thin or thicker gravel syphon...which has stronger suction

[henward]

i ahve silica sand, and plecos tend to poo alot.

i currently use a thick bore gravel syphon, i cant syphon the sand so just hand it over the poo whcih doesnt sink in.

i find that its slow and sluggish to suck the watste

however, aqua one makes a gravel siphon which has a widened end but very thin tube.

would a thinner tube such the particles faster?

i know thicker means it moves more water at one time, but i want to move water FASTER not more at one time.

any feedback?

http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... ner/m/937/

standard thicker tube

http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... 0cm/m/937/

thinner tube

[DennisP]

Take the vacuum thing off.

Use only the hose.

[the-obstacle]

Take the vacuum thing off.

Use only the hose.

+1 - in fact it was henward that sent me the link saying to take the vacuum thing off and just use the hose 1cm or less above the sand itself.

Oh, there's also an air powered pooper scooper on MFK at the moment, I'll find the link and come back.

[alanmin4304]

The smaller the entrance to the "suckie" end the faster the water will move

[suphew]

But just watch that the hose isn't also smaller, the 'mini' ones tend to use small diameters hose and are useless

[Ira]

The smaller the entrance to the "suckie" end the faster the water will move

Yup, Same volume passing through a smaller area=higher velocity.

[henward]

just getting opinions, i was using same method as david, thinner tube.

but i was told that should use a thicker tube - i will prob just get a pvs pipe and attach a hose to it,

the hose cant straighten out enough, and my tank is too deep and high fromt he ground, fi i stand on a chair i find it awkeward to see properly and i suck up too much sand haha

i need a wand type long stick suction tool:D

so cheap pvc will do i guess.

[henward]

the tank i had before was much shallower, so could use the hose.

wonder, where cna i get clear pipes?

i like seeing things go pass lol

no big deal though.

[alanmin4304]

You can buy clear plastic tubing from plastic suppliers. I use it on my small tanks. Ring around.

[David R]

about 40cm of 20mm pvc with about 3-4 metres of the appropriately sized plastic tubing squeezed over the end of it makes a great poo sucker. Using just the hose with out the rigid piping on the end is very awkward.

[livingart]

i used one of the big gravel vacs with a short length of rigid pipe then about 19mm dia hose on it

i cut the clear plastic tube down a bit though after observing where the turbulence for stirring up the gravel muck was greatest

the extra length i the rigid bit allowed me o observe from the front of the tank while manipulating the vac

[henward]

thanks guys

[snookie]

you could try one of these , if they import 8)

http://www.fishhousegirls.com/

[Joshlikesfish]

Using just the hose with out the rigid piping on the end is very awkward.

+1

[Sophia]

Mine is a self starting vac quite like this http://www.dtpetsupplies.com/catalog/im ... TT1244.jpg and the end of the pipe is about an inch diameter. Got it off trademe for about $15 but there aren't any there at the moment. You shake it up and down a few times and then it starts sucking the water out itself. I found the smaller tube and hard pipe much easier to work with than the aqua one type vac and you can increase or decrease the flow with the knob at the top. I have a piece of wider hose cable-tied to the side of the bucket so I thread the small pipe through that and then I don't have to hold the end in the bucket while I weave the other end about trying not to suck up fry.

To get stuff up without sucking up too much sand I would just stir the wand end about to get the mulm moving and then it would start sucking up.

[Vervo]

we actually use the big tube which is used for the filters, it is faster than the small tube without the vacuum thing on.