Not really, went together pretty easy.
My reason for this system are twofold,
1 Any of the standard vacs never seemed to get the crud out of all the places I wanted cleaned.
2 Always had to watch water levels, didn`t want ot do a 90% water change.
With the zero loss, you can clean for as long as it takes, paying attention to your cleaning, not your tanks level.
After a few go rounds, my routine is
Set it up in front of the tank, I clamp it to a stool to remove any of the pumps head restrictions.
Plug in the pump,Put the intake into the tank and suck on the return line to fill all with water.
Turn on the pump, using both hands, I use a sweeping motiion with the return, and suck up all the debris with the other. I direct the returns flow into, and around all my rockwork, all those nooks/crannies, the tube vac never could get at.
First few times it took almost an hour untill the crud was gone. Now the weekly cleaning takes around 15min.
When done, my tank is clean, really clean.
I will never go back to any form of constant loss, vac tube system..this rig is way to simple and effective for me to change back.
Plus, with the addition of a charcoal/fine mesh cartridge this puppy will polish my water in about an hour.
If you are not satisfied with how your system is working, give this a shot..maybe you`ll get hooked like I did.
BTW: Total cost for this
filter $20
pump $40
Figure another $20 for fittings, hose, electrical, etc.
Costs can be cut by using what you already have on hand.
Yes..I know..right around the cost of a magnum350, but mine does 500gph, filter cartridges cheaper, and it cleared some of the clutter out of the garage
