cleaning substrate

[Winschuc]

My sump is located in the basement and I need to vacuum the substrate. How do other basement sump owning folks vacuum the substrate?

I was looking at the ehiem power vacuum and the cobalt power gravel cleaner, but reviews seem sketchy.

 

[saltyphish]

I just use a gravel vac with a valve to adjust flow. I don't have a sump though just use it in my DT.

 

[Oceansize]

I hate vacuuming so much, I got a diamond goby and now he vacuums it for me. Not kidding: one fairly large goby has been all I need to keep my substrate well-stirred and beautiful. 92 gallons. He made everything very cloudy at first but that cleared up after a few days, which means it's working. He still vacuums just as much, but there is less "fluff" to be kicked up by this.

 

[Winschuc]

I'll have to look into getting one when I move a few guys into my grow out tank. They're not too friendly when it comes to new additions.

 

[Reduck]

I have the eheim vac. It does what it does pretty well. But I found that if you stick a wad of floss in the waste compartment, it works even better. It's great for touch up cleaning and with the floss added, cleans up diatoms pretty well.
Just don't point the discharge towards the glass when you are near the edges...or keep a mop handy!

 

[Winschuc]

Thanks!

 

[Winschuc]

Got another idea from the my local forums. Going to try running the discharge of a vacuum into the emergency drain and add a sock to the exit in the basement.