Another Stupid Question

[Twinklecaz]

Will my syphon work as a gravel cleaner too? I think that gravel cleaners syphon water too don't they? But will a syphon clean gravel?

I am gifted

 

[chrischeyne]

it will but i think u will keep sucking up the gravel i use a air line to clean my beeta tank and fry tanks

 

[Curiosity101]

Last time I checked a syphon was a gravel cleaner... lol.
So yes it will, but if your gravel is particularly small and gets carried up the tube just stick your finger over the end of the pipe that is going into the bucket/container you're using. This'll stop the suction and allow the gravel to fall back down, but as soon as you remove your finger it'll start syphoning again.

 

[fishyfeet]

no, your not gifted

the syphon will suck up the gravel too, and deposit it in your bucket, it will also block up the tube too, where as gravel cleaner have a much wider tube on the end on a syphon, so the heavier gravel falls back inside the tank and the muck and yucky stuff travel up the tube, i did try it, trust me its a

I did use a small tube to clean out fry tanks they are quite good if no gravel, and you can hoover all the muck up that works thats a

 

[Curiosity101]

Only small gravel will be lifted up the tube. And I've explained how you combat it.
The wider cleaners are 'ok' at best. But the larger opening means less suction so they don't tend to pull up as much rubbish.

 

[Twinklecaz]

OOo my gravel is really small? What should I do about that then coz obviously I can't not clean it can I?

 

[Curiosity101]

Do what I described. Simply stick your finger over the end if any of the gravel gets lifted towards the top of the tube. I always found the gravel went about midway and then didn't go any further.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Ok cheers

 

[OldMan47]

If you have an appropriately sized gravel cleaner, it will only stir up the gravel, not pick it up. I plunge my gravel cleaner right to the glass on the bottom of the tank and let the lifting that the gravel gets stir up the dirt and release it. The dirt goes up the tube into my bucket and when that spot stops giving me any dirt, I lift the tube above the gravel and plunge into a new spot. This sounds more complicated than it is really. I use gravel that is anywhere between 5mm and 0.5mm and use the same gravel vac on all of the tanks in much the same way. I also have a few tanks with sand that require a very different approach. With sand, the dirt doesn't really fall down between the particles so you only need to surface clean it and you just let the vac hover a cm or so above the surface and move it around a bit to stir the dirt off the sand surface.

 

[Curiosity101]

If you have an appropriately sized gravel cleaner, it will only stir up the gravel, not pick it up. I plunge my gravel cleaner right to the glass on the bottom of the tank and let the lifting that the gravel gets stir up the dirt and release it. The dirt goes up the tube into my bucket and when that spot stops giving me any dirt, I lift the tube above the gravel and plunge into a new spot. This sounds more complicated than it is really. I use gravel that is anywhere between 5mm and 0.5mm and use the same gravel vac on all of the tanks in much the same way. I also have a few tanks with sand that require a very different approach. With sand, the dirt doesn't really fall down between the particles so you only need to surface clean it and you just let the vac hover a cm or so above the surface and move it around a bit to stir the dirt off the sand surface.

^^ That is EXACTLY how I clean each substrate. Just found it hard to put the gravel explanation into words.