great cheap poop vac

[soulpatch]

So I was at That Pet Place last night swapping out one of my lights for the tank, when I wondered down the cleaning isle. I am currently changing out my water at least twice a week with a 30% and then a 50% to keep up with my Oscars who are straight up pooping machines.

I have a sand bottom to be more pleasing to look at, however, in between water changes and vacs it can get pretty gross at a few deadspots in the tank around the driftwood. I hate to see a pile of poop and I also hated getting out the python to clean it more then 2 times a week.

I have tried a few other items to vac out the poop with a makeshift filter or something. Worked ok but I had issues with flow up the tube as I do not have a powerhead to use like some people.

OK enough backstory. I was walking down the isle and saw this: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/22990/product.web

Thought what the heck for $8 it is worth a shot. I have never been one to be ok with payin 40+ on the eheim battery vac. I am glad I didn't.

I attached my airline up to this bad boy and stuck it into my tank. Poop was gone in minutes. I was amazed that it was so powerful with only an airline attached. I thought I would have issues with the larger pieces but it picked it up just fine. Sure I had to hover over it for a second since it was heavier but it still went up the tube and into the bag.

So for anyone looking for a cheap but VERY effective touch up tool this is for you.

 

[Dahammer]

How strong is the air pump you connected it too? Does it remove the water or return it to the tank? I've been looking for something as well. I want something quick and easy, with the sole purpose of removing waste off the top of the sand. I was thinking about trying to find a small electric pump and rigging it to a hose/pipe to dump into a bucket.

 

[Moloch]

I'm interested...and would also like to know the answers to the above questions.

 

[duipo]

ooh sounds good but i don't get how it works?

 

[soulpatch]

The water remains in the tank and as for my air pump I will have to look. It is a mid line tetra air pump.

Basically how it works:

Air line is connected at the top and it is fed down and into the bottom of the device where the air meets the water in the tube. The air rises and pushes the water up the tube creating a suction flow that is as strong as your air pump I would assume. Mine is pretty strong.

I have a sand base so the poop sits on top. I float the tip of the vac above the sand and the poop is agitated by the disturbance in the water to break free and the suction then grabs it. It flows up the tube and into a bag off the side. The water returns to the tank but the poop and debris is trapped in the mesh bag that is emptied and cleaned when you are done.

So it allows me to clean the poop and any possible uneaten food (though very rare unless I try something new that the oscars dont like) without taking water out of my tank or causing too much of a ruckus in the tank that bothers or stresses my fish.

I can shoot a video of how well it works tonight after work should I remember but it is pretty basic and straight forward.

Fire away with any other questions.

 

[RESET]

Looks like it works similar to an under gravel filter. You hook up the air line, the bubbles come up the tube and create water flow/suction, the poop comes with the flow and gets trapped in the bag as the water exits. Pretty slick.

EDIT: Sorry, I type slow.

 

[FishingOut]

Yeah thats a decent device. I always preach how important removing poop is than letting it just get sucked up into the filters. I usually just create a syphon with a airline tube and suck the poop out. I dont lose more than a gallon of water and it takes 2 minutes and my tank nitrates stay lower, and filter pads last longer. Your preventing the poop from decaying and fouling the water which is almost like reducing the stocking in your tank. Great method for cleaner water.

 

[Dahammer]

Very interesting... I'm going to have to see if I can find one local to look at, as it looks perfect. I noticed the info on the link you gave says "your hands stay dry", that concerns me a bit. I'm wandering if it will work with tanks that are deeper than it is long? How long is it, by the way? I see you have a 55 gallon, mine is 75, so probably still work.

Edit: I now see the specs that say it's 22" - 28" x 1", so I awesome it's length is adjustable.

 

[Moloch]

So basically, its just a tube with an outlet right in the middle. The airline runs the length of the tube and at the bottom end is somehow attached*. The top end remains open and above the water-line for proper suction? And as the water flows up it only makes it as far as the outlet in the middle where its filtered back into the aquarium.

So how exactly is it attached at the bottom? Can you give a closeup pick of that? It seems like this would be exceedingly easy to recreate, and might come out cheaper that way than paying for shipping assuming it can't be found locally.

 

[soulpatch]

Very interesting... I'm going to have to see if I can find one local to look at, as it looks perfect. I noticed the info on the link you gave says "your hands stay dry", that concerns me a bit. I'm wandering if it will work with tanks that are deeper than it is long? How long is it, by the way? I see you have a 55 gallon, mine is 75, so probably still work.

Edit: I now see the specs that say it's 22" - 28" x 1", so I awesome it's length is adjustable.

I now have a 125 gal and yes it is extendable. I get my hands wet some though as I have to dip it down to get around some of my driftwood but that is fine.

I also went with this unit as opposed to a battery one since you can fully submerse it and get the same suction. Even though some of the battery units say they are submersible it always concerned me that one small chip or such woudl render them useless under water.