Is there an easier way to change water in my fish tank?

Question

It is hard to use the gravel vaccuum! My husband and I are both having trouble!

Answer 1

The gravel vacuum (siphon) is fairly easy once you get the hang of it. Get a 5+ gallon bucket and pour 3 inches of water into it. Hold the vacuum under water so the entire hose fills with water. Put your thumbs over each end of the hose, put one end in the tank, and leave the other in the bucket. When you release your thumbs, water will flow from the tank into the bucket. Good luck!

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

LOL.. I hear ya! I hate those vaccums! I could never get them to work and so my hubby tried it one time and showed me. This might help you too... submerse the whole dang thing in the water first, let it fill for the most part... then put the one end in your bucket, (lol.. or out your window-that was always convenient!) and THEN try shaking/pumping it like it says to. Make sure the 'out' end is lower than your tank.
You might also try going to the pet store and seeing if there is a different brand. We had one brand that just would not ever work. We tried a different one and it worked great.
If all else fails... and this is gross, but my hubby did it a few times... Get it all ready and then suck it through as though you were syphoning a gas tank - yuck - but that works too.
Personally unless you had a huge tank that you were changing constantly or a salt tank where you didn't want to disturb the sand... I wouldn't bother with expensive pumps. Once you get the knack with those vaccums they work just fine and at a fraction of the cost.
I hope this helped!! Good Luck!!

As a note: Someone suggested a protein skimmer... this is for salt tanks primarily and is only a tool for cleaning protien from your tank. You still have to do water changes every other week... which you have to syphon water out to do. Protien skimmers and a 'cleaning crew' are only part of the salt water equation. True, you do not have to clean out the sand, but you still have to do tank changes to keep your nitrates down.
If you truely do not want to deal with the vaccums then you can get a sump or syphon pump at a pretty cost for what it does-suck water.

Answer 3

Is it a siphon? You need to have a 5 gallon bucket on the floor, well below the tank. Fill the siphon and hose with water, hold the ends parallel to each other, lower the vacuum end into the tank and drop the outlet end into the bucket. Should take off. Be careful not to suck up to much gravel or it will stop the flow.

Answer 4

do you have a salt water or fresh water. if you have salt water there is a piece of equipment that is called a protein skimmer. at the top of this piece there is something called a collector cup. its job is to collect all the waste from your tank.and removes any trace elements not needed and provides quality water. it acts like the ocean. the air stone rotates the water spiraling it into a spiral motion moving the water upwards) as well as certain sand sifter snails that bury themselves in the gravel thus cleaning it and always moving it...
i know there is what has already been suggested, the python. how much gravel do you have? when we had our fresh water we used it and it worked well. when we are moving tanks we use it, for set ups, etc... its a good piece of equipment to have... when your cleaning the gravel, try not putting the whole tube part on the bottom, leaving a little air pocket for the dirt to get drawn up. the gravel should only go up so far up the tube., then shake it abit if it does. I would suggest bottom feeders and plecos, they love to do their job!!! do you have a filter system with carbon? any thing that goes on in your tank will spike up water conditions. first thing about this hobby is that you must have patience or it teaches you that.......we all start off with fresh and many of us end up in salt water- very interesting.....good luck

Answer 5

Some form of gravel siphon is the very best way to clean your tank. Conventional models can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Take a look at this product, the Python No Spill N Fill. It's not really cheap, but worth every single penny and is very easy to use. Makes water changes a breeze.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3910

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 6

For larger tanks like 30+ gallons, a python is the way to go. It hooks up to your sink faucet, turn it on, and the suction sucks the water out of the tank, then turn the little knob thing and it fills the tank back up with water. Not really good for smaller tanks though.

Answer 7

Hold it more at an angle where it's semi-submerged and make sure the bucket you're draining it into is way below the tank and it will flow like wild.

I also used to use gallon jars and would manually dump them out one by one...it's slow but works.

Love,
Snag

Answer 8

I used to just siphon the water out using a piece of clean garden hose. You could try that.

Answer 9

Okay.

According to my brain, it's assuring you to;

First, Get the fish and pour some of the water in the tank into some bowl (Just some, to keep the fish temporary in there while you prepare the clean water). Now, put the fish in there.

Next, Cleanse, Fill, And do all that is neccasary to your tank. When you are done, Get the fish with some kind of tool (Make it quik), And drop them in the water.

:)