gravel vaccums

For a siphon that connects to the sink, there should be a large piece that connects to the sink faucet. The hose then connects to this device in the middle. At the bottom of that device can be twisted to the left and to the right. You twist one way and water pours out from the bottom of it. You twist it the other way and water pours down the hose and into your tank. To start the siphon, you need to twist the bottom of the device so water pours out the bottom of it. This will start a suction that will travel down the hose and pull water out of your tank. Using a garden hose in lieu of the one supplied should not have any effect nor will having a sink upstairs from the tank matter. I occasionally use my upstairs sink to change the water in my downstairs tanks. I hope this makes sense.

Those pumps that hook to the sink arent strong enough to pump water up a flight of stairs,youll need a powerhead or pump to push the water upstairs.

Garden hoses sometimes contain mildwecides and there have been a few threads about fish getting killed by using them.They sell drinking water safe hoses in the rv section at walmart.

that siphon will not work. i would do it the old fashion way and use 5 gallon buckets. its way faster.

Maybe I have great water pressure. I occasionally use my python on my upstairs sink with my tanks downstairs. I have to turn the water up higher than I normally do, but it works well. I agree with gomez though that a pump or powerhead will definitely speed things up for you.