don't laugh... (gravel vac)

I'm not sure I'm comfortable sucking on the end of my gravel vacuum. The concept of siphoning is simple, fill the entire tube with water, hold one end under water, put your thumb over the other end. If the thumb-end is lower than the vac end, the water will siphon out. ...probably into a bucket on the floor?

If your tank is too low, then you might have to do some sucking.

When its time to refill your tank, just set the fresh filled bucket on top of the tank and siphon new water back into the tank.

Sorry if I'm speaking too basically, but it just seems the person needs to learn how to siphon.

Python works fine on a 10g tank. Just turn the water pressure down a little otherwise you suck out the water too fast....not enough time to vacuum.
 
jngldnb001,

Get a couple of these:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19361;category_id=2001

I have a few smaller tanks that are very hard to start because of the size. I bought a couple of those and I LOVE them! I have three or four manual hoses of different sizes and each one now has a Syphon Starter Bulb on it.

Wouldn't be caught without.

Sucking aquarium water is really *not* a safe thing to do. Not to mention how it tastes, BLARGH! Fish TB, salmonella, bacteria, all that stuff belongs in the tank, not in the mouth.

Roan

As an aside: I don't like to use my Python in tanks under 20g. Manual does a better job IMO.
 
That is a neat little device, thanks.

On my 10g, I used to fill my manual vacuum with tap water. As you said, the tube was too long to fill up under the water. Keep your thumb on one end and walk it over to the small tank. If chlorine is a concern, just treat your tank with a bit of de-chlor before doing this trick.
 
Galaxie said:
That is a neat little device, thanks.

On my 10g, I used to fill my manual vacuum with tap water. As you said, the tube was too long to fill up under the water. Keep your thumb on one end and walk it over to the small tank. If chlorine is a concern, just treat your tank with a bit of de-chlor before doing this trick.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jon! I'll keep that in mind in case I'm somewhere (like the school) changing water without the Bulb thingy, or it breaks or something.

Roan
 
I don't like the idea of sucking on that thing either. just submerge it so it fills part way with water, hold it upright, and pump it up and down without letting it completely out of the water. eventually the pressure inside creates its own suction.

here's a quote from some instructions "With the Gravel Vacuum cylinder submerged in the water, simply move it up and down a few times to activate the Self-Start Siphon."
 
Galaxie said:
That is a neat little device, thanks.

On my 10g, I used to fill my manual vacuum with tap water. As you said, the tube was too long to fill up under the water. Keep your thumb on one end and walk it over to the small tank. If chlorine is a concern, just treat your tank with a bit of de-chlor before doing this trick.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what I do as well and it works every time, without leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth. I don't think chlorine is really a problem, very little of the tap water should get in the tank.
 
i suck on mine. your tank has to be a couple feet higher than your bucket. i have my 20g ontop of a cedar chest that is about 24" tall, and i put the bucket on the floor infront of it, sit down on the floor. i hold the fat end of the vac in the water so the fat part is completely covered with water, then suck on the small end, making sure there is a loop of hose that goes pretty low below my mouth and the tank. then as the water comes down the hose, i quickly stick the small end in the bucket.

it might take a few tries, but i have never been able to get mine to work by using any other method described above.

what happens is that once you suck the water over the high spot in the tube where it goes over the lip of the aquarium, it wants to fall over the other side due to gravity. as it falls, it pushes out all the air and the water fills the tube and wants to keep falling, but as it fills the tube, it creates a vaccume behind it that pulls more water through to fill the tube, but that water falls as well, pulling more water, and so on. that's why your bucket needs to be lower than the water level in the tank, because otherwise gravity won't pull the water down the tube to create the vaccume that pulls more water.
 
thats exactly what i do woth mine, rockabillychick. I think that some people don't like doing it in case the dirty tank water goes into their mouth, but this has only happened once to me when i wasn't quick enough- it doesn't taste bad at all and i didn't get ill! ;) so just do this method guys, cos it is by far the easiest
 
Roan Art said:
Sucking aquarium water is really *not* a safe thing to do. Not to mention how it tastes, BLARGH! Fish TB, salmonella, bacteria, all that stuff belongs in the tank, not in the mouth.
Click to expand...

As long as the exit of the tube is lower and completely filled with water, it will siphon. 1-inch lower is plenty enough. 2 feet drop and all this sucking seriously isn't needed. Just think, fish slime, pee, and poop all running through that yummy siphon tube.
 
All you have to do if you suck is to keep the outlet of the tube elevated. Basically an s-shaped bend in the tube. a quick suck will get the syphon started, but will stop halfway down the tube. Then you can safely turn the outlet end down into your bucket without fear of getting a wet mouth.

Raon-try getting a syphon started when you run outta gas. Much tastier than fish water :D
 
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