Having trouble siphoning... HELP!!

[Aquaskilz]

Hi Guys,

I have 20 gal high aquarium on a metal stand. Underneath on the bottom is a 10 gal aquarium that has gravel that is real dirty an needs cleaning. My problem is I can't siphon the gravel because the tank is real close to the ground. Any ideas that can help???
Thanks.

[goldfish freak]

Get a gravel vacumn that has a short syphoning tube. Then cut the tubing where the water comes out short, so that it just touches the bottom of the bucket when you are at the furthest point in your tank that you need to vacumn. You might need to experiment with the legnth of tubing. You might also try attaching a syphon starter to get the syphoning action started.

[NJ Devils Fan]

As GfF was saying about a syphon starter, you may want to pick up a python. A python is a gravel vacuum that hooks up to your sink. When you turn the water on, it begins a syphon and your tank water/fish waste get sucked up and go into your sink and down the drain. They are very easy to use, especially if you have a big tank so that you do not have to carry buckets back and forth.

[goldfish freak]

Ha Ha! I forgot about the Python. That would be a good option on a tank that sits so low to the ground, since you do not need to rely on gravity. Although I would be concerned that the Python would syphon out water very fast in a 10 gallon tank. Maybe if you turn the faucet tap down once it starts up, it would reduce the syphoning to a slow enough rate.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Not really that fast, I used to use it with my old 10g and it really didn't go as fast as I would have thought.