Cleaning a 2 foot deep tank

[goldenpuon]

I have a 40 gallon tall I have been having trouble cleaning. It is not that dirty now but is due for a cleaning.

The tank has no gravel. It is situated on a stand that is roughly 2 feet above the ground. The tank is 2 feet tall and I am only 5 foot 4 inches so bending down to clean it (even with a gravel vaccum or siphon) to reach further is difficult. I have tried using a stool but to reach the bottom, I have to stick my arm up to my shoulder in which always means I have to take off my shirt to clean it and I am nervous about deodorant getting in.

Furthermore, my algae scrubber does a poor job at cleaning the tank glass sides of the tank.

So I was wondering if there is an easier way to clean a tank this size efficiently?

Thanks.

[bikeguy33]

buy a scrub brush with a long handle and also a longer tube for your vacuum. you can also get the magnetic cleaners for the glass. none of these things are TOO costly and Carl probably sells them all...

[kagome]

Siphon some water off of the top of the water column to lower the water level and then if you have to stick your arm in you don't have to worry about deodorant getting in the water. I am also 5'4" and my big tank is located on top of my entertainment center so I have to stand on a ladder to clean it. I don't have any trouble reaching the bottom of the tank with the Lee's gravel vacuum I bought from Carl.

[goldenpuon]

Thanks guys. I will buy that magnet from Carl. It sounds it would definitely help.

Great idea as well Bill. When I buy my best vaccum (hopefully tonight), I will buy one with a long attachment tube. Lowering the water level is also a great idea Kagome. I will try that.

[goldenpuon]

I came up with another idea while I was looking through vaccums online. I realized that I have pretty large siphon (too small for a 40 gallon but good enough). And I also have pouches to catch waste from my battery operated vaccums.

I was thinking that since I don't like to empty out water when I clean my 40 gallon, that I could attach the pouch from my vaccum to the end of the siphon hose and clean my aquarium that way. I would be keep the siphon entirely inside the aquarium with the part with the pouch aimed toward the bottom so the siphon can work.

My only concern is if this is possible considering a siphon uses the force of gravity to work. Any ideas?

This may not be the most practical way to clean a tank but if it works, it will save me the money of a vaccum.

Thanks.

Renee

[Carl]

I would use a regular Gravel Vacuum/Siphon to change water (much less hassle and more effective).

BTW; I just picked up the Eheim Battery Gravel Vacuum in LA today at the supplies after speaking with a few maintenance friends here. Although not as good a Micron Filters such as the Aquarium Cleaning Machine, it is still considerably more effective than the "bags" used by the old style battery vacuums that let about 90% of Organic mulm through:
Eheim Battery Aquarium Gravel Vacuum

Carl

[goldenpuon]

Would I be able to use a regular vaccum/siphon without emptying out water? I don't have a large enough sink top dump water or a bucket large enough to contain water. Sorry to bring this up again but I prefer to change 33% of the water every other week seperately.

On the other hand, the Eheim Battery Aquarium Gravel Vacuum
sounds a lot better. It is a lot for my budget but I may be able to get it. Money is tight right now with saving up for college, getting a car, etc. But I see it can reach up to 3 feet deep in an aquarium. I will strongly consider it.

Thanks again.

[kagome]

If you don't use a siphon to empty water out of the aquarium then how do you get water out when you do water changes?

You might also want to consider getting a Lee's gravel vacuum and the attachment kit so you can attach it to a garden hose. Then you can run the hose outside through a door or window that is open just a crack and just let the water run out into the yard. I do this for my big tank and it makes it very easy and the vacuum and attachment kit are very inexpensive. I run the water out to my banana tree since banana trees need so much extra water anyway.

If you don't already have a garden hose you can pick one up for really cheap at discount stores like Dollar General or Big Lots.

[goldenpuon]

I empty it out with a 1 gallon pitcher to the bathtub in my house.

Another good idea although I have a few questions.

Would the garden hose attach to Lee's gravel vaccum easily? What size would fit? I hope it being almost winter here would not interfere (I live in Michigan).

[Carl]

Nov 22, 2009 11:43:19 GMT -5 goldenpuon said:

I empty it out with a 1 gallon pitcher to the bathtub in my house.

Another good idea although I have a few questions.

Would the garden hose attach to Lee's gravel vaccum easily? What size would fit? I hope it being almost winter here would not interfere (I live in Michigan).

Yes, either by using duct tape for a more snug fit or better by using the Lees adapter as I have a picture of athe Lees Gravel Vacuum page (see DIY "Python Style Vacuum" at the bottom of the page) or the Aquarium Cleaning Article.

Carl

[goldenpuon]

This is what you said in your article that I have some questions on. I hope you don't mind me quoting this here.

Quote from www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html

"You can make a DIY Super Gravel Vacuum using a sterile garden hose (5/8"), a Lees 10" Gravel Vacuum, some duct tape for wrapping around the end of the Vacuum tubing for a better fit, A Lees or Python Water Pump and faucet adapter. "

The Lee's gravel vacuum sounds like a good idea. However I have some questions about the above statement.

You said that you need a faucet adapter for this to work. Would the "Lee's Adapter" work for this in place of a faucet adapter from the hardware store? I assume that if I use the adapter, I will not have to use duct tape. I have also never used an adapter like this but I'd also assume that it adjusts the flow of water.

Working on that assumption, is there a way to adjust the Lee's adapter so water slowly drains out? I have had some pretty bad experiences with siphons from Petsmart that empty water way too fast and overflow the bucket I am siphoning into and also empty 25% of the water from the tank before I am done cleaning.

[Carl]

The Faucet adapter does not replace the duct tape, the hose kit shown on the Lees Vacuum page does by adding a female receptacle to the vacuum.

Please read the section on the bottom of this page:
Lees Gravel Vacuum and DIY Ultimate Gravel Vac

Carl

[kagome]

I hook my vacuum to my garden hose using the attachment kit at the bottom.
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquariumvacuum.html

[goldenpuon]

Thanks for the link both of you. I see how it works now. The adapter fits into the hose and the end of the vacuum tubing is taped to hose. How much flow control does the addition of the female or male adapter and the valve allow? Like I said, I have had way too much water exit my tank at once from Petsmart siphons.

[fishfever]

I'm a bit late to this thread but if I had to do it all over I'd have opted for a shallower longer tank (have a tall bowfront) to make it easier to maintain. Although at 6' I have no trouble reaching the bottom I can't always see exactly what I'm doing down there especially in the back of the tank. This concern is mostly for bottom-dwelling cory cats that for some inexplicable reason don't always seem to be alarmed when a hand or cleaning device is being used and will stand their ground instead of moving to the other side of the tank with the other fish. Plus with decorations the cleaning angles can be steep so I can't use as much force to scrape/clean without bumping/moving objects in the tank. And the curved bowfront keeps things like magnet cleaners from working (works good for straight sides though).

I think you are wise in asking the questions about the python setups to make sure it will work in your case before wasting money on something you might never use. For me I would have had to change my custom faucet out (after calling Lee's) so it wasn't too practical; I ended up just getting the Lee's gravel vac from Carl and have been very pleased with the upgrade over my old gravel vac.

[goldenpuon]

Thanks for the feedback Fishfever. It sounds like the Lee's Gravel Vacuum is definitely a good idea for my tank. My only concern is how much water flow out at a time at this point.

[Carl]

Nov 23, 2009 16:31:33 GMT -5 goldenpuon said:

Thanks for the link both of you. I see how it works now. The adapter fits into the hose and the end of the vacuum tubing is taped to hose. How much flow control does the addition of the female or male adapter and the valve allow? Like I said, I have had way too much water exit my tank at once from Petsmart siphons.

The tape goes around the vacuum hose so as to provide a more snug fit, the tape is not taped to the hose, this would not be very secure.

Again the use of the valve kit allows for flow control and a more secure fit as well;



Carl

[goldenpuon]

Thanks for your patience with answering all my questions. I will talk to my mom about getting the Lee's Gravel vacuum and if she says yes (which she probably will), I will order it today.

Thanks again everyone for the help.

Renee