TOM Aquarium Maintenance Mr. Cleaner Battery Operated Gravel Siphon Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I originally had my heart set on the Eheim Quick Vac Pro, which was over $60. I saw this priced at less than a third of the cost and decided to give it a shot. I had to search online for instructions on how to assemble but was surprised that it went together just how I thought - that I should have kept tinkering with it and I would have had it.

This was tested out on a 20 gallon long bare-bottom tank with tons of detritus that my siphon never seemed to remove. At first, the thing takes a little help to get suction. I had to tilt it over into the water right up to the "Water Line" indication. Once I had the water level to where it had suction, I began to move the gravel washer head around. It seemed to pick up better when the detritus was already afloat - not laying on the bottom of the tank.

I was not too terribly impressed with the suction UNTIL I removed the gravel washer head. It is totally unnecessary and decreases the efficiency of this vacuum. I had to stop to rinse the net out twice, and to fiddle with the impeller to remove dead snail shells. (puffer tank) To avoid pulling things into the impeller I placed a brine shrimp net over the intake pipe. This also helped me "steer" the intake pipe around the tank because the vacuum is a little oddly balanced.

Be aware that this does not put the water back into the tank internally. Water is pulled up through the pipe, towards the impeller, and into the waste collection net, then back into the tank on the OUTSIDE of the pipe it just went up. You will have to pay attention so that you don't move the vacuum too close to the edge of your tank thus holding the collection net over the edge of your tank and siphoning sediment free water onto your floor.

****mine came with an algae scraper head, which I have yet to use
****mine came with a hose adapter, for use in siphoning water, which I have not used

In summary - for $16 this product did great (without the gravel washer head)

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Product Description:
TOM TM1096 Aquarium Maintenance Mr. Cleaner Battery Operated Gravel Siphon.KollerCraft is highly regarded for supplying superior quality, innovative pet products and reliable service.This battery operated siphon is perfect for siphoning nano tanks and other aquariums when you need to remove fish waste and other detritus without removing valuable aquarium water.Easy flow rate allows for spot cleaning and getting to difficult to reach areas

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Python No-Spill Clean and Fill 13-B Pump Item #132. Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Aquarium filters remove many harmful chemicals, but nitrates do accumulate over time, and the way to remove them is by periodic partial water changes, usually something like 20% per week. The old way was to siphon water out into a bucket, which was dumped down the sink, commode, or in the yard. The bucket was then refilled and poured back into the tank.
To change water in this manner was a little bit labor intensive on a small tank, and really time consuming on a larger tank.
I stumbled on my pump in a Thrift store, where I found it on a shelf for $1. In all honesty, I'm not 100% sure mine is a Python brand, as there is no name on it. It may actually be a knock-off. Mine is made of blue plastic, not green, but otherwise looks identical to the item pictured.
It operates by connecting it to a water supply with a fitting at the top in the photo. Water flows through from top to bottom, past a venturi located where the side fitting is, creating a suction which will draw water out of the aquarium through a hose. I purchased 50 feet of clear vinyl hose from my local aquarium store, attached it to this device, and put a suction strainer on the other end to avoid sucking small fish into the hose.
In use, I drop the suction strainer into the tank, unroll the hose, and attach the pump to the water tap outside my front door. Opening the diverter on the pump outlet, then turning on the water tap starts a siphon which removes as much water from my tank as I desire (water tap can be closed once siphon starts so long as the pump is lower than the tank, siphon will continue).
Closing the diverter on the pump outlet stops the siphon, and opening the water tap with the diverter closed refills the tank.
I can't imagine any way to make water changes any easier. I've been using this device for years now, and it still works great.
There are adapters available which allow the user to connect the pump to their kitchen or washroom sink instead of outside the house, if the aquarium is located closer to those water sources. There are also attachments which allow you to vacuum the gravel with the water siphoning out of the tank, if you feel the need to perform this task (I never vacuum because I don't use an undergravel filter, because I use EcoComplete substrate, and because I have fish which eat any food which falls to the bottom, so for me, the need simply isn't there).

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Product Description:
FAUCET "T" PUMP UNIT

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