My Python sucks.....

aardvark1

aardvark1

Too many tanks are almost enough...
Sep 27, 2005
740
0
0
73
Warner Robins, Georgia, USA
....well, actually it isn't!

Got sand for a substrate in all my tanks. Looks great when clean, but all the fish poop and other detritus sits right on top. Try to siphon it out, but the poop and other "stuff" just goes halfway up the tube and swirls around (too heavy to make it?)

Using the Python on the sink and running the end out the front door onto the front garden (drop of about 8 foot)-same result. Tried stirring up the sand and "stuff" so it's free floating, same result.

Any ideas on getting it to suck with more force?

As much as I like the looks of the sand may go back to gravel; at least there I can bury the siphon tube and get a good cleaning!
 
you can unscrew the venturi that's in the sink contraption, that can sometimes affect the level of flow.. try messing with that, it seems like you would have really low water pressure for it not to work.
 
No clogs, level of the sink tap is about a foot lower than the top of the tank.

But same amount of suckage (for want of a better word), when I run the hose out the door and start the siphon orally ( one quick intake is all it normally takes-today didn't even have to suck on the hose to get the siphon stated.

Sucks the water out great, just won't suck the poop out as well as it did.
 
I have the same issue with my Python...

I think it is water pressure due to the length (I have a 50 foot run). The only solution is to keep the water running, which I refuse to do.

I use the Python to refill the tanks, and the gravel syphon to remove the actual buildup in the substrate.
 
It's water pressure. I use my kitchen sink as the tanks are right next to it, and the suction is all right. If I hook it up to the sink in my roommates bathroom it works better then an industrial wet dry vac!
 
OK, let me rephrase this...

It don't matter if the thing is hooked up to the sink. Running the end that is normally connected the venturi out the front door with a roughly 8 foot drop does not create enough suction to siphon up the poop.

Heavy poop?

I hold the siphon tube right above the detritus, sometimes getting sand, but the "stuff" just swirls around the tube, most not making it all the way to the hose and out the door.

I can siphon until most of the water in the tanks is gone and still have "stuff" laying on the sand.

Ideas?
 
With my regular gravel vac I get plenty of suction from just a 3 foot drop from the tank on a desk to bucket on the floor. The only time I have a problem is if gravel or plants jam the one way valve that is supposed to make the syphon easier to start, and then I barely get enough movement to pick stuff up at all, and certainly not enough to get it up the tube. I've never used a python, so does it have anywhere that could have gotten clogged?
 
aardvark1 said:
OK, let me rephrase this...

It don't matter if the thing is hooked up to the sink. Running the end that is normally connected the venturi out the front door with a roughly 8 foot drop does not create enough suction to siphon up the poop.

Heavy poop?

I hold the siphon tube right above the detritus, sometimes getting sand, but the "stuff" just swirls around the tube, most not making it all the way to the hose and out the door.

I can siphon until most of the water in the tanks is gone and still have "stuff" laying on the sand.

Ideas?
Click to expand...


WOW! i just thought of this.. cant beleive it took that long. lol.
eheim makes a motorised gravel vac with a baggie at the end that collects all the junk.. you could do what water changes you can with the python, and then filter out the big stuff with the motorised vac.
 
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