Gravel Cleaners!

[arcadiandreamer]

Can anyone recomend a decent gravel vaccum for my 100ltr tank?? Preferably cheap and easy to use and the type that uses a mesh bag rather than syphoning the water out of the tank? Also is it best to attach it to my eheim professional filter when using it or buying a separate small pump to use it with? Also does anyone know where the best and and cheapest media pads for my filter! maybe an online site i have overlooked?? they are quite expensive but maybe its the same everywhere! how often should they be changed??? as we all know abouut manufacturers guidlines and their reasons!!!im sure u guys should give me a more unbiased answer!!

thanks in anticipation of your help

 

[dem0nz]

to be honest all gravel vacs are the same,jus go to you lfs and get one that seems the right size

as for powering it,jus suck the tube and make sure you take the tube out of your mouth before the water starts coming out

 

[Corleone]

There's some nice self-starting ones. Mine has a valve so that if you lower it into the water and lift it partway back out repeatedly, it'll eventually start siphoning on its own.

If you suck on the end, get ready. Chances are you will end up getting a mouthful of tank water the first few times. It's mostly harmless, but the taste is the stuff of nightmares.

 

[ALEXF]

They are pretty much all the same, Although to avoid the mouth full of water i bought this like squeezy ball (for lack of a better term) that you squeeze and it does the sucking for you. It is made by the same company (i think) as the python but works well on mine (not a python)

 

[waterdrop]

Well archadia, you have me a bit confused. I'm going to generalize to 3 types of gravel cleaning:
1) wide tube connects to siphon tube and water goes out of aquarium
2) hand or battery pump moves water up a tube, back through a cloth bag and back into the tank
3) contraption of pumps tubes and filter bag accomplishes the same as #2, but uses AC-power and is continuous

It seemed to me that you were asking for pointers to #2, but partly describing something like #3 and people were all answering for #1, or more likely its just me not "getting it!"

The instances of #2 that I've seen are some cheap Penn-Plax hand-pump (bulb you squeeze with palm of your hand as it holds the whole gravel cleaner in the tank.) There is also a rather expensive Eheim battery powered gravel cleaner, which, amazingly, I've actually seen marketed in PetCos and other Pet box stores here in the US.

I'm not familiar with ever using the pumphead of an external cannister filter to do gravel cleaning, which you seemed to be referring to, is this something people do?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Gravel cleaners can be connected to exturnals, though I don't realy know why you'd bother. It is better IMO to waterchange while gravel vacing with the weekly waterchange, as the dirt gets out of the system without fouling equipment, and is ensures that you don't neglect water changes

The only time that you would need to gravel vac without doing a waterchange, is if you keep larger plecos. If these cases I use sand as a substrate, as it "self cleans" if the filter outlet is tactically placed to keep the dirt in the water column.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Gosh, good point rabbut. As arcadia is new, I probably shouldn't have been making the assumption that good water change technique is a known thing and already being used (I was ineed making that assumption and thinking of the hand gravel cleaner as just something wanted as a extra for special purposes!)

arcadia, all main gravel cleaning should occur during the weekly water change if at all possible. Its just so common now.. everyone has these long siphon tubes that can run out to the garden or back to a bathtub or whereever and you just get them started and use the larger stiff gravel-cleaner part to agitate down deep in each exposed area of gravel such that dirt is churned up and rides out with the old water. Then this same tube can be hooked up to the tap for the refill of the tank. I use this type and they are great!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[redevilman]

I recently purchased a marina battery powered multi vac which has a little bag attached you can use it to do water changes as well all you do is take the bag off and attach a 2 foot lengh of hose and away you go. Once you master using it to pick up the dirt without the sand its great.I wouldnt recommend it for gravel though.

 

[Spishkey]

can anyone recommend a good way of cleaning aquarium sand? im guessing a normal gravel cleaner is no good for sand?

 

[rabbut]

Work fine, but needs to be held a bit off the sand surface to avoid sucking up sand I tend to strategically postion the filter outlet to stir the dirt into the water cloumn though, so I don't ever need to bother cleaning it. It all finds it's own way into the filters

HTH
Rabbut

 

[gaz gun man]

I recently purchased a marina battery powered multi vac which has a little bag attached you can use it to do water changes as well all you do is take the bag off and attach a 2 foot lengh of hose and away you go. Once you master using it to pick up the dirt without the sand its great.I wouldnt recommend it for gravel though.

I have the same one and it works fine with gravel.