What kind of Siphon/Vacuum do you use?

I need the cheapest for 10 gallon tanks. I have one 5G, two 10G and will have a 20G by the end of the week. I don't care if I have to get my hands a lil wet, I just need something that works. Oh, I plan on bare bottom. Hopefully by the time I have money to make a change I'll have money to upgrade the siphon too.

 

I use a simple siphon tube for my 10 gallon tank, like these:





Every LFS with aquarium supplies should have them. They're cheap. They range from a few dollars to $10-20 depending on their size. They're very easy to use and very effective in smaller tanks. A gravel vac like Python is WAY too powerful for smaller tanks, lol. I wouldn't use a Python on anything smaller than 30 gallons, and certainly NOT in a tank with fry!

P.S. I have the Penn-Plax one (actually two of them - smaller and larger one).

 

Thanks (that's funny. I guess pythons and fry really don't mix! )

 

I found a great sized one for 10 gallon tanks at pet supermarket... only like $7

 

I'll have to make a trip to either Lake Havasu City or Kingman. They're the only ones with a pet super store... hmm... Maybe I'll try Wal-Mart. I'll actually go tomorrow since I want to check out prices before I order online. Things are cheaper online, but, I wonder what a difference S&H or freight makes.

 

another alternative might be to just go to a hardware store and buy some flexible tubing. it's definitely cheaper. the tubing likely won't have a larger end, but you can still use it or you can add some pvc pipe on the end for a larger end.

 

I use a small piece of flexable tubing for my reef because I can get into nooks and crannys easier. It'll suck up the sand though. I use a Python on the other 2 (20 and 150). The small tubing I use came from a small siphon. I use the tube part of it only when I want to do a deep stir of my substrate. With the siphon tube on the end it won't remove sand.

 

Griffin, Gozer, I like that Idea better. I was wondering about that. Since I will have bare bottom for now, it won't much matter.

Gozer, I just noticed you changed your ... is that your backyard? Keep sending picks of how the area changes according to season. That'd be nice! You know me and pics! lol

 

Griffin, Gozer, I like that Idea better. I was wondering about that. Since I will have bare bottom for now, it won't much matter.

Gozer, I just noticed you changed your ... is that your backyard? Keep sending picks of how the area changes according to season. That'd be nice! You know me and pics! lol

Oh yeah the tube would be great for a bare bottom. Something like 1/2 inch or smaller. I use 1/4 ID tubing. It's too small for my smaller snails to get sucked up. Once in awhile I won't see a Nassarious buried just below the surface. They just get stuck on the end. If you plug the out going end of the siphon the snail will be freed :;br You can also install a ball valve more at tank level to temporarily stop the siphon and free trapped stuff. It's pretty powerful.

I just noticed that my Avatar was missing. It used to be my dog. This picture is actually taken at work. Fall is a beautiful season around here. I have winter pics too. I'll try to get them up.

 

Yayy! Thanks for the pics.

 

I use a small piece of flexable tubing for my reef because I can get into nooks and crannys easier. It'll suck up the sand though. I use a Python on the other 2 (20 and 150). The small tubing I use came from a small siphon. I use the tube part of it only when I want to do a deep stir of my substrate. With the siphon tube on the end it won't remove sand.

I think it depends on how close to the sand you get and what id you are using

I use (I think) .25 or .5 inch id, and I do not suck up sand (my substrate) when I clean the tank. but, if I wanted to, I could pick up sand, even with the larger front intake, but I do not think it really matters if you are using a bare bottom.

 

You know, I REALLY wish there was another way of saying "bare bottom".

 

Empty, devoid of substrate, bare, call it what you like! I always use a piece of air tubing for cleaning out my fry tanks, and a piece of 8mm ID tubing to do the water changes with a fine netting over the end to stop the little beggers getting pulled up. (I forgot the net yesterday and spent about 45 minutes retrieving angel fry from the bucket!)

There is no need for a bell-end on the bare tank, unless you have snails or such that you really want to keep in there.

 

Thank you TimAndKaren, everyone seems to do the same. I will too.

 

LOL Bare Bottom

Seriously though. I'm slowly working on a mostly bare bottom. A half moon if you will.

No seriously seriously. I've been removing a thin layer of gravel over time so at some point the front of the tank will be mostly bare. Atleast till it's thinner than it is now. I went a little thick with the aragonite.

 

Yayy! Thanks for the pics.

Here's my Photobucket link if you still want to see a few more pics of my work and another course I use to work at. Also some various other fish and wild life pics. I'm having trouble with Photobucket letting me make subfolders so it's a bit of a mess.

 

Wow! Sigh, where you work is beautiful! It brought a tear to my eye... or maybe it was the garlic bread I just had hehe