes over the top of tank,
suck on it slowly tell you see if at the point of coming over top of tank in the
the hose, then one good suck and get the end in bucket,
stick the thing all the way in the gravel to bottom of tank, hold for one second or so, pull up, let gravel fall back into place, move right next to spot you just did, repeat tell buckets full.

I did 20g w/c in my 75g yesterday, removing water, filling buckets with a 1g bucket at the sink, filling tank back up, right about 15-18 minutes.
the counts taken water outside n dumping out, and one room away carrying distance.


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## snickerz (Mar 14, 2006)

Takin' the water out isn't the hard part for me, our tank is very close to our back door and the hose is long enough to reach. It's filling up gallon by gallon that is the pain.

I got water in my mouth once, thought I was going to vomit. Not because it tasted nasty, but because it's fish water. LOL


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

well, its more like the water i was sucking up was full of fish poo.....like actual turds and stuff....THAT"S why it grossed me out.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

LOL! Yeah, I don't like eating poop.


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## Dragonbeards (Dec 14, 2008)

bringing back from the dead...


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

While I have certainly been guilty of suck starting a siphon I have stopped doing this with everything but my python. I do not use the faucet water to get my python going and since it is on the other side of the room with a coil left in the sink I can suck start this without ever getting any in my mouth. 

The reason I have stopped is this:
Fish water in general should be clean enough to not have to worry about this, many tanks do have some form of disease in them. Fish can be carriers of a number of things that are not worrisome to fish at all, but that I would not want to introduce into my body. 

I have also been successful in starting a siphon by filling the tube with water while holding my thumb over the end. Then I can lift it into the air and let it fill the hose by slowly releasing my thumb just a bit from the hose to maintain a slow fill into the hose. Before the tube is empty then put it back into the tank on its side and let it fill up again. Once the tube is full of water you can release your thumb from the end of the hose (with it below the level of the tank, and into the water change bucket of course!) This should start the vacuum quite nicely. It took me a time or two to be able to do this without entering air into the equation, but now it is the method I use most.


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## FlatLine (Dec 30, 2008)

One thing I do with all my siphons is use a primer bulb for boat fuel line... They have a check valve, cut the siphon somewhere in half, put the bulb in (noted the direction of the arrow) and voila! Easier siphon with no fish water in mouth. They have quite a bit of suction power too which can be useful for odd tanks to drain.

Here's and example:
http://www.iboats.com/Seasense_All_...37532983--session_id.752255374--view_id.56459


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I've found that if you put your fist at the end of the hose, and suck on your fist, you don't actually have to put your mouth on the hose at all.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

ewwww, just thinking about drinking poo riddled water freaks me out. I just used a gravel vac for the 1st time the other day and it wasnt too bad. i think it says self start or something. I just had to shake it up and down a few times and it did the rest. WAY better than me sticking my hand in the tank to dredge around in the rocks and then manually taking bucket-fulls out. Good luck!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Trashion: I have done this as well and it works pretty good 

I really like the bulb idea, that sounds like the easiest way ever!


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

You can actually buy a special bulb that fits on the Python. I ordered it online, but I can't figure out how to get it onto the Python.

I do have a small gravel vac with a bulb in-line. It works like a charm.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

The trick to "self starting" a siphon (python or other) is to not let the large plastic tube become completely empty. Plunge the tube end into the tank and let it fill up (ie it stops bubbling) then lift it straight up-open end pointed upwards-out of the water and let it drain into the hose. When the tube is about 1/2 empty, plunge it back under the water again. This should start the flow going. You might have to do it a couple of times depending on how long your hose is but with a bit of practice you will get to where you can get it started on the first try almost every time.

NOTE: If you are using a python, be sure the valve is all the way open.


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## Bymer (Aug 22, 2008)

guys guys guys.... its the 21 first century out here....

sometimes you guys put me in shock, i swear to god... lol...

here is the tool you need http://www.amazon.com/Python-No-Spill-Clean-Fill/dp/B000255NXC

i got mine at big al's.

here is the site of the manufacturer http://www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html

The way this works is there is a valve that at one end, at the other there is a normal gravel python. :fish:

the valve attached to your tap, water passes right thru the valve this creating a vacuum effect and pumping water and dirt out of the gravel.
once you vacuum enough, you switch the valve over, and start pumping water back into the tank. 

this gismo changed my life, i vacuum and refill a 50 gallon tank in about 10 min. this includes the set up time.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Not very practical with a little 5.5, though


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Not to mention a massive waste of water. Even for my 100 gallon which I do use a python for, I use the faucet hook up only to fill, never to drain, that I suck start. Well inhale start considering the distance ROFL. Never any worries about it getting in my mouth though. I don't need to waste any water (though I do not pay anything for my water). And even if you don't care about wasting your own water, try to consider the earth. It all starts with one.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

I agree with Obsidian. Water is a limited resource. Conservation is king.

I only use the the tap to create pressure if I want super suction, like to drain a tank to the glass.


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## Bymer (Aug 22, 2008)

in a 5 gallon set up i agree, its an over kill. 
but for anything larger, i think its the way to go. i don't think there is any water waist.

But again, im probably known already for my non conservatives views... lol...


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I am just curious how there isn't water waste when the faucet runs the entire time a tank is being drained? By definition that is water "down the drain."


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

I don't see how that python works exactly... if it would make it easier to fill my tanks after i get some bigger ones, i might get one, but would someone explain it better please?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

It's true, Buggy....even with conservative viewpoints, I don't think you can really argue that dumping a ton of unused water down the drain isn't waste...


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Actually, I can argue that it really isn't waste in my particular situation:

I have well water for my source. Running the well at full-force requires almost minimal power. My water then drains into a septic field in the front yard. This keeps the lawn green in summer and, whatever water doesn't get absorbed eventually drifts through the layers back into the aquifer.

However, it is probably better not to waste water and energy. Fishkeeping is not a particularly environmentally friendly hobby. Lots of electricity. Lots of chemicals. Some wild caught fish too, altogether probably not the most eco hobby.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I could argue that a lawn is by itself a waste of resources, if you want to get technical


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

You're right, a lawn is a waste of resources. But, it is the conventional suburban planting. And yes, I'm aware that the suburban housing is not efficient, etc. But it was built long ago and abandoning it to waste more resources on another dwelling would be more wasteful in the longrun...

Also, lawns have some benefits. It generates a fairly large amount of oxygen for a plant of its size that consumes a comparable amount of water. Plus even the most manicured lawn has some amount of clover, which has a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria that make the soil more fertile.

Anyway, conserve water as best you can! Try not to run water simply to create suction for your Python.


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## Bymer (Aug 22, 2008)

there's a faucet add on thingy, when the valve is open water goes down the drain thru the add on creating suction, thus vacuuming. when the add on is closed(the valve inside it), water flows from the faucet right to the tank. 



itwuzhere said:


> I don't see how that python works exactly... if it would make it easier to fill my tanks after i get some bigger ones, i might get one, but would someone explain it better please?


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Julie, it wasn't me arguing the waste of water issue, it was Bymer. LOL
Heck, I yell at my kid if she takes too long in the shower. 
Not only is it a bad idea to waste water but I have to pay for it and I don't like to waste money either!


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

COM: I was just yanking yer chain


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## FlatLine (Dec 30, 2008)

If you wanted a "green" way of using a python, you could have your greenhouse setup to use the water that comes from the python. (Provided no use of chemicals), if you store that "waste water" and use it for your garden or plants, you will provide good nutrients. 

Personally, unless you're in a city, or a place prone to drought, it really isn't a "waste" of water as there is a natural cycle to it's use. That water that goes down the drain, ends up back in the cycle, it's not a finite amount.

Here it's just expensive, and it's treated


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

Bymer said:


> there's a faucet add on thingy, when the valve is open water goes down the drain thru the add on creating suction, thus vacuuming. when the add on is closed(the valve inside it), water flows from the faucet right to the tank.


thanks for clearing it up


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## Mew_chan (Jan 28, 2009)

I find that you need to hold the tube at an angle otherwise you loose water flow... If you hold the pipe vertical for too long sucktion gets lost... Although you can switch angles over quickly... because my tank is only a 5.5 gallon and is kinda in an awkward possition I am constantly loosing pressure as I try to get to different angles in the tank


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## Shaolinfish (May 22, 2009)

*No need to suck the vac!!*

People people, seriously. There is absolutely no need to go sucking gravel vacs and risking getting mouthful's of water full of poop. Its very simple to start those things without sucking them or using primers. 

Simply submerge the who thing in the tank, making sure it is completely full with water. 
Then block the hose with your finger, lift it out of the tank keeping the vac part submerged. 
Put the end of the hose into your bucket/drain/whatever (below the tank) and release your finger from it. It will start running and you can clean the gravel 

Good luck!


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

OMG!!! you're supposed to suck on them with your mouth!? oh god... i've been doing it wrong!!! =)


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