Aquarium vacuum cleaner: a clean bottom without difficulty

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Each owner of an aquarium, both experienced, with experience, and a beginner, should have in his arsenal the necessary kit to care for him.

The bottom is the most polluted surface, where waste products of the fish themselves, dead plant leaves, uneaten food remains, and much more can be found at the bottom of the tank.

All this must be removed so that the inhabitants of the aquarium feel he althy and the water has normal indicators.

Application benefits

To do this, a vacuum cleaner for an aquarium, or, as it is also called, a siphon, will help us. This is a kind of device with which, without much effort, you can get rid of unnecessary particles under stones and snags, get to any other hard-to-reach place by sucking garbage into the cavity of the vacuum cleaner along with part of the water. And without much disturbing the inhabitants of the aquarium.

Thus, we get two results at the same time: we pump out part of the water for replacement and clean the soil.

Types of aquarium vacuum cleaners

Currently, the market offers us two types of aquarium vacuum cleaners: mechanical and electric.

The most primitivethe mechanical model consists of a flexible hose, at the end of which there is a glass or a wide pipe cavity. She sinks into the ground itself.

But it often happens that a vacuum cleaner can capture with a stream of water not only dirt particles, but also small pebbles or decorative elements (small shells, stars and other light objects). Therefore, some manufacturers have modified simple models and added auxiliary parts that allow you to adjust and control the cleaning process.

For example, the flow of draining water can be controlled with a faucet. Or they added mounts - holders for fixing the hose in the bucket and the vacuum cleaner itself near the walls of the aquarium.

In electric models with a motor, the principle is slightly different. The hose is missing. They work not from the mains, but from batteries.

Water is swallowed into the siphon itself, dirt particles fall into the trap compartment, and the water, already purified, is returned back to the aquarium.

This way you don't lose some of the water. This is convenient if you do not want to change and add water frequently.

It seems that a battery-powered aquarium vacuum cleaner is much more successful and practical to use, but there is one thing: it is not suitable for all types of aquariums. Only for those whose height is not more than 50 cm, otherwise water will enter the compartment where the batteries are located, which is unacceptable.

Recommendations for selection

When purchasing or choosing a vacuum cleaner for an aquarium, there are several important points to consider:

1. Choose models with a high glass, from 15 cm and above, to tighten the soil. So with the flow of water, small pebbles cannot rise higher than 10-12 cm, and will return back under their own weight.

2. You should also consider what edges the glass itself has. Ideally, it should be either oval or with torn edges. This will allow you to penetrate into the most inaccessible places and not damage the root system of aquatic plants.

Special siphons are also available for sale for certain types of soil: for sandy, with dense vegetation, large pebbles or small, for mixed types of soil.

3. The hose must be long enough. Consider the height of the aquarium and the length to the floor, or at least to a chair on which you can put a bucket or basin to drain the water. If you hold the hose over the bucket, and it is short, which is already inconvenient, the water will splash.

4. The hose and cup design itself must be clear and smooth so that blockages can be seen and corrected.

5. The thicker the hose tube, the stronger the water pressure. You need to consider the volume of the aquarium.

DIY

You can also make your own aquarium vacuum cleaner. This will require a simple inventory: a cut part from a plastic bottle and a hose. But, in our opinion, it is easier to purchase such a design, because the price of the issue is not so high, for the simplest siphon about 150 rubles.

Procedure for use

Wide cavitythe tube is vertically immersed as much as possible into the soil itself and, by vibrating the air in the tube, causes small particles of dirt to rise up along it. Since they are the lightest, they merge with the flow of water through the hose into a special container: a bucket or basin. You can make water flow through the tube using the pear on the hose.

Exposed ground surfaces are cleaned with little effort, but the corners of the aquarium or the places where snags and plants are planted require accuracy.

If the scenery is small and easy to move, always move it aside, there you will find a lot of interesting things that need to be removed. So section by section you vacuum the whole bottom.

This procedure should be carried out as needed and depending on the number of inhabitants in the tank, on average once a week.

Pay attention

If a simple aquarium vacuum cleaner is used, then make sure that the drained water is no more than 30% of the total volume.

If the pressure is strong and the water drains too quickly, you can pinch the hose tube with your finger, thereby adjusting the water pressure.

Do not forget that this cleaning does not have to be perfect, as the silt and mucus that are at the bottom also have their own useful function and are saturated with bacteria involved in the life of the aquarium.

This device should certainly be in every lover of the water world to keep it clean. You can buy a vacuum cleaner for aquarium soil at any aqua store.

If you do this cleaning regularly, thenthis procedure will not take you much time.