gravel pump??

[naya69]

ok i know this might be a stupid question but how do you use a gravel pump and are they very good at getting rid of the dirt??

I havent used on yet i have just been emptying the whole tank which i shouldnt do i should only emtpy 25% every week.

[chamy]

Okay check this out, i just spent the best 40 bucks i have ever spent, go to your LFS and look for either one of these, lees ultimate gravel vac, or a python. either one of these attach to your sink, and create a siphon that automatically pulls the water out of your tank, then will fill your tank as well, no more buckets back and forth no more sloshing water all over the place and no more (most importantly) aching backs.

The idea behind a gravle vac is to be able to siphon out the uneaten decaying food and fish waste that gets into the gravel bed, i have see a couple of differnt types one (lees ultimate gravle vac) which has a cover on the bottom with small slits for the water to escape through, but too small for any fish to get caught into it.

The gravel bad also contains "good" bacteria, so what you want to do is each time you do a water change, when you do a gravel vac as well, do one section at a time, plungs the gravel vac maybe a quarter of an inch into the bed and then lift it up any debris will be sucked into the vac and out the drain, specially good for MULM the cotton like substance that some tanks get. Then do a square section, and wait till the next time that you do a water change to do another section of the gravle bed,

Unless you have a major problems (extremely high ammonia, dummped a whole can of food etc) you dont want to empty all of your water, depending on the size of your tank, and the condition a 10-20% water change per week is sufficient. if it is a mature tank.

[Maddog]

man, $40...i guess i can see where if you had a big tank that would be a good thing, but with a 10gal, one bucket trip does it for me. i just use a regular ole gravel vacuum, none of these fancy bag things, lol.
if you are cheap like me, and use a non-fancy one, first you must buy an appropriately sized one for your tank. then what you do is yuo put the tube end into a bucket which has to be a few feet below the tank. then you use the cylinder side and pump it up and down in the water until the suction starts (the cyclinder must be completely sumberged to start). then you put it down in the gravel and leave it in one spot until the water coming up is clean, then move to a new spot! depending on how dirty your tank is, you may not make it all the way around the tank in one water change, as you shouldnt change more than 20% of the water.

[chamy]

Yeah 40$, however i went to another LFS for some driftwood and wouldnt you know, i saw the same one there for 15 dollars cheaper. Oh well chock it up to i should shop around next time, i only have a 30 gallon tank, but if you have seen any of my other post i was batteling a nasty ammonia problem and was doing 50% water changes every day. THAT DEMANDED THE NEED FOR THE GRAVEL VAC that i bought haha

[naya69]

that sounds great to empty my tank completely it takes about 45 mins so one of those will be well worth the money

thanks.

[chamy]

it still takes a little time to empty it, but the point is no more buckets and aching backs, im wondering how the python differs.

I have discovered one thing that i dont like, the "claw" siphon on it isnt a very good design to clean gravel

[guppie51]

I dont think a tank should be so soiled after just one week. Water changes can be performed weekly, but a total clean out, or even gravel vaccum is a bit much, how many fish do you have in your tank?

[chamy]

i dont do a total clean out at all, and i just skim the top of the gravel to get the pleco droppings out, as they are very messy

[naya69]

i have about 25 in my tank

[guppie51]

Sorry Naya,
I got you and maddog mixed up, I thought you had a ten gal.