How To Use Aqueon Siphon Vacuum Gravel Cleaner

E'er wonder if there'southward an piece of cake way to clean all the fish waste and uneaten food that's fallen in betwixt the aquarium'southward gravel or substrate? The good news is that there's no need to dump out and wash everything in the sink. Instead, y'all tin vacuum up the detritus with a elementary aquarium siphon – no batteries required!

Pace 1: Get the Materials

You lot just need two items: an aquarium siphon (also known as a gravel vacuum, gravel cleaner, or siphon kit) and a bucket to hold the dirty water. If you plan on cleaning multiple tanks, information technology might exist easier to get a large trash can on wheels to put the muddy water. Still, the bucket is optional if your siphon's hose is long enough to reach a nearby sink or fifty-fifty the backyard to water your outdoor plants.

siphon diagram

A siphon basically consists of two sections: the plastic tube that goes into the aquarium and the long, flexible hose that goes into the saucepan.

We personally like using the Python Pro-Clean siphon because its high-quality, flexible tubing doesn't kink or become twisted equally easily. (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, and commissions may be earned from the link to a higher place.)

Step ii: Prepare the Tank

There is no need to remove the fish while using the aquarium siphon, since the process of catching them is more than stressful than slowly vacuuming around them. However, you lot should motion any aquarium decorations away from the area you plan on vacuuming because waste product likes to collect underneath them. Some people like to scrub off the algae and clean the filter beforehand, so that all the excess particles in the h2o have a take a chance of being removed by the siphon.

Mag-Float algae scrapers Magnetic algae scrappers are great for cleaning off algae, especially if yous have the matching blade zipper. Just make sure to get the glass or acrylic version that matches your aquarium walls.

Footstep 3: First the Siphon

Aquarium siphons employ gravity to suck the water and debris out of your aquarium. To starting time the siphon, brand sure the hose end of the siphon is inside the bucket. (Some people use a small clamp to make certain the hose doesn't slip out of the bucket.) Then completely submerge the tube within the aquarium then that it fills with water. Y'all can hands do this past keeping the tube at a diagonal bending with the tube opening pointed up.

Submerge the tube

Raise the tube out of the h2o and above the aquarium rim until water starts flowing through the hose and into the bucket.

Raise the tube

As soon as the water has drained halfway out of the tube, rapidly plunge the tube back into the water at the same diagonal angle (such that the tube is all the same pointed upwards). The tube opening must be completely underwater in order for the water to continue draining into the saucepan.

Plunge tube back in

Once h2o is freely flowing into the bucket, point the tube opening downwards toward the substrate at the bottom of the tank.

Point tube toward gravel

Note: if the h2o level is besides low or the tank is too small to maneuver the tube using this technique, you may need to utilise another method to start the siphon. The easiest method is to identify the tube terminate in the aquarium and suck on the hose finish with your mouth to get water flowing through information technology. Apace place the hose end into the bucket, or else you may become a mouthful of dirty fish h2o.

Stride iv: Vacuum the Gravel

Button the siphon into the gravel or sand, and let it start vacuuming up some of the substrate. Because the substrate is heavier than the fish waste, you tin periodically crimp the hose with your other mitt that'south non in the water to briefly stop the suction. This causes the heavy substrate to fall out of the tube, while the lighter debris still floats inside the tube and gets sucked upwards as presently every bit y'all un-crimp the hose and commencement vacuuming again.

Crimp the hose

Systematically vacuum the substrate back and forth in rows, equally if y'all're mowing the lawn. Utilise this method to clean about a third of the aquarium substrate. The side by side time you exercise a water change, you lot can vacuum the next 3rd of the tank.

Step 5: Remove the Siphon

Once you're ready to stop siphoning, cover the tube opening with your hand and lift the tube out. The tube will suction to your hand and foreclose the dirty water from falling dorsum into the aquarium. Flip the tube upwards and let the remaining water in the siphon drain into the bucket.

Remove the siphon

If you're still not able to showtime the siphon, click on the video demonstration below to watch this simple process in action:

Thumbnail with play button for siphon video

And that'southward it! Refill the aquarium with new water that'due south roughly the same temperature as the old water, and don't forget to add dechlorinator to remove the chlorine, chloramine, and other toxic chemicals from the water.

Bonus Tip: Fill the Tank Without a Bucket

If you want to fill your fish tank (or multiple tanks) straight from the sink faucet without having to lug buckets of water back and forth, all you lot need is a garden hose, faucet hose adaptor, and the Python hook.

Unscrew the sink faucet aerator from the faucet opening. Screw on the faucet hose adaptor that has a 3/4" male garden hose connection. (If you cannot observe an adapter that fits your faucet, take the sink aerator to the hardware store to become help finding the right adaptor.)

Attach 1 stop of the garden hose to the sink adapter. Attach the other end of the garden hose to the Python hook.

Python hook for aquariums

Python hook

Hang the Python hook on the aquarium wall to ensure that the garden hose will not slip out of the tank while filling it.
Plough on the sink to the right temperature, and first the water flowing straight into your fish tank.
Once your aquarium is full, plow off the sink h2o. If you are done with all your water changes, raise the Python hook higher than the sink, and let the remaining water in the hose flow back into the sink drain as you scroll the hose for storage.

To find out how often you demand to exercise h2o changes on your aquarium, download our free infographic that guides you step-by-step through the procedure.