Gravel vac

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dpete88

Plecostomus
MFK Member
May 17, 2011
259
65
61
in the drivers seat
Hey gents I'm looking too see if anybody knows of a powered gravel vac that doesn't require siphoning water from the tank. I know eheim makes one but its weak and underpowered which makes sucking up big debris a little difficult. Are there any other manufacturers of a similar device and what is you're opinion of them?
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I saw something like what your describing on fosters and smith. Its just a h.o.b. filter with a hose on the inlet. I think it would be cheaper to buy a small/cheap powerhead (with outlet port) and 10 feet of tubing.
 
Something I've been interested in as well. I do 75% water changes weekly and would like to spot clean my sand in between. No real deep cleaning or siphoning. Just to hover over the sand and remove waste or excess food. Not that ive had that issue. Lol.

Heard mixed reviews on the eheim.

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If your not planning on doing a water change but want to clean. You can use a plastic breadbox with cover. Drill 2 holes evenly and run a dowel rod thru each set of holes so it will rest on top of your tank. Drill a bunch of holes in the bottom and fill with polyfill or whatever you want to for mechanical filtration. Siphon water thru the hose into the box it will drain back into tank. Kind of like a trickle filter. Hope that makes sense.
 
kingofthejungle said:
I saw something like what your describing on fosters and smith. Its just a h.o.b. filter with a hose on the inlet. I think it would be cheaper to buy a small/cheap powerhead (with outlet port) and 10 feet of tubing.
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What would you collect the waste in?

Personally I don't see the point in these contraptions for fw tanks. For a tank under 200 gallons you should he able to spot clean every other day with sophoning less than 5g per session. If you do this 3 times a week between wc just reduce wc 10% and water consumption balances out. In the nonwinter months use said water on plants in the yard or in the house.
 
Aquaticfan said:
Something I've been interested in as well. I do 75% water changes weekly and would like to spot clean my sand in between.
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75% a week isn't enough to keep your substrate clean?! It seems massively excessive to me, if you're getting crud building up in between that large a water change I'd either look at doing smaller and more frequent ones or tuning your filters/flow to eliminate the dead spots.

OP, I think DIY would be the best option here, something like a small pump that sucks the water up the siphon and drops it into a filter sock where it can run back into the tank.
 
David R said:
75% a week isn't enough to keep your substrate clean?! It seems massively excessive to me, if you're getting crud building up in between that large a water change I'd either look at doing smaller and more frequent ones or tuning your filters/flow to eliminate the dead spots.

OP, I think DIY would be the best option here, something like a small pump that sucks the water up the siphon and drops it into a filter sock where it can run back into the tank.
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Lets just say am overly anal retentive about it david. I like to remove waste before its an issue. My water change system doesn't vac the substrate. Basically automated/flip a valve here and there tank drains to preset level then flip valve and it fills back up. I like my tanks very healthy and clean. Just overly picky.

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I use a gravity feed vacuum every two weeks on my 420 gallon tanks and also do a three quarter water change I vacuum first and let it drain into 33 gallon pale, then use a utility pump to send it out side it is very simple to do I have a 50 foot hose that i leave on the pump in the pail then back wash my bead filter
 
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