Can't Get Detritus Through Python

[buzzfin]

I've got a bit of detritus accumulating in my 100g DT that I've tried several times to suck up during water changes but I can't seem to get the poop and stuff all the way up the Python tube and down the line. It only goes about halfway up the tube, tumbles around a while, and eventually sinks back down to the sand bed. I thought maybe I didn't have enough flow/suction, so I connected my Python line to a spare RODI filter housing with a Sicce pump on the output of the canister so I could filter the junk and pump the clean water back into the sump. Same result - detritus won't make its way up through the tube and down the line. Do my fish just have unusually heavy poop? Is my python line too long maybe? What am I doing wrong?

 

[exnisstech]

Are you using the entire length of he python? Some are long like 25' . I use a section of hose the same size as a python hose and I can remove sand with it. I only use a section 8ft or so.

 

[buzzfin]

Are you using the entire length of he python? Some are long like 25' . I use a section of hose the same size as a python hose and I can remove sand with it. I only use a section 8ft or so.

I'm using 10 feet of 1/2" ID tube. I would have thought that using a Sicce 1.5 on the output, there would be plenty of suction.

 

[Reefering1]

Sounds like you're just sucking up the sand and clogging it up. Try kinking the hose to slow it down so you're not just sucking up the sand.

 

[exnisstech]

I'm using 10 feet of 1/2" ID tube. I would have thought that using a Sicce 1.5 on the output, there would be plenty of suction.

Same diameter hose I use and I can remove sand but I don't use any pump. Pumps are made to push not pull. Just gravity drain into a bucket. You can even drain into a sock if you want to reuse the water.