Thoughts On Vacuum Siphon

[HawkinsFamily]

Hi
 
As a new fish keeper, I've been wondering about the value of a vacuum siphon.
 
Currently, when I carry out my weekly water changes, I just use some plain old aquarium tubing which I use to siphon the water and suck up any dead matter on gravel.  After adding in the replacement water, I would normally just use a small net to catch any debris that I see floating about.
 
I would be interested in hearing what other people use for vacuuming up the debris in their tanks.  Are the specific vacuum siphons advertised just a gimmick or am I missing out in just using a bit of tubing?
 
Lastly, what is the general opinion around vacuuming? 
 

• I leave the ornaments in but do other's take them out in order to assist the clean up?
   
• Would moving ornaments in and out stress the fish out in anyway?
   
• Apart from a regular vacuum, do other's carry out a "deep clean" as part of the maintenance cycle, e.g. Scrub clean ornaments, partial substrate removal and clean?

 
Thanks as always for responses.

 

[Akasha72]

Hiya, I'll try to answer you the best I can.
 
When  had gravel in my tanks I did use a proper vacuum syphon and I would dig the nozzle into the gravel in various places and watch the brown gunk being sucked up ... it's surprising what comes out! When I changed to a sand substrate this was no longer possible - all my sand would be in the buckets and not in the tank! Instead I bought one of these http/www.amazon.co.uk/Algarde-42150S-Power-Cleaner-Single/dp/B000S5JMZ6 these attach to a air pump and you can hover it over the sand to remove debris. I only used this for a while and then got bored. To be honest I have a colony of malaysian trumpet snails doing the job for me and between them and the digging and swishing tails of my cories I rarely see anything on my sand now. I'm sure there's plenty of the brown gunk underneath it but there's not a lot I can do about it. The algarde vac comes out now when the MTS population is getting too much and I use it to suck them up instead!
 
If I had gravel I would still use the vacuum syphon. I did used to move ornaments around every couple of months to clean under them. I've never scrubbed my ornaments/decor since they were brand new. Maintenance does stress the fish, there's no getting away from that. My lot don't enjoy water changes but it has to be done and so they have to put up with it.
 
I've tried a few syphons but the best one is the Biorb one http/www.amazon.co.uk/Biorb-822728000250-biOrb-Cleaner-Pump/dp/B000KHZ0X0 the starter bulb is fast and easy to get going (2-3 squeezes and it's off) it's got a fast flow too so water changing a large tank is fairly quick. It's also got a mesh guard inside it so you can't suck up your fish no matter how hard you try! I've had a harlequin stuck in it once. No harm to the fish ... it was a bit shocked though ... serves it right for getting too nosy lol
 
I too use my net to catch bits of plant floating around or the 'blow back' from my external filters. 
 
I hope that helps you

 

[Far_King]

I use a manual syphon in the tanks that have gravel.
 
My fish love it!  They swim around the outside watching the stuff get sucked up and some of my curious platies have even swum into the syphon itself which wasn't very helpful.
 
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Clean-Aquarium-Gravel-Cleaner/dp/B0002AQI7W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_199_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TW64JVY5610AG474HBB&dpID=41F58QQvovL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR111%2C160_