Syphoning is not cleaning substrate please assist ?

[saffa]

good day forum, im having a problem when syphoning my substrate. the pull or vacuum is not strong enough to suck up the dirt through the hose, i think the problem stems from the depth at which im trying to syphon?

currently my tank depth is roughly 1m (100cm deep) i think thats 39 inches? - ive tried looking for an electrical syphon at my local aquariums, but they dont seem to stock them in South Africa - Cape Town.

i have coral sand.

so far ive been doing my 20% water change weekly for the past 3 months, the nitrate levels and ph levels are all still normal, but im worried for the long term.

is there any way i can clean the substrate?

 

[TheAdmira1]

Welcome to AC! Can you order something like a Python online? The use the flow of your sink and get some really good pressure. Im going down to 34in in my roommates tank without any issues. Hope this helps!

 

[SubRosa]

Don't waste your money on an electric unit, they all are complete garbage. In direct terms the depth of a tank matters as much as your shoe size in regards to how fast it will siphon. The factors that matter #1 The difference in height between the water level of the tank and the outlet of the siphon hose. The greater the difference, the faster the siphon #2 The diameter of the siphon hose, larger = faster. #3 Any kinks or obstructions in the hose #4 The total length of the siphon hose, shorter is faster, although this is not nearly as significant as the previous factors.

 

[tolawdjk]

If you don't have alot of live plants or decorative scaping that you are worried about becoming displaced, I have also found that a adding water, particularly by bucket/pitcher rather than a python type system does a good job of getting "gunk" up and in the water column where it is easier to pull out before it settles back down. It takes a bit more time, but sometimes its needed if your gravel vac just doesn't have the power to pull it directly up from the base.

 

[wesleydnunder]

Don't waste your money on an electric unit, they all are complete garbage. In direct terms the depth of a tank matters as much as your shoe size in regards to how fast it will siphon. The factors that matter #1 The difference in height between the water level of the tank and the outlet of the siphon hose. The greater the difference, the faster the siphon #2 The diameter of the siphon hose, larger = faster. #3 Any kinks or obstructions in the hose #4 The total length of the siphon hose, shorter is faster, although this is not nearly as significant as the previous factors.

+1

Mark

 

[cradlefan]

I have a planted tank, don't syphon the substrate, well, ever. The plants use the nutrients anyway. I poke it with long tweezers every now and then to keep it from getting compacted, but I have never syphoned it, and my tank is thriving.

 

[saffa]

Don't waste your money on an electric unit, they all are complete garbage. In direct terms the depth of a tank matters as much as your shoe size in regards to how fast it will siphon. The factors that matter #1 The difference in height between the water level of the tank and the outlet of the siphon hose. The greater the difference, the faster the siphon #2 The diameter of the siphon hose, larger = faster. #3 Any kinks or obstructions in the hose #4 The total length of the siphon hose, shorter is faster, although this is not nearly as significant as the previous factors.

thanks Subrosa - problem i have is that the tank is mounted to a very low cabnet unit but is quite deep - so the water has to travel quite a height and the outlet is not low enough to get a nice strong vacuum. i cant raise the tank...

I have a planted tank, don't syphon the substrate, well, ever. The plants use the nutrients anyway. I poke it with long tweezers every now and then to keep it from getting compacted, but I have never syphoned it, and my tank is thriving.

thanks for all the input, i dont have any live plants in my tank, and im not to worried about moving the rock around slightly. i did the plant setup when i was keeping cichlids and it got a bit messy after a while - also too much maintenance for my setup - tank is too deep to actually plant anything - (my arms cant reach the bottom) lol

(mostly have rock moulded units) 2 bio mini horizontal sumps which in the lid so the ph and nitrate etc all all stable - 3 months running....keep fingers crossed...

its a relatively new setup so im going through some teething problems - i switched from a 300l (80gal?) after the system crashed and lost about 12 juvenile fronts - so i rescued what i could and just sold that setup and started from scratch.



this is what im using currently - only the biggest version of it i could get to syphon.

 

[saffa]

the water quality seems fine so far, im mostly worried about dirt long term in the substrate.

also if got coral sand for the fronts - not too fine - will switching to a finer sand help with syphoning perhaps?

 

[pisces70]

I like to use a HOT Magnum canister filter (with micron cartridge) and the available siphon attachment to clean up substrate in my tanks. This combo does a great job cleaning the substrate and polishing the water. I've used it to clean basic gravel, crushed coral and sand substrates with great results. Sand is a little trickier to clean with this powerful canister filter, but it can be done.

Good luck!

 

[saffa]

I like to use a HOT Magnum canister filter (with micron cartridge) and the available siphon attachment to clean up substrate in my tanks. This combo does a great job cleaning the substrate and polishing the water. I've used it to clean basic gravel, crushed coral and sand substrates with great results. Sand is a little trickier to clean with this powerful canister filter, but it can be done.

Good luck!

thanks pisces70, im running 2 canister filters - 1600lph and a 500lph, i will try to hook the syphon up to the smaller one as a test!

i wonder if a normal if i can do the same with the boyu filter and run the syphon on that...? its a much bigger one than the one in this pic....will try the 2 methods this weekend.