? for tall tank owners:

[TheZoo]

Im pretty sure these questions have very obvious answers:
When you go to clean a very tall tank, do you just use a siphon with a very long rigid tube? And use long tools for moving and dealing with the decor? And a step ladder? How much of a mess do you make??

 

[Rbishop]

Some gravel vac makers have varying diameter tubes. I have 4, varying from 12" to 24" in length and 1" to 2 1/4" diameter. I move my stuff around at the end of a water change, before I refill, minimizing my arm in the water. I also clean my arms well before hand, we do not need soap/oil residues in there, and I keep a set of 18" tongs around. On the two tanks that are tall, I have a 10" step stool, all other I can reach over without putting weight on the sides.

I have never made a mess! Never once, in all my years, have any of my fish complained they got wet from my water changes!

P.S.
(my wife may or may not agree with that)

:bowing:

 

[TheZoo]

Never once, in all my years, have any of my fish complained they got wet from my water changes!

haha! Cool...just something Id been wondering about since getting into fishkeeping!

 

[prakash]

haha! Cool...just something Id been wondering about since getting into fishkeeping!

if you have sand substrate theres no need for siphoning

 

[Lorazoo]

Funny you ask this b/c it's not the easiest for me. I am only 5'2 and I have a 120. The full stand, tank, canopy are taller than I am. When I work in the tank I have to use a step stool, but even then it is hard to reach the bottom. I do have the 20" tongs to help with planting the plants, grabbing things, etc. However, it is still very hard to reach the back of the tank, lol. I tried a step ladder once and it slid and I almost became part of that fish tank. But, its all worth it, and i do make a little of a mess, but i just put towels down around the tank before i get started.

 

[dorkfish]

if you have sand substrate theres no need for siphoning

You need to do siphoning with sand, for the same reason as you would for a gravel substrate. To remove rotting fish waste.

 

[prakash]

You need to do siphoning with sand, for the same reason as you would for a gravel substrate. To remove rotting fish waste.

Ive never had any problems not siphoning as long as you do reg water changes

 

[IceH2O]

It depends on if you have plants and snails or not with that sand.

The rotting fish waste actually becomes a good fert. But if you have a lot of it I still recommend siphoning. I rarely need to siphon unless I notice an excess of dead plant matter laying on the bottom. Still do water changes of course, just not to often I need to actually siphon the sand.