Nano Tanks - Cleaning

[MaxM]

Finding it hard to clean a nano tank with gravel vacuum. I have to take all the decorations out first and then by the time I'm finished vacuuming more than half the water is gone. Any advice?

[Maggie]

Hello, may I ask what size is your tank? You may not need to gravel vac every week, but just do a water change by scooping out the water, and vac every other week, or vac only 1/4 of the bottom each week - this allows a lot of the beneficial bacteria to stay in the substrate. However if it's a very small tank, 50% a week WC sounds about normal to me. Changing just the water takes only moments. 

[MaxM]

It's about 7 gallons.

[Philip]

3 hours ago, MaxM said:

Finding it hard to clean a nano tank with gravel vacuum. I have to take all the decorations out first and then by the time I'm finished vacuuming more than half the water is gone. Any advice?

Making you own is as easy is finding the right sized hard plastic tubing and the correct tygon to fit. We are only talking about a siphon here. I'm sure you can make one for about two bucks. 

Best part is you can customize all the sizes and lengths perfect for you. 

[Will Billy]

This may sound ridiculous, and you may already know this, but amazingly I went a long time without ever knowing the secret of crimping your outflow hose with your hand. After you get the gravel vac flowing you can crimp the outflow hose to stop water from moving while you position and reposition the gravel vac. This way it isnt constantly sucking out water as you move around the tank and release the hose to start the suction again. I know its sorta fish keeping 101, but i went years not having got the memo lol. 

[Hobbit]

Yep, what @Will Billy said. I too took a long time to realize the same thing. 😄 I partially block the end of the hose with my thumb, and that way I can release just enough water to pull the mulm up. 

As to @Philip’s point, I just use a 1/2 inch tube to gravel vac with no attachments at all. I’m only trying to get the surface mulm so I don’t need something that will help disturb the gravel. It’s very cheap and it’s easy to maneuver around decor and plants.

[Dawn T]

3 hours ago, Will Billy said:

This may sound ridiculous, and you may already know this, but amazingly I went a long time without ever knowing the secret of crimping your outflow hose with your hand. After you get the gravel vac flowing you can crimp the outflow hose to stop water from moving while you position and reposition the gravel vac. This way it isnt constantly sucking out water as you move around the tank and release the hose to start the suction again. I know its sorta fish keeping 101, but i went years not having got the memo lol. 

Doh! I never even thought of this! Eesh. I've had fish off and on (mostly on) for about 30 years, and it never occurred to me. So don't feel bad. LOL

[MaxM]

@Philip I have two DIY vacuums and one bought (which I hate). I'm trying to find the right balance in a DIY where the tube is and suction cup are small enough to draw smaller amounts, but with the same drawing strength as a larger one. Haven't found that balance yet. 😞

@Will Billy I've done that, but the problem is that as I crimp the flow the suction weakens and it's harder to pull up the waste, so it's kind of a catch 22.  

Thank you both for your replies.