question for Python users with sand

[adamsfishes]

So I've had fish in my tank for a couple weeks now, and I'm using a Python to do water changes. I'm also trying to vacuum up refuse such as fish poo and uneaten food. If you have sand in your tank, how is this working for you?

The sand I'm using is #20 grade silica pool filter sand.

The last time I had a tank, I didn't use a Python, just a regular siphon into a bucket. From what I recall, there was easily enough suction to pick up the waste.

I'm not having that experience with the Python. In fact, it pretty much picks up nothing. There is very little suction, but it has no trouble emptying the water out of the tank. Bits of waste just kind of swirl around in the tube, then fall back down.

If I stick the tube in the sand, it sucks up some sand, then the refuse and most of the sand fall back down. With my old tank, I was using a heavier sand, and it didn't get sucked up, but the waste did.

I'm actually thinking about emptying the tank and replacing the sand with a fine gravel and ditching this fine sand. It will be a major PITA, but this situation is really frustrating me so I may have to do it.

 

[CarpCharacin]

I have noticed that the python has less sauction than a regular siphon also, but i have not noticed that much of a difference between them. I have felt the suction of a python with my hand and it is pretty strong.

 

[markstrimaran]

I have very fine sand, it gets sucked up with the poop. My tank has a corner overflow, so most of the heavy stuff piles up. I have to pinch the hose to throttle it, then lay the suction tube on its side to settle the sand out, then open the throttle to suck out the waste.
Is how I use to do it. I now have a 1/2" layer of the same very fine sand and have a 2" airlift tube mounted in the corner that dumps into the overflow." A filter sock would work also". Which goes straight into a poly floss filter in the sump.
I then use a turkey baster, giant eye dropper, to push every thing towards the air lift.
It takes about 5 minutes on a 75 gallon tank. The whole bottom gets stirred up, and any fine suspended solids gets picked up in filter floss.
The sand packs so tightly that most of the crude stays on top of it.
I flow about 500 gph.

 

[freak78]

If you want sand without the fineness of it use Carib sea torpedo beach. I use this it all my tanks and it won't get sucked up the syphon.

 

[Freshwater4Life]

The python is made for gravel cleaning as far as sucking up waste . For sand in my tank I just use the hose with no attachment on the end and hold it about an inch above the waste.

 

[SandNukka15]

I still dont understand why people stick the python into the sand or gravel mixing it all up as u go....

You dont want to do that or u will get fish poop mixed in with the substrate.....

When u syphon just get it close enougj to the sand where it picks up the poop off the top layer without mixing the sand....

Thats how ur supose to gravel vac....this helps prevent poop getting into the substrate

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

You could just use a standard siphon into a bucket or two to get the detritus out and then use the python to finish draining the water and refilling.

 

[CarpCharacin]

I still dont understand why people stick the python into the sand or gravel mixing it all up as u go....

You dont want to do that or u will get fish poop mixed in with the substrate.....

When u syphon just get it close enougj to the sand where it picks up the poop off the top layer without mixing the sand....

Thats how ur supose to gravel vac....this helps prevent poop getting into the substrate

I don't have gravel in my tanks anymore, but a lot of debris would get buried in the gravel and when i would stick the gravel vac down into the gravel, a lot of debris would come out.

 

[adamsfishes]

If you want sand without the fineness of it use Carib sea torpedo beach. I use this it all my tanks and it won't get sucked up the syphon.

I was looking at some Carib Sea sand. Peace River is the one I was thinking about getting. Is Carib Sea available in larger quantities than the 5 pound bags?

The python is made for gravel cleaning as far as sucking up waste . For sand in my tank I just use the hose with no attachment on the end and hold it about an inch above the waste.

I'll try that! The narrower tube will probably have more suction.

I still dont understand why people stick the python into the sand or gravel mixing it all up as u go....

You dont want to do that or u will get fish poop mixed in with the substrate.....

When u syphon just get it close enougj to the sand where it picks up the poop off the top layer without mixing the sand....

Thats how ur supose to gravel vac....this helps prevent poop getting into the substrate

As I said above, there isn't enough suction. The poop and uneaten food just falls back out of the tube. I'm using a 35ft Python, so the distance may be a factor as well. I just stuck it in the sand as an experiment, that's not how I vacuum. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

You could just use a standard siphon into a bucket or two to get the detritus out and then use the python to finish draining the water and refilling.

Yeah, I thought about that too. Maybe I'll pick one up and try that as well. I would probably only need to dump about 3 buckets, then use the Python only for the water changes. Will also have the benefit of keeping gunk out of the Python.

 

[CarpCharacin]

I'm not sticking it in the sand. As I said above, there isn't enough suction. The poop and uneaten food just falls back out of the tube. I'm using a 35ft Python, so the distance may be a factor as well.

I have a 75 ft python and it does a great job at sucking up poop and uneaten food. My tanks are bare bottom though.