Powered aquarium vacuum (Eheim, Fluval or other) (gravel vac)

[Oughtsix]

MY 13 year old daughter has her first aquarium. A used 55g with one Axolotl, bare bottom and a few decorations. We (she) decided to go bare bottom for ease of cleaning. She does weekly water changes and has a happy healthy Axolotl.

I would like to get her something to vacuum the poop off the bottom of the tank between water changes for her birthday.

Fluval ProVac AC powered (no batteries). ~$53

Fluval Aquavac (battery powered) $39

Eheim QuickVac (Battery powered) $46

Tom aquarium Mr. Cleaner (Battery powered) $14 - (Adage: you get what you pay for)

I am learning towards the Fluval ProVac... buy once, cry once... it should last for ever???

I believe any of these should vacuum poop from a bare bottom tank but I would like a vac that is easy to clean, will work well on future tougher jobs and will last a long time (I have a 30yo Penguin filter and 20yo Eheim that still work as well as the day they were new).

Does anyone have any experience with any of these vacs they could share? Or any other vac? We already have a siphon vac and do not need another. It would be nice to be able to start a siphon without sucking or using a venturi.

 

[squint]

I tried the Eheim and it was too weak. The mesh also didn't seem to filter too well.

I actually use a hand water pump with extra tubing attached to it for bare bottom tanks. I got the idea from a big discus breeder's Youtube video.

 

[imabot]

As S squint said hand pump. Or she can always use her mouth on a regular siphon. Extra incentive to keep on maintenance

 

[esoxlucius]

As S squint said hand pump. Or she can always use her mouth on a regular siphon. Extra incentive to keep on maintenance

Yeah this would be a great initiation ceremony to welcome her into the hobby. Her first tank vacuum and OOPS! A mouthful of axolotl crap!!!

 

[Oughtsix]

I appreciate the feed back... especially re the Eheim. I have always had good luck with Ehiem products and bad luck with Fluval products... but every product is unique and I don't weight my purchases 100% on brand loyalty.

By "hand pump" do you guys mean one of those rubber bulbs that you pump with your hand? To me a hand pump is permanently affixed to the ground and has a long handle you pump to bring water up from the well.

 

[james99]

I've never used any of the powered vacs, but the one with bulb works fine. This is the one I've had for a few years.

 

[Jexnell]

Could go ultra cheap old school on her and get one of these and a 5gal bucket (tho I think you may be the one to actually empty the bucket)

 

[Oughtsix]

Could go ultra cheap old school on her and get one of these and a 5gal bucket (tho I think you may be the one to actually empty the bucket) View attachment 1340538

Her used 55g came with a siphon and a venturi. I promptly purchased 30' of vinyl tubing from HomeDepot to minimize the dependence on me for doing water changes (carrying the bucket). It works well for water changes but is pretty clumsy for a quick bottom cleaning.

 

[Jexnell]

Dont know if you use FX series of filters, but you can get a vac that uses the FX pump to do all the work.

 

[fishhead0103666]

Or simple go with a python and hook it up to the sink?