Aquarium Canister Vac

not a bad idea, but i don't have a spare canister laying around

Too bad it didn`t put a big smile on your face.
When I put mine together, it wasn`t a big hit, right away.
Took a few go-rounds before it all just “felt” right and did the job I put it together for.
I am a big fan of the, Use What Ya Got way. I have seen others who say they got OK performance out of their magnums as vacs.
My only thoughts were they have pretty low flow for what I wanted to do and they cost more than using a pump and filter unit and I didn`t have one.
Updates as you go, if you would.
Good luck.

I have a spare one of those and that's what I'm going to use it for. I've used them on smaller (55g) tanks, but have always found them noisy.

using a folding tray to raise the canister closer to the rim of the tank and shorten the outake hose.

That and finding some good filter media, should do it.

I am gonna decrease the head loss by using a folding tray to raise the canister closer to the rim of the tank and shorten the outake hose.

I just put a thread up about head loss in canisters, everyone said that head loss in a canister is nearly non existent, flow loss comes from media decreasing flow but all in all it sounds like canisters dont lose much flow. Also, in addition to your idea one guy wrote in that he uses his canister as a canister vac and keeps it on his tank as well but he hooks up his vac to the intake tube when he wants to manually pick up debris. Thats what I plan on doing but my vac hose and intake tube are different sizes so I'm going to try to work that out. This way you can still use the canister and get the benefits of the vac. But nice work on the vac hook up.

pretty cool, i did the same thing but with a livewell pump from my boat. I can now empty my 100 gal tank in 10 minutes, but the only bad thing with mine is that i have to have a fully charged battery for it to work.

At some point, working with what you have starts to cost more, in time, efficiency, and money, than just starting from "scratch".
At $30 for the pump, $20 for filter housing, $10-15 for all hose and pipe, and $7 for a pair of 20-30 micron filter cartridges, the above "octopus" is an awesome vac and water polisher.
What makes mine different from yours is
1. Available flow. Mine is in the 350+ gph range.
2. Maintenance. When done cleaning, I unscrew the housing and give the filter cartridge a rinse and it is ready for the next go round.
3. Return flow. This is the big difference. Instead of a hanger for the return, I have mine as a straight pipe that can be directed all around the tank. By changing angles and distance this return can dislodge hidden gunk from the tanks décor. Gets the gunk out where the intake can suck it into the filter.
Unit works quite well and just took a bit of time getting the “method” of hand/pipe action down.
One hand moves the return wand about the tank, blasting loose the gunk, while the other hand has the intake sucking it all up.
I have PFS not gravel.
Would think some plying around with intake pipe sizes would be needed for cleaning gravel beds.
Neither intake or return pipe is glued to the hose fittings so I can swap out the straight vac pipe for hangers when I use the unit as a water polisher. I also use the “taste/odor” cartridges that filter in the below 10 micron range for polishing.
Be looking forward to how your vac works for you.
Good luck